Trust reviews best-practices roadmap for disposing trust-owned property and RFP steps

Trust staff presented a step-by-step process June 17 for disposing Trust-held properties — a roadmap developed with technical assistance from the Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP).

Christie (staff) told trustees that the first formal step is for the Trust to vote to declare a property surplus. Staff would then work with finance to propose objectives and a pricing strategy and return to the Trust with recommendations (for example, whether a parcel should target homeownership or rental, and at what area median income percent to restrict the unit). If the Trust decides to proceed, staff would issue requests for proposals (RFPs) to hire a lottery agent and a separate monitoring agent; the RFP would specify that the lottery agent and monitoring agent must be distinct entities to avoid a vendor monitoring its own work.

Christie said the lottery agent would develop an affirmative fair-housing marketing plan, typically run a 60-day outreach period, verify income eligibility and maintain waiting lists. Staff cited examples from other programs — Richmond, Habitat and Wiggles Way — and described coordination with Yarmouth’s housing director, whose program has produced deed-restricted units through an incentive model. Christie noted that the Trust’s approach would be adapted depending on whether the property is a vacant lot or an existing dwelling. Trustees discussed whether the Trust could award an RFP directly to another housing organization (for example, Habitat) to manage allocation and monitoring for deeply discounted units; staff agreed that the RFP could be structured to allow organizations to propose to purchase and manage assets, and that vendor selection criteria would be applied.

Trustees asked about AMI targets and whether staff could return with options showing different buy‑down percentages and impacts; staff said it would present those options and carry the item to the July meeting for further action.