On Jan. 7 the Housing Opportunity Fund Advisory Board voted to make the Homeowner Assistance Program (HAP) pilot an outright grant with a 10-year deed restriction. The motion passed after discussion about administrative burden and homeowner equity; board member Alan Sisco moved the motion and Tanika Harris seconded it.

Kiana Wasler, chief housing officer of the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), told the advisory that the HAP guideline revisions are in a 30-day public comment period and that "the goal is for the URA board to take a final vote on the HAP guidelines at their at our February 13th board meeting, and we would like to open the HAP round, which is a pilot round with Action Housing, as a nice Valentine's Day present to the city of Pittsburgh residents on February 14th." The board approved the grant structure for the pilot while retaining a 10-year restrictive covenant on properties that receive funds.

Board members debated technical differences between a grant with deed restrictions and a forgivable loan. Kiana Wasler explained the main administrative contrast: a loan would appear as a mortgage on title and could require URA approval for future refinancing, while a grant would not create a mortgage but would carry a deed restriction that requires resale to an income-qualified buyer if sold during the restriction period. As Wasler summarized, the grant approach "doesn't kinda tie up the homeowner homeowner's equity in the home and allows them to, you know, as more freedoms in the future if need be." Board members repeatedly cited administrative burden as a factor favoring a grant for the pilot.

The advisory recorded one named abstention during the vote. The motion was moved by Alan Sisco and seconded by Tanika Harris and was announced as carried by the chair, Adrianne WannaHawk.

The advisory also discussed implementation considerations: the pilot will be administered with a partner agency (Action Housing) and will require agreements with homeowners and contractors; a deed-restrictive covenant will be filed so the URA is notified if a covered property is sold within 10 years. Staff said the deed restriction is enforced when title work or a sale triggers notification (typically via title company, real estate agent or property owner). The URA indicated that it prefers a grant structure for easier administration during the pilot, while acknowledging longer-term trade-offs for fund recapture and program sustainability.

Next steps: the URA staff will finalize guideline language through the public comment period, present final guidelines to the URA board on Feb. 13, and, if approved, open the pilot jointly with Action Housing on Feb. 14.