Speaker 4 introduced draft terms for a rental rehabilitation program and said staff used Invest DSM’s rental property template as a starting point. “The structure for how the Invest DSM program was set up for rental properties, they had a cost share of 30% covered by the organization, 70% of the work covered by the rental property owner,” Speaker 4 said.

Staff listed proposed affordability terms that would link the amount of assistance to a required affordability period: “If you're doing $15,000 up to $15,000, you have a 3 year requirement. $45,000 is a 5 year, and then $75,000 is a 7 year,” Speaker 4 said. Staff also described an example 2% annual rent increase limit in the template and annual income monitoring requirements.

Why it matters: the city is trying to balance incentives that bring rental property owners into rehabilitation work with safeguards to prevent tenant displacement. Staff emphasized that the draft is for discussion and that staff plan landlord focus groups and outreach before finalizing terms.

Debate and concerns: board members cautioned that strict rules can be gamed by sophisticated landlords and pressed staff to avoid unintended consequences such as owners evicting tenants or later selling properties to buyers unwilling to honor affordability terms. Speaker 5 warned that “more regulations or specifics we put in on some of this, the easier it is for some of the more sophisticated landlords to gain them.” Staff replied they will convene landlord focus groups and seek input on what terms are reasonable.

Other questions addressed included whether affordability thresholds should start at 60% AMI rather than 80% and how the program would treat legally converted units versus illegal conversions. Staff said these are open policy choices and that they will return with refined language after outreach.

What’s next: staff will seek landlord feedback, run focused meetings and return with recommended adjustments to affordability bands, duration and enforcement provisions before any final program approval.