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Community land trusts warn county income audits and tenant data demands threaten preservation efforts
Summary
Community land trusts and preservation advocates told the BOE that county practices requiring tax returns and pay stubs for every tenant impose privacy risks and heavy staff burdens, and asked the BOE to accept existing regulatory monitoring and limit duplicative income audits.
Jen Collins of the Oakland Community Land Trust described how CLTs use the welfare exemption during transitional rental periods before converting occupied properties to shared‑equity ownership. "We are saving the county money by doing the work that we do," she said, and added that heavy documentation demands reduce small organizations' ability to operate.
Collins and other panelists said some counties require tenant tax returns, pay stubs or wet signatures year after year—even for projects already subject to regulatory monitoring by state or local agencies—and that this practice can be particularly burdensome for preservation work and for residents who are unbanked or paid in cash. Heather Bromfield of Enterprise Community Partners recommended BOE pre‑approval of common local and state regulatory agreements so assessors would not routinely request duplicative household income audits.
Panelists asked the BOE to set both minimum and maximum documentation standards, accept electronic signatures where allowed, and publish county documentation requirements on the BOE website so applicants know what a complete filing looks like before they submit.
