Coalition says Good Deeds buy‑down placed valley workers into homes, outlines safeguards

April Long, executive director of the West Mountain Regional Housing Coalition, told Aspen City Council on May 12 that the coalition’s Good Deeds program has converted free‑market homes into deed‑restricted affordable ownership by paying a portion of the purchase price at closing. “We provide 30% of the purchase price at closing,” Long said, explaining the program’s buy‑down structure.

Long said the program has helped place valley workers into secure homeownership in the program’s first months. “In 7 months, we were able to do this on 9 different homes in the region,” she said, and later noted a total of 13 working locals have benefited across the valley from Aspen to Bridal. Long described eligibility rules: the home must be the buyer’s primary residence, occupants must maintain local employment throughout occupancy, units may not be short‑term rented, and annual recertification of employment is required.

Long also summarized resale limits and capital‑improvement rules: buyers are allowed 3% annual appreciation on the buyer’s purchase price and capital improvements are capped at 10% with a depreciation schedule. The coalition emphasized the deed restriction as its primary enforcement tool: Long said the deed restriction is the asset the coalition retains if a household later fails to meet requirements.

Liz Axberg, housing policy analyst in the city manager’s office, said the city has approved a housing needs assessment to provide better workforce and inventory counts and that the assessment should clarify how many local jobs the housing stock currently serves. Axberg tied the program’s next steps to that assessment and to coordination across jurisdictions.

The council asked follow‑up questions about verification steps, retirement provisions and whether expiring deed restrictions could be repurchased. Long said staff performs employer checks, verifies pay stubs and tax returns during recertification, and monitors short‑term‑rental listings as part of compliance efforts. She said retirement is allowed under defined conditions (four years in program and a decade of local work prior to retirement), and that repurchasing expiring deed restrictions is something staff could investigate further.

Next steps: council members requested additional data (home counts by subarea, average unit sizes and more details on long‑term compliance costs) to review before any decisions. There were no motions or votes during the work session.