HUD Multifamily Transformation Update
On Dec. 12th, LeadingAge NY met with Ben Metcalf, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) deputy assistant secretary (DAS) for multifamily housing to discuss the status of and issues related to the Multifamily Transformation program.
Metcalf shared more details on the November 25 announcement that 2 field offices -- one in Baltimore, MD, and one in Minneapolis, MN -- would be restored and would continue to serve as multifamily satellite support offices based on the level of experience in unique business product areas and portfolio scope.
In addition, on Dec. 12th, LeadingAge New York met separately with Teresa Bainton and other HUD NYC staff to discuss a variety of issues related to New York State, including the HUD reorganization. We inquired about the plans for upstate HUD oversight that is currently being administered through the Buffalo regional office. HUD’s plan is to have multifamily property work processed through the New York City office, however, some of the individual property “workflow” may be completed at a variety of locations.
There will be five “phases” of a national consolidation of Multifamily offices with New York slated as phase four. Depending on Congress allocating funds for this initiative , and no other impediments to the plan including litigation, New York would begin the reorganization in late 2015.
Timing for the rollout of phase one, which includes the consoldation of services and roles in a new area under the purview of the new Fort Worth region, supported by Kansas City, is currently scheduled to begin as early as Jan. 2014. Phase one will be a template on how other phases will be completed.
Updated news on the Multifamily Transformation can be followed on the HUD Multifamily Transformation website.
LeadingAge New will continue to track the consolidation of the Multifamily Transformation and remain in contact with Teresa Bainton who will have oversight on the east coast states including Connecticut, Vermont, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Washington, D.C.
Below is the Multifamily Transformation announcement from DAS Ben Metcalf:
Since we first announced Multifamily's transformation efforts earlier this year, we have made significant progress in laying the groundwork to achieve our goals to better serve our partners, operate more efficiently and consistently, and improve our risk management practices. Additionally, the transformation offers significant benefits to employees including improved career path opportunities, balanced workloads across offices, and significant training in the new operating model.
We have listened to, and considered feedback on the transformation plan from you, the Multifamily staff, and many other partners in our mission. In response to this feedback, I am writing today to update you on three key changes we are making to the transformation plan to better address our goals. These changes include:
1. Retaining Multifamily staff in Minneapolis and Baltimore. These offices will provide additional geographic coverage and support for critical Multifamily work in the New York and Chicago regions, the two largest regions in terms of staff and workload in the future state model. The Minneapolis office will be a satellite of the Chicago Hub and the Baltimore office will be a satellite of the New York Hub. Minneapolis plays an important role in the region's submarket, especially in supporting cooperatives for the elderly, and has a high volume of work in Asset Management, ranking second to Chicago in the region. Baltimore provides additional geographic coverage in Federal Region III and has the largest Production workload of the four current hubs in the future New York region. MFH will reopen the preference survey next week to enable employees to select their top four relocation preferences among the twelve future state offices, including Minneapolis and Baltimore.
2. Augmenting our travel budget to ensure staff can perform site visits related to certain ongoing business activities, such as assessing unusual environmental conditions, servicing troubled assets, or participating in interagency preservation activities in locations where Multifamily offices are being consolidated. We will be requesting that Congress formalize this budget allocation in its annual appropriations, thereby ensuring that the staff can make these visits a regular and continuing part of its services to you.
3. Training one Field Policy & Management HUD staff member in each consolidating location to ensure that we sustain our close ties to our communities, lenders, and other stakeholders as HUD Multifamily staff relocate. These liaisons will facilitate close communication with Multifamily staff in the Hub and satellite offices.
Thank you for your continued support and investment in our mission. I am confident this transformation will further increase our ability to deliver on our mission, and I know we can accomplish this as a team. For additional information on our Transformation efforts, please visit the HUD website or send questions to MFT@hud.gov.
Ben Metcalf - deputy assistant secretary, Office of Multifamily Housing
Contact: Ken Harris, kharris@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8835