Denver Offers Pathway for Misused 'Affordable' Housing

Denver is attempting to find a solution after the revelation that about 300 homes built for low-income residents were sold to buyers who did not qualify for affordable housing. Now, city officials have proposed a compromise they hope will eventually recoup the affordable units without kicking people out of their homes. Andrew Kenney reports in the Post:

The new deal is simple: Affected homeowners would be allowed to keep their properties for as long as they want, even if they broke the income limits. But when they sell the houses, they would have to obey the program's strict pricing limits ... When they eventually move, the income restrictions on their properties would resume, staying in place for however many years the ineligible homeowner chose to stay in the home.

The pathway also applies to people who are breaking other rules, including illegally renting out their homes.

Officials claim the root of these mistaken transactions is an error at the state level resulting in local affordability restrictions not being presented clearly during sales. But attorneys for the homeowners accuse the city of negligence in administering the affordable housing program over the last 15 years.