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Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) is a private
nonprofit, community-based service organization that has obtained
or intends to obtain staff with the capacity to develop affordable
housing for the community it serves.
CHDOs
are funded with HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program funds.
A minimum of 15 percent of the HOME allocation must be set aside
for housing development activities in which a qualified CHDO is
the owner, developer and/or sponsor of the housing.
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CHDO is a specific type of private nonprofit entity. CHDOs must
meet certain requirements pertaining to their legal status, organizational
structure, and capacity and experience.
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CHDO must be organized under state and local law. One of the purposes
of the organization must be to provide decent housing that is
affordable to low- and moderate-income persons. The commitment
must be evidenced in the CHDO's charter, articles of incorporation,
by-laws, or a resolution of the CHDO's board of directors.
No
part of the CHDO's earnings (profits) may benefit any members,
founders, contributors or individuals.
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CHDO should have a clearly defined geographic service area. The
service may include an entire community (that is, a city, town,
village, county or multi-county area), but not the whole state.
Nonprofits serving special populations must also define the geographic
boundaries of their service areas in order to qualify as CHDOs.
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CHDO must have received a tax-exempt ruling from the IRS under
Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 in order to
be designated as a CHDO.
The
CDHO is intended to respond to a particular community's needs. Therefore,
the structure of the board of directors of a CHDO is viewed as the
main indicator of community control over the CHDO. The CHDO board
must be composed as follows:
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CHDO must also demonstrate that it has at least one year of experience
serving the community where it intends to develop the HOME-assisted
housing. CHDOs must demonstrate the capacity of their key staff
to carry out the HOME-assisted activities they are planning. This
means that the CHDOs must have experienced key staff who has successfully
completed projects similar to those proposed by the CHDO or key
staff with limited or no experience and who will use experienced
consultants for the planning and development activities, as long
as there is a plan in place for the consultant to train the key
staff.
Eligible
CHDO Activities
When
a CHDO is acting as an owner, sponsor or developer eligible set-aside
activities include acquisition and or rehabilitation of rental
housing, new construction of rental housing, acquisition and/or
rehabilitation of homebuyer properties, new construction of homebuyer
properties, and direct financial assistance to purchasers of HOME-assisted
housing sponsored or developed by a CHDO with HOME funds.
Application
Process
For
more information or to request a CHDO application package, contact the
Affordable Housing Office at (813) 274-6600.
