Memorandum

To: Victoria Watlington, Charlotte City Council, District 3

From: Anna Schleunes, Senior Assistant City Attorney Lead
Terrie Hagler-Gray, Senior Assistant City Attorney Lead
Alicia Young Hall, Senior Assistant City Attorney
Andrew Kelly, Senior Assistant City Attorney
Rebecca Hefner, Deputy Director Housing and Neighborhood Services
Warren Wooten, Assistant Director for Affordable Housing

cc: Shawn Heath, Director Housing and Neighborhood Services

Date: August 19, 2022

Re: Housing Justice Coalition Platform

______________________________________________________________________________

In response to your request for input regarding the demands set forth in the Housing Justice
Coalition (HJC) Platform provided to you by the HJC in July, we prepared this analysis that
incorporates not only any legal concerns, but also references programs and initiatives currently in
place and others that are in process or under review. Because of the broad nature of many of the
HJC’s demands, our responses are an attempt to address what we believe was meant by each
demand. For ease of review, the itemized responses below correspond to the numbered demands
in the HJC Platform.
ANALYSIS
1. NC law would not permit the city to implement a “right to counsel,” however the city
does provide funding for collaborations with Legal Aid and provides education regarding the
eviction process through both the Community Relations Committee (CRC) and Legal Aid.
2. The CRC provides this service. In addition, the city also participates in a courthouse
eviction prevention effort through a collaboration with Legal Aid.
3. SOID policy is in process. As previously explained, the city would need to get authority
from the General Assembly to adopt an ordinance expanding the policy citywide.
4. The city has no jurisdiction over private real estate transactions. Furthermore, all
landlord and tenant rights and responsibilities are set forth in state law.
5. NC law controls the expungement process. In addition, Legal Aid and Legal Services can
provide assistance in this area.

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6. That information should be available to the public from the Courts (County). There
might also be opportunities for collaboration with the Urban Institute.
7. No city action requested.
8. No city action requested, but the city financially supports community partners that
conduct housing training.
9. The city cannot create land banks (or land trusts), but it can perform the basic functions
of a land bank by buying and holding troubled properties, stabilizing properties by eliminating
encumbrances and then conveying properties to a developer who will carry out a specific public
purpose such as providing low-income housing. Some of the projects funded by HTF and other
funding sources might be considered as already addressing this HJC request. In addition, the
NEST Commission is reviewing this as part of its work plan.
10. The CRC already partners with community partners that do this.
11. No city action requested.
12. The overly broad nature of this request raises concerns. For example, it could be
requesting community input on an individual eviction or create conflicts with the guiding
principles and implementation of the UDO. We don’t totally understand what this demand is
referencing, but assuming that this is a request regarding zoning and planning decisions, any
actions by the developer would have to be voluntary. The city cannot mandate that a property
owner mitigate displacement in by right or conventional development projects. However, the
city is already considering ways to implement process changes that might allow negotiations
between the City and a developer when a conditional zoning project might lead to displacement.
13. The city is re-evaluating its aging in place program and other anti-displacement initiatives
are under consideration. The issue of tax relief has legal obstacles that we are trying to work
around by carefully tailoring programs to address the needs of low-income residents.
14. Facilitate is a broad word. Procurement statutes are very specific about city procurement
processes. NC real property statutes are also quite specific about when and how a city may buy
or sell land. That being said, HTF and NOAH programs already do some of this. Additionally,
there are federal funds (i.e. CDBG) the city uses to address economic mobility. Lastly, the city
provides funding to several nonprofit organizations that make housing repairs for low-income
residents.
15. See the answer to Request #9. Furthermore, there is a statutorily proscribed process for
disposing of city owned real property that would prohibit the city from granting a right of first
refusal to another party. The city has used the RFP process in the past to identify projects for
city owned land that line up with stated city goals.
16. Very tricky: the minimum housing code is a health and safety ordinance. Not only would
it be problematic for the city to ignore obvious health and safety violations that are brought to its
attention, but the city also cannot selectively enforce against certain individuals and not others.

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The city does work with owners whose property is under housing code enforcement to find
resources for repairs/rehab and sometimes alternative housing.
17. The most recent adopted budget increased the funding available for down payment
assistance. It would be difficult to speed up the process given the number of parties in these
types of transactions (lenders, closing attorneys, etc.) and the fact that the city is not the party
driving the process.
18. The city does not have the authority to prevent or interfere in private real estate
transactions. In addition, there is NC case law that prohibits local government from placing
conditions on conveyances of property that will depress fair market values. The city can provide
educational support and is currently investigating opportunities for doing so.
19. See the response to Request #13.
20. No city action is requested, but be advised that neither the city nor the county have
authority to change homestead exemptions or to create or expand tax classifications. That power
lies solely with the General Assembly and would need to apply statewide.
21. The Community Benefits Task Force is discussing these issues. If you have questions
you can contact Robyn Byers (Robyn.Byers@charlottenc.gov) in Planning who is facilitating the
task force.
22. This would be a question for the Community Benefits Task Force.
23. Neighborhood leaders and residents can sign up to receive mailed notice of any rezoning
requests (and related meetings) that are within 1 mile of the rezoning address. They may register
through the website on the HNS page
https://charlottenc.gov/HNS/CE/Communityinfo/Pages/Neighborhood-Organization-Contact-
List.aspx . In addition to the contact list registration linked above, information is spread through
the NextDoor platform and city IT is building out the ability for residents to subscribe to
notifications based on geography (i.e. registering for notice of rezonings submitted in certain
neighborhoods).
24. See the response for Request #23. Nevertheless, the city may not know about all pending
developments because not all developments require rezoning. The county receives and reviews
building permit requests and may be in a better position to disseminate this type of information.
25. We are not sure what HJC means by “comprehensive impact assessment.” If it means
fees for impacts, those have legal implications. If it means an analysis of costs and benefits, this
may already happen since most ED generated development partnerships are based on an impact
assessment that is used to justify supporting the public investment.
26. This request would not be within the city’s purview. State and federal election laws
preempt this kind of action.
27. The city does not have the legal authority to regulate excise taxes.

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28. Not all development projects that receive public funding include or would even support
housing. For example, the city provides funding for public infrastructure that often supports a
private commercial or industrial development that contains no housing. The city does have a
density bonus incentive for voluntary inclusion of affordable housing by a developer.
Furthermore, the city may (and often does) engage in negotiations for the voluntary inclusion of
affordable housing.