Posted on October 28, 2021
BOSTON --- Registration is now open for the fair housing marketing and lottery virtual training, which will be held on Thursday, Nov. 18 from 12 to 3:30 p.m.
In the past, there as been a fee to attend this important and popular training but MHP is offering this training free of charge as we resolve technical issues with our online payment vendor.
Attendance for this event will be limited in order to maximize the experience of attendees and the effectiveness of the interactive sessions. Registration preference will be given to those in rental management, municipal government, community development, regional housing and local housing funding committees who have not previously received a AFHM/Lottery attendance certificate.
Registration will close once the capacity of 40 registrants has been reached. If interest exceeds the limit, we plan to repeat this training before the end of the year. This training is a collaboration between the Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP), MassHousing and the state Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD).
The training will be divided into two parts:
Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing (AFHM): The first-half of the training will provide the legal foundations of fair housing and elements of an acceptable AFHM and Resident Selection Plan. The training will also touch upon the Supreme Court's Disparate Impact ruling and the Department of Housing and Urban Development recent proposal to reinstate the discriminatory effect standard.
Lotteries: The second half will feature a step-by-step guide to the lottery process. Attention will be paid to lotteries for both homeownership and rental units as well as post-lottery waiting list management. Specific topics to be addressed include identifying the roles and responsibilities of lottery and monitoring agents, how to include preference for lotteries and the role of the community.
Session counts toward certification
Attendees of the training will receive a certification of attendance. This certification, combined with Certified Occupancy Specialist Accreditation or other income determination training, will meet the qualifications of most organizations to conduct affordable homeownership and rental lotteries and lease-ups.
Attendees must attend the entire training to receive the certification. For more information about this training, contact MHP's Emma McGurren at emcgurren@mhp.net or MassHousing's Monica Passeno at MPasseno@masshousing.com or 802-488-9727.