The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
(Editor’s Note: This interview took place last week, prior to the GVRHA board’s vote to recommend that Gunnison County take over its services.)
LaMonica reviews the current compliance verification….
By Katherine Nettles
The Gunnison Valley Regional Housing Authority (GVRHA) is undergoing a transition, as its executive director Melissa LaMonica prepares to leave her position in late July to take on a new role with Gunnison County as finance director. LaMonica has been at the helm of the GVRHA for just over a year and said last week that there is strong momentum with increased financial support from local jurisdictions to expand services and address deed-restrictions compliance. She also addressed some unrest about the GVRHA’s recent monitoring of deed restricted homes, a process that will presumably continue despite her departure.
“While not without its challenges, I would overall characterize my time with GVRHA as a very rewarding experience,” said LaMonica in an email to the News last week. “We have an amazing team who is extremely committed to this challenging work, and we have an equally passionate and committed board of directors who has been immensely supportive. We have made a lot of progress in this past year, and it is my hope that the good work will continue.”
LaMonica reviewed some of that progress: “In the year since I have been here, our team has greatly evolved the quality and level of service we provide. With the increased funding and support we have received from our jurisdiction partners we have been able to increase capacity, implement scalable systems and processes and improve our communications and relationships with our community and stakeholders. Our property management team is operating efficiently and effectively, and we have begun to run compliance on the deed restricted properties in the valley; something our partner jurisdictions have been wanting us to do for some time.”
She summarized, “I think GVRHA is in the best position it has ever been in to scale and increase services.”
Compliance efforts
GVRHA’s compliance review started in the North Valley, and the GVRHA is still in the initial phase of taking inventory and collecting responses.
“We have begun the monitoring and compliance in the Pitchfork neighborhood in Mt. Crested Butte while also researching some reported presumptions of non-compliance in Crested Butte. As of today, of the 48 properties under review, 11 are confirmed compliant, two are non-compliant and the rest are either in process or are non-responsive,” said LaMonica. She responded to some reports from homeowners that the GVRHA’s efforts have seemed overzealous after little previous oversight.
“Yes, there are a handful of homeowners who are questioning our compliance efforts, some stronger than others,” said LaMonica. “Our role here at GVRHA is to administer the deed restrictions as written. Many of our homeowners recognize that eligibility verification is what they signed up for when they chose to purchase a government subsidized deed restricted home, and as such have been cooperative and appreciative of the opportunity to have had stable affordable housing in this challenging housing environment, where many of our community members do not.”
“While we have not been contacted by any legal representatives at this time, we have had a couple of homeowners who have been very vocal about precisely this position. The reality is that we have been introducing this idea slowly since April, and we are not doing this alone. We are doing exactly what the towns of Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte have asked us to do, and that is verifying that the current owners and occupants of these units are “Qualified Occupants” or “Qualified Owners” as defined in the deed restriction. Because we have not had the capacity to run compliance effectively in the past does not limit our ability to do so now or in the future. Our local governments have invested a lot of money in deed restricted housing to ensure secure and affordable homeownership for our workforce. The monitoring and compliance we have been asked to conduct is a necessary step in preserving the future affordability of these homes.”
LaMonica said that the GVRHA has not asked to inspect any homes at this time, although many deed restrictions explicitly allow them to do so if they deem it necessary to verify compliance. She said they have requested tax returns.
“While I can understand how requesting tax returns can feel invasive, the request is not out of the ordinary to ensure that the subsidized housing is serving the intended population. If our role is to verify the qualifications of Occupants and Owners, and one such qualification is that 80% of their income is earned a particular way, the one way for us to fairly and consistently confirm 100% of earned income is to review tax returns,” she said.
Overall, LaMonica said the process is working to serve the populations for whom it is intended.
“For every homeowner who is upset about our document requests used to verify continued program eligibility, we have as many residents – or more – expressing dissatisfaction with those who are perceived to be in these homes who shouldn’t be. It is not an easy task to be undertaking; however, we are working very closely with the beneficiary jurisdictions to ensure that our work is fair, consistent and aligned with the legal governing documents on the property.”
LaMonica said her decision to work at the county was a difficult choice given the progress she has made at the GVRHA.
“This decision was not one I made lightly, as I remain deeply committed to the mission, and have genuinely valued the opportunity to work alongside such a dedicated team. Over the last year, I have developed a strong rapport with the senior leaders at Gunnison County, and, in the end, I believe I can serve the broader community most effectively in this new capacity.”
Her last day with the GVRHA will be July 29.
