By: Purvi Desai
WASHINGTON Township officials say mortgage payments, taxes and condo fees are to blame for four potential Council on Affordable Housing unit foreclosures in the Foxmoor area.
"The foreclosure matters have to do with individual residents being unable to meet the demands of their mortgage, taxes and condo fees," Township Administrator Mary Caffrey, who is also the municipal COAH liaison to the state, said Tuesday. "This is problem not just in Washington Township but in other communities where property taxes have gone up at a dramatic rate. Hopewell Township is facing similar issues."
One of the four COAH residents in Foxmoor has moved out already, said Township Council President Sonja Walter, adding that the four potential foreclosures are the first she has come across since the year-and-a-half she has been involved on the council. "They’re not very common prior to this," she said. "We had an in-house agent (who handled COAH) previously."
The township has an affordable housing attorney, Allison Zangrilli, who Ms. Caffrey said, "is not only a resident but whose firm is the state League of Municipalities’ special counsel on COAH."
"Predicting foreclosure is difficult because typically by the time we get information through official channels we are already against a time clock to work with the person to keep the unit in affordable housing," Ms. Caffrey said. "Allison Zangrilli has done an outstanding job of working with the banks on this matter. So, we are working with the Foxmoor management to get an earlier ‘heads-up’ if someone falls behind on their condo fees. Typically, this is best indicator that someone is having trouble meeting expenses."
"We are among a group of municipalities that are in communication with the state that COAH must amend its procedures for handling foreclosures, or municipalities will face the loss of units in sheriff’s sales," she said. "Basically, the municipality has to be allowed to identify a potential buyer and arrange matches in cases where foreclosure is imminent, rather than go through the four-month marketing period typically required when new units are available. Obviously there is a distinction between a new unit and one in which the bank is threatening to forward to sheriff’s sale."
Ms. Walter said the township also is working with the state Housing & Mortgage Finance Agency to make sure that the foreclosure sales go through.
"I have personally intervened in some matters involving individual homeowners and worked with them to avoid foreclosure by informing the lender that we are arranging for the unit to be sold," Ms. Caffrey said. "We also ask the HMFA to expedite the sale to avoid foreclosure. The affordable housing committee will be meeting with (Trenton-based community development agency) Isles, Inc., soon to discuss counseling measures for some residents. "Individuals and families that meet income limits frequently tell towns or the agencies in charge of selling the units that they can meet the mortgage but the taxes and condo fees are deal-breakers," Ms. Caffrey said. "The issue of condo fees is one that Councilwoman Walter has taken a personal interest in; again, this is a statewide problem."
Ms. Walter said people with low-income that apply and receive COAH units get "caught up without real financial training" when dealing with their payments She said the state has now established new rules in training COAH residents whose taxes and association fees constitute 30 percent of their income. "You will be required to take financial counseling," Ms. Walter said.
She said that making a potential checklist for any new developments wanting to come in and going through applicant lists is very important. "One example from a development we’re trying to sell out right now in the bedroom there are green walls," Ms. Walter said. "The design standards (are important). It’s a very standardized checklist, and hasn’t been finalized now. (The checklist is) so that people aren’t surprised when they go in to purchase what they’re going in."
In addition to making the checklist, Ms. Walter said, it is also important on the township’s part that they install energy efficient appliances. "These people are on very moderate or low-income the township should be responsible and put in energy efficient appliances," she said.
Washington Township has 254 total COAH units, including bedrooms in several group homes for persons with developmental disabilities, Ms. Caffrey said, adding that of that, 184 units are throughout Foxmoor, although the bulk of the COAH units are in Hampton Chase, Andover and Wyndam Place. The earliest COAH units have been in place for over 20 years, she said.
"According to our Fair Share Plan, 51 were built prior to Dec. 15, 1986," Ms. Caffrey said. "They have come on line at various times as Foxmoor was built out.
"The last part of our second round will be between 26 and 35 rentals in the balance of Town Center (the first four will be open in the upcoming months when the Lofts open)," she said. "The second round is still finishing due to numerous regulatory delays with DOT for the road network around Town Center."
"For me affordable housing is a vital need," Ms. Walter said. "There are so many people out there who couldn’t be able to live in New Jersey without it. We need to make sure those needs are met. The program, to me, kind of has a potential for failure. The sooner it’s addressed in a realistic manner, the better." She added that bolder steps need to be taken to assure COAH’s efficiency.
Nancy Tindall, the former mayor and chairwoman of the Affordable Housing Committee, is taking the initiative to bring in Isles to come up with ways to provide more intense counseling services, Ms. Caffrey said.
"Foreclosures have happened throughout the 20-plus year history of affordable housing in New Jersey," she said.
The current four cases do mean there is a flood of foreclosures in the township, she said, but just that there are four active cases right now as opposed to typically only one or two at a time.
"We are not treating this lightly; however, we want to be very aggressive in making sure we keep our affordable units," Ms. Caffrey said. "Washington Township has always received high marks from the state for its efforts in this area."

