If, on June 9, we decide to pursue affordable housing on our property, an important future decision we will need to make is how that property will be managed. Due to our small and aging congregation, we do not have the person-power to pull that off in-house. Our best option would be to find a Property Management (PM) Company. A PM deals directly with applicants and tenants, saving time and worry over legal marketing, collecting rent, handling maintenance, and repair issues plus responding to tenant complaints and even pursuing evictions. They will also be an important partner in the process of maintaining compliance with fair housing laws. A good PM will work with the congregation to design leases in line with the congregations values as well as following the fair housing regulations.
Hiring a high-quality PM would not only guarantee an efficiently run facility, but would remove the burden of our learning what the fair housing laws are and solving all of the other complications involved in maintaining this project.
Remember, the June 9th vote will ONLY determine if we as a church would like to pursue the many aspects of creating affordable housing. The work by your housing team has thus far only gathered information and attempted to inform the congregation of the options available.