North Carolina Housing Credit Awards Announced; $1.1 Billion in New Investment in Affordable Housing

 

More than $1 billion in new economic investment is coming soon to build and preserve affordable housing in North Carolina, according to Chris Austin, Director of Rental Investment for the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency.

Housing credits were awarded by the NCHFA to rental housing developers who submitted over 100 applications in a competition for low income housing tax credit allocations in 2020.  The awards announced last Friday, August 14, included 42 projects in 31 counties, supporting equity and debt financing for new construction or rehabilitation of 2,730 apartment units.  Awards also were made to 17 tax-exempt bond projects totaling 1,648 units.

Mr. Austin noted that awards made in January, June and last Friday by the agency “have made this a record-setting year for the number of awards (75), units produced (6,776), and the total development costs of the awards ($1.1 billion).”

This year’s awards include housing credits for developments for both new construction and rehabilitation of existing units.  The Ellinger Carr firm is honored to be part of the teams that will be working to provide more than 1,300 new and rehabilitated affordable housing units in 14 cities and towns in North Carolina.

Since 1973, the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency has financed nearly 300,000 homes and apartments, totaling $25 billion, with housing credit awards and agency loan financing.  The NCHFA is a self-supporting public agency.

The Ellinger Carr law firm advocates for affordable housing and supports clients in their development and rehabilitation of affordable housing in our State and elsewhere in the country.  The firm also expects to advise and participate in financing transactions as part of our ongoing relationship with the City of Raleigh and its Housing & Neighborhoods department with loans in support of affordable housing developments in Raleigh, including not only multifamily housing and community development,  but also adaptive reuse of historic structures and first time homebuyer programs and initiatives.

Ellinger Carr is a business law and commercial real estate law firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina.   Ellinger Carr lawyers are experienced and knowledgeable counselors, transaction specialists and business problem solvers, admitted to practice in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana and New York.  For assistance in affordable housing, commercial real estate and corporate and business development matters, call 919-785-9998 or email Susan Ellinger at sellinger@ellingercarr.com,  Sarah Goodin at sgoodin@ellingercarr.com, Heather McDowell at hmcdowell@ellingercarr.com or Steven Carr at scarr@ellingercarr.com.

Susan Ellinger advises Housing Authorities and Housing Executives

Susan Ellinger will be speaking and leading a housing law presentation on November 15, 2019 in Florence, South Carolina.  The Florence meeting is a gathering of the South Carolina Housing Authority Executive Directors.  Susan, a lawyer and Ellinger Carr founding member, is also former Housing Authority executive.  She will be advising the South Carolina executive directors on new developments in fair housing, domestic violence and requirements of the Violence Against Women Act,  due process rights, housing authority leases and lease enforcement, and training of Authority staff on all of these legal issues and matters.  Susan and other Ellinger Carr lawyers represent and advise Housing Authorities in North Carolina and South Carolina.

Ellinger Carr is a business law and commercial real estate law firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Providing safe, affordable housing for families, seniors and developmentally disabled persons has long been a part of the work of the Ellinger Carr law firm, in communities in the Carolinas, the Southeast and elsewhere in the United States.

Ellinger Carr lawyers are experienced and knowledgeable counselors, transaction leaders, and business problem solvers, admitted to practice in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana, Virginia and New York. For assistance in affordable housing, HUD financing, commercial real estate and corporate and business development matters, call 919-785-9998 or email Susan Ellinger at sellinger@ellingercarr.com, Heather McDowell at hmcdowell@ellingercarr.com, Sarah Goodin at sgoodin@ellingercarr.com, or Steven Carr at scarr@ellingercarr.com.

Housing Matters

Who is in control of your LLC? And is she acting in good faith?

The majority partner, or the member with a majority of the membership interests in a joint venture organized as a limited liability company (LLC), is not necessarily the controlling “shareholder” and does not necessarily owe fiduciary duties to the minority interest holder just by virtue of her ownership of a majority interest in the LLC.  In North Carolina, joint venture partners who organize their venture as an LLC have the freedom of contract to write their own bargains, and to provide for the mechanisms for sharing controls and management decisions, including appropriate protections of minority interest holders, in the operating agreement they write when they organize the company.

Recent decisions of the North Carolina Business Court affirm these principles (see note 1), and the Court concluded in one case that a minority member could not claim that the majority member owed a fiduciary duty, or even that ownership of a majority interest creates a presumption of control. The Court made clear that “the fact of control . . . creates the fiduciary obligation.” Because LLCs are fundamentally different from corporations, the rules concerning majority shareholders of corporations are also different in the context of the LLC operating agreement and the freedom that minority owners have to contract for minority protections and to impose checks and limitations on the majority owners. This is a freedom not available to shareholders of a closely held corporation.

The operating agreement can provide for the appointment of managers and other “company officials.” Under the LLC statutes, managers and “company officials” exercise control and accordingly owe fiduciary duties to the LLC. In North Carolina, the LLC statutes require that the managers and other appointed “company officials” (for example, a president or vice president) must discharge their duties “(i) in good faith, (ii) with the care an ordinary prudent person in a like position would exercise under similar circumstances, and (iii) subject to the operating agreement, in a manner the manager [or company official] believes to be in the best interests of the LLC.” (Note 2.)

1. Strategic Management Decisions, LLC v. Sales Performance International, LLC, 2017 NCBC 68; Timbercreek Land & Timber Co. v. Robbins, 2017 NCBC 64.
2. North Carolina General Statutes, Sections 57D-3-21(b), and 57D-3-23. A “company official” is defined as “[a]ny person exercising any management authority over the limited liability company whether the person is a manager or referred to as a manager, director, or officer or given any other title.” North Carolina General Statutes, Section 57D-1-03(5).

Ellinger Carr lawyers assist clients who are creating new companies and joint ventures, including advising, negotiating and thoughtful drafting of the LLC operating agreements. Careful writing and thinking about a lot of “what if?” questions will enable the new partners to navigate and streamline their business decision-making and to minimize the risks of later disputes over controls, and whether one of the partners is or is not acting in good faith.

Ellinger Carr is a business law and commercial real estate law firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Ellinger Carr lawyers are experienced and knowledgeable counselors, transaction leaders, and business problem solvers, admitted to practice in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana, Virginia and New York.

For assistance in commercial real estate, corporate law and business development matters, please call 919-785-9998 or email Susan Ellinger at sellinger@ellingercarr.com, Steven Carr at scarr@ellingercarr.com, Heather McDowell at hmcdowell@ellingercarr.com, and Sarah Goodin at sgoodin@ellingercarr.com.

Heather McDowell leads legal education panel on Advanced Title Insurance Issues

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Heather McDowell of the Ellinger Carr law firm will be a featured speaker and presenter at a National Business Institute legal education seminar and program on advanced title insurance issues in Raleigh, on July 20, 2016.  Topics that Heather will address include owner’s and lender’s title policies, and marketable title concerns, title encumbrances, commercial title policy endorsements, and title disputes, dispute resolution and indemnification agreements.

Heather and other Ellinger Carr lawyers are frequent speakers and presenters concerning legal issues arising in real estate transactions, including legal descriptions, conditions, covenants and restrictions, title, title insurance and survey matters.

Ellinger Carr is a business law and commercial real estate law firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina.   Ellinger Carr lawyers are experienced and knowledgeable counselors, transaction leaders, and business problem solvers, admitted to practice in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana and New York.  For assistance in commercial real estate, corporate law and business development matters, please call 919-785-9998 or email Susan Ellinger at sellinger@ellingercarr.com, Steven Carr at scarr@ellingercarr.com, Heather McDowell at hmcdowell@ellingercarr.com, and Sarah Goodin at sgoodin@ellingercarr.com.

“Mama said there’ll be days like this . . .” Steven Carr presents at Carolinas Housing Council Commissioners Workshop April 23rd

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Steven Carr of the Ellinger Carr law firm will be a featured speaker and presenter at the annual conference and HUD training workshop of the Carolinas Council of Housing, Redevelopment and Codes Officials in Myrtle Beach on April 23.  Steve will be speaking on recent developments in North Carolina law and HUD guidance on smoke-free housing policies, drug-related evictions and housing eligibility, including the Court of Appeals decision in East Carolina Regional Housing Authority v. Lofton, currently on appeal to the North Carolina Supreme Court.

Ellinger Carr is a business law and commercial real estate law firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina.   Ellinger Carr lawyers represent housing authorities and handle a wide variety of public housing and affordable housing matters and transactions.  The firm’s lawyers are experienced and knowledgeable counselors, transaction leaders, and business problem solvers, admitted to practice in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana and New York.  For assistance in community and housing development, commercial real estate and corporate and business development matters, please call 919-785-9998 or email Susan Ellinger at sellinger@ellingercarr.com, Steven Carr at scarr@ellingercarr.com, Heather McDowell at hmcdowell@ellingercarr.com,  and Sarah Goodin at sgoodin@ellingercarr.com.

 

We’ve moved (to a new office suite) – and other changes

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The new year brings more changes for the Ellinger Carr law firm.  We are growing, and we made a recent move.  We are settling in and hanging pictures in our new office suite.  Our new physical address is now Suite 360, at 2840 Plaza Place, Raleigh, North Carolina 27612.

We also recently added a new staff member, Nicole Savago, who is our office manager and paralegal.  We are pleased to have Nicole join our lawyer colleagues, Heather McDowell and  Sarah Goodin, who joined us in 2014, and Nevar Guy, our paralegal, who also joined us in 2014.

We recently celebrated our firm’s seventh anniversary, and we want to say “Thank you!” to all who have made the past seven years a great success.

We succeed because our clients succeed, and we remain focused on and dedicated to the things that were the reasons we formed the firm: developing communities, preserving history, and serving clients. We gratefully acknowledge and give thanks for all of our clients and colleagues who have made the past seven years a memorable and exciting time.

This year, we  joyfully anticipate more change and more success.  We will be updating our website soon, and we will be looking at expanding into new practice areas, and developing new and better ways of providing and improving our client service.

We look forward to working with you for many years to come, and we are grateful for the opportunities to do so!  Please contact us, and let us know how we can be of service to you.

Best wishes always,
Susan Ellinger and Steven Carr

Ellinger & Carr PLLC

Real Estate: Title, Survey, and Careful Attention to Property Transfer Details

Ellinger Carr lawyers presenting program on Legal Descriptions, Title Insurance and Surveys in Real Estate Transactions 

Heather McDowell and Steven Carr will be featured speakers and presenters of a program focused on legal issues arising in real estate transactions, including legal descriptions, conditions, covenants and restrictions and title and survey matters.  The program will be held in Raleigh, North Carolina on October 16, 2014.

Attorneys, surveyors, planners, engineers, developers, title agents, bankers, lenders and real estate professionals will benefit from this focused course to understand and to overcome challenges with title and title exceptions.

Ellinger & Carr PLLCThe program will also help participants to improve survey review skills and to get up-to-date on title and survey standards, and to gain practical tips for drafting and addressing conditions, covenants and property restrictions in deeds and declarations.

Heather and Steve will be leading presentations on surveying skills for the real estate attorney, easements, encroachments, compliance with ALTA/ACSM survey requirements, drafting deeds and commercial real estate purchase agreements, title review, due diligence inspections and remedies if things go wrong or disputes arise before the deal can be closed.  For more information about the program, visit www.nbi-sems.com or contact our office about how to register for the program.

Ellinger Carr is a business law and commercial real estate law firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina.   Ellinger Carr lawyers are experienced and knowledgeable counselors, transaction specialists and business problem solvers, admitted to practice in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana and New York.  For assistance in commercial real estate, corporate law and business development matters, call 919-785-9998 or email Susan Ellinger at sellinger@ellingercarr.com, Steven Carr at scarr@ellingercarr.com, and Heather McDowell at hmcdowell@ellingercarr.com.

Grand Opening for Affordable Multifamily Apartments in Greenville, North Carolina

Winslow PointeThe NRP Group celebrated a grand opening and ribbon-cutting for its latest addition to the NRP Group’s portfolio of affordable multifamily housing, the Winslow Pointe community, in Greenville, North Carolina.

On March 20, NRP co-founder and principal, Alan F. Scott, hosted Mayor Allen Thomas and Mayor Pro-Tem Rose Glover and other guests from Greenville to announce the completion and lease-up of the Winslow Pointe community, serving 84 families with one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, representing a $10.9 million investment in safe, affordable housing and fully-equipped kitchens with Energy Star appliances,  and a community clubhouse with a community room, Internet access, fitness center and playground facilities.

The Winslow Pointe community is the NRP Group’s latest North Carolina affordable housing community, financed in part with Federal and State affordable housing tax credits and permanent loan financing.  The Ellinger Carr law firm served as counsel to the construction lender, Bank of America, for the initial construction phase of the project.

NRP Group has built more than 18,000 housing units since its founding in 1995, and it manages 96 communities encompassing more than 10,000 market rate and tax credit family and senior apartment properties in North Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Virginia, Texas, Indiana, New Mexico, Florida and Arizona.  It soon will begin construction on its latest North Carolina tax credit property in north Raleigh, North Carolina.

Ellinger Carr is a business law and commercial real estate law firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Ellinger Carr lawyers are experienced and knowledgeable counselors, transaction specialists and business problem solvers, admitted to practice in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana and New York.PPC_2919

Among more recent transactions, on April 18, 2013 Ellinger Carr, serving as counsel to the construction lender, Bank of America, concluded a $21.9 million construction and equity financing closing for rehabilitation and new construction of a 95-unit affordable housing property in New Port Richey, Florida.

For assistance in commercial real estate and corporate and business development matters, call 919-785-9998 or email Susan Ellinger at sellinger@ellingercarr.com or Steven Carr at scarr@ellingercarr.com.

Ellinger & Carr Speaking on Social Media, Housing Authority Issues at PHADA National Conference, San Diego

PHADA logoSusan Ellinger and Steven Carr will be featured speakers and presenters on management and legal issues of concern to executive directors of public housing authorities at their upcoming national conference in San Diego in January 2013.

The social and cultural phenomenon of ubiquitous social media has prompted housing authorities and most employers to develop and adopt social media policies to address the use and effects of social media and networking on employee productivity and to mitigate the risks of the employers’ liability.  Ms. Ellinger and Mr. Carr will speak on the social networking session: “What’s Your ‘Status’?  Is Your Social Media Policy Working and Protecting You from Liability?”

A second session will focus on risks and liabilities of tax credit developments, and Ms. Ellinger and Mr. Carr will present a primer and update on low income housing tax credits issues, including an overview of housing authority affiliates, joint ventures and how to protect the Board and executive directors from liabilities and risks frequently encountered in these transactions.  The program is titled:  “Partnerships 101: Top 10 Tips for Successful Community Development Joint Ventures.”

The Ellinger Carr law firm represents housing authorities and their non-profit community development corporations and other non-profit and for-profit developers in affordable housing and mixed finance housing projects in the Southeast and elsewhere in the United States.

Ellinger Carr helps to build homes and communities

Ellinger & Carr LogoProviding safe, affordable housing for families, seniors and developmentally disabled persons has long been a part of the work of the Ellinger Carr law firm, in communities in the Carolinas, the Southeast and elsewhere in the United States.  Susan Ellinger, the firm’s founding member, announced that the firm’s lawyers have just concluded a closing in Canadian, Texas for the development and new construction of 64 affordable apartment units called the Oasis Cove Apartments.  The firm served as lender’s counsel for the closing of a debt and equity financing of $14 million.

Over the past year, Ellinger Carr has counseled and assisted with more than 20 transactions and closings for the investment of more than $150 million in financings of multifamily affordable housing apartment complexes and commercial real estate developments in communities in North and South Carolina, and in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

Susan Ellinger noted that the pace of the firm’s affordable and historic rehabilitation closings continues in the fourth quarter of 2012, including complex, multi-million dollar transactions expected to close in Atlanta, Richmond, Charlotte, and in smaller communities like Clarksville, Tennessee and DeBary, Florida.

Ellinger Carr is a business law and commercial real estate law firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina.   Ellinger Carr lawyers are experienced and knowledgeable counselors, transaction specialists and business problem solvers, admitted to practice in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana and New York.  For assistance in commercial real estate and corporate and business development matters, call 919-785-9998 or email Susan Ellinger or Steven Carr.