NeahCasa

A Local Community Land Trust

NeahCasa is incorporated as a tax exempt 501c3 Community Land Trust (CLT), as of January 2008. This means that NeahCasa is structured to hold land for houses in trust FOREVER for the benefit of the community.

Though known nationally as “Community Land Trusts” or CLTs we often refer to ourselves locally as a “housing trust” to avoid being confused with the Lower Nehalem Community Trust (LNCT), our local conservancy land trust based at Alder Creek Farm.

 

A CLT takes land cost out of the equation in perpetuity. NeahCasa then has two options of what to do with the house on the land.  We will either:

• Continue to own the house and makes it available for an affordable rental OR

• “Sell” the house via a 99 year ground lease to someone in the community. The ground lease can be renewed for an additional 99 years. It is inheritable and gives homeowners virtually the same bundle of ownership rights as market-ownership with certain resale restrictions. Any increase in equity shared between the homeowner and the trust.

Because NeahCasa owns the property under the house in perpetuity, it keeps the land out of the rising real estate market. Only the house can be sold and the terms of that resale are controlled by the trust.  Thus the trust will preserve affordability for future buyers without requiring additional subsidies.

Click here for more information about CLT’s in general and how they work.   There are almost 200 of them nationwide and several in Oregon.

 

How We Got There - Thanks to a $5000 grant from the US Bank Foundation, we were able to work with the Community Development Law Center from Portland to adapt existing CLT templates to create its organizational structure and ownership patterns and agreements. PDF versions of our organizing papers and 501c3 application are available on this website.

Capacity Building: For the past two years our board members and other volunteers have been attending CLT trainings and the CLT regional and national conferences.  We've been doing this thanks to scholarships, a training grant from the Economic Development Council of Tillamook County, a capacity building grant from US Bank, and private donations - not to mention people's in-kind contribution of time.  Volunteers contributed over 2000 hours in 2007 alone.  It’s been a steep learning curve but the CLT community has been generous in its support and the sharing of its resources and experience.

 

Geographical Boundaries - While our primary interest and focus is on the Nehalem Bay area for now, we are open to including all of Tillamook County and maybe even the whole North Coast within our scope so others don’t have to go to the trouble of starting their own trust.  We've recently learned that a separate Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) can be formed within the CLT structure to give other localities within a regional CLT some degree of autonomy and protection of assets. We’re waiting to see what develops on this score….. Contact us if you live in a nearby community and want to explore the possibilities.

 

Board of Directors – Typically,CLT’s are governed by boards that are composed of:

• 1/3 organizational representatives (e.g. local governments and social services),
• 1/3 people living in or eligible for CLT housing,
• 1/3 community members at large. 

This gives homeowners a say in the organization. It also gives them broader expertise and protects them from possible sell out of trust assets.

We are moving towards that type of representation. Contact us if you are interested in serving.

 

Potential Homeowners – NeahCasa is developing a list of individuals and families who are having difficulty affording a home on their own but who can afford to purchase a house, if the trust purchases the land.  There would be an agreement between the Trust and the homeowner about improvements, upkeep standards, and resale. Typically homeowners can recover their equity (including any improvements made) and realize a portion (typically 25%) of any increase in market value in the resale of the house. The land itself remains in the ownership of the Trust in perpetuity.  We have a preliminary application and training process in place so contact us to get on the list.

                            

Helping with Land Purchase - NeahCasa is also looking for individuals who are interested in helping the Trust purchase land in partnership with potential homeowners.  Donations of funds and/or property to get us up and running, of course, would be ideal – and a Godsend.

We are also open to working from the model used in the purchase of Alder Creek Farm for the Lower Nehalem Community Trust where five private individuals purchased that conservancy property in 2002 for $200,000. They then held it for two years until LNCT could raise the money through grants and donations to purchase it from them.  In that case the investors chose not to receive interest on their funds.  However, NeahCasa envisions creating arrangements where investors would make a reasonable return on their investments.

 

All contributions to NeahCasa are tax deductible.

Checks can be mailed to: NeahCasa, P.O. Box 766, Manzanita, OR  97130.

 

For Further Information about Community Land Trusts in general or attending an organization meeting or other Upcoming Events:

• Email info@neahcasa.org

• Want to talk to a real live person? Contact one of the NeahCasa CLT experts:

Tom Bender (503-368-6294), Edith Rohde (503-368-3906), or Eunice Massie (503-368-4142).