Public Notice - Waivers to the SHIP Program

PUBLIC NOTICE - Waivers to the SHIP Program

The City of Miami’s Department of Housing & Community Development (DHCD), as a recipient of State Housing Initiative Partnership (SHIP) Program funding, is required to file a Local Housing Assistance Plan (LHAP) that addresses the strategies the City will undertake with SHIP funding during a given timeframe. 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Florida Housing Finance Corporation (FHFC) as the SHIP Program’s administrator, provided grantees (local governments) with the ability to request optional waivers to program regulations in order to better address local housing matters with SHIP funds in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The City of Miami requested the two (2) waivers identified below and subsequently amended its LHAP 2016-2019 (page 14) and LHAP 2019-2022 (page 12), to update Strategy E Disaster Relief. The amended plans are posted a thttps://www.miamigov.com/Government/Departments-Organizations/Housing-Community-Development/Plans-and-Reports and have been submitted to the FHFC.

The waivers requested by the DHCD for the SHIP program are as follows:

1. SET-ASIDE WAIVER REQUEST: A SHIP waiver of the homeownership (65%) and construction (75%) set-asides and the 25% restriction on rental assistance for the FY17-18, FY18-19, FY19-20 and FY20-21 SHIP Allocation(s) in order to provide COVID-19 assistance via the following types of activities (up to $15,000):

   -Temporary Rent and Utility Payments (Eviction Prevention)
   -Mortgage Assistance and Utility Payments (Foreclosure Prevention) 

2. ADVERTISING WAIVER REQUEST:  A waiver of the SHIP advertising requirement (as per Section 420.9075(4)(b) of the Florida Statutes) to publish a notice of funding availability in a newspaper of general circulation, as well as a waiver of the SHIP advertising requirement to wait 30 days before accepting applications.

The City is providing public notice of these waivers via this web posting.  Any questions or comments can be addressed to Sergio Garcia, Principal Housing Specialist, sergiogarcia@miamigov.com, 305-416-2149. For more on the SHIP program, please visit floridahousing.org.