MHP News

CAMBRIDGE, Ma., June 3, 2008 --- The Ash Institute for Democratic Governance at Harvard University has selected the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ loan closing document system as one of 15 finalists in the 2008 Innovations in American Government Awards Competition.

MassDocs, an online system that makes affordable rental housing development more efficient, was selected from a pool of nearly 1,000 applicants as one of the best in government innovation from local, county city, tribal, state and federal levels. MassDocs is one of two innovations from Massachusetts that has made the final 15. The other is a Boston public schools program for training teachers.

Each of the finalists underwent several rounds of evaluation from a committee of practitioners and policy experts from Harvard's Kennedy School as well as renowned institutions nationwide. The top six winners will be announced and honored at an awards gala and reception in September, with each winning a $100,000 award. For more information about Innovations in American Government Awards competition, click here.

Launched in the fall of 2006, MassDocs works by offering one set of loan documents to developers receiving loans from multiple state funding programs. This means that review work can be coordinated by a single joint counsel for all subordinate public loans in a project. Previously, the state’s counsel had to prepare a set of loan documents for each loan, and the borrower’s attorney had to review and negotiate a separate set of loan documents for every loan and work with each lender to provide the required information.

Since 2006, MassWorks has expanded so that cities and towns can also deliver local funds through the same set of closing documents. Nine communities in Massachusetts and one regional consortium representing seven communities now use MassDocs when contributing local funds to affordable housing rental projects. For the list of communities and to see how the loan closing system works, go to the MassDocs web site.

MassDocs is a collaborative effort of the state Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), MassHousing, the Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP) and the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC). For more information, click here.