The Rocky Mountain Community Land Trust (RMCLT) was created in 1996 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with the mission of providing quality, affordable housing for limited-income families in El Paso County and the City of Colorado Springs. Our goal is to build a strong community…one house…one neighborhood at a time. While our core mission is affordable home ownership, we also collaborate with other non-profit organizations to address housing needs across the community, such as transitional housing for homeless families and affordable rentals for low-income families.

Description:
Since the Land Trust started in Colorado Springs in 1996, we have helped approximately 165 families become first-time homebuyers through the Land Trust Program.

After we help families purchase their first house through our home ownership program, RMCLT helps homeowners prevent foreclosure and remain successful through our Post-Purchase Support/Foreclosure Prevention Program . RMCLT has three objectives:

• Provide opportunities for low-income families to secure quality affordable housing,
• Assure the quality and affordability of housing for future generations of low-income families,
• Combat community deterioration in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods by promoting the development, rehabilitation and maintenance of housing in such neighborhoods.

Homebuyers must meet five criteria to partner with the Rocky Mountain Community Land Trust. First, a family must be at or below 80% of the median income for El Paso County. The income for a family of one cannot be greater than $39,650, a family of two cannot exceed $45,300, a family of three must be at or below $51,000, while a family of four’s income cannot be greater than $56,650.

Second, the family must be a first time homebuyer (not having owned a home in the last three years).

Third, the homebuyer must attend a Homebuyers Workshop conducted either by Partners In Housing or the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Southern Colorado.

Fourth, they must be approved by one of our five qualified lenders for a conventional conforming mortgage—Air Academy Federal Credit Union, FirstBank of Colorado Springs, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, CB & T Mortgage, and US Bank.

Fifth, they must be a U.S. Citizen or have 'Legal Status.'

History:
The Rocky Mountain Community Land Trust (RMCLT) was conceived in May 1996 during an affordable housing strategic planning retreat initiated by the Comprehensive Homeless Assistance Providers (CHAP), chaired by Conning Lorig, Administrator, Community Development, City of Colorado Springs. These concerned individuals wanted to create a mechanism to preserve long-term affordability in housing. Since that time, a broad-based community effort grew to create the RMCLT. The RMCLT was the City’s third designated Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO).

For the first year and one-half, RMCLT operated with all volunteers. The Board of Directors was elected and the Articles of Incorporation, By-Laws, and the ground lease were developed. During this time the volunteers and RMCLT Board were actively involved with the City in a demonstration project to build a strawbale house on a vacant lot in the Hill Side Neighborhood. After construction, the City approved the sale of the house to the RMCLT. The Land Trust retained ownership of the land and sold the improvements to a first time homebuyer using the land trust model. But this was just the beginning. With the desire to expand the Land Trust, the Board of Directors hired an executive director in February 1998. Our executive director will begin his eleventh year with the Land Trust in 2009 and has been the catalyst for the Land Trust’s growth in terms of properties and recognition in the community as a fiscally strong and dynamic organization that gets things accomplished. The Land Trust is a not-for-profit organization that is constantly on the move—improving our community, one property at a time!

RMCLT’s focus has been on creating affordable home ownership opportunities by reducing the cost of acquisition for first time homebuyers. Since its inception, the RMCLT has successfully demonstrated that the land trust model can be used as a tool to promote home ownership and to effectively use public and private sector dollars in a long-term strategy to support affordable home ownership.

RMCLT uses a scattered site development strategy on selecting new properties for inclusion in our affordable housing inventory. This does two things. First, it allows families to select the neighborhood in which they want to live. This is important for them since they may want to live in a certain neighborhood due to job, school, family or friends. The second reason for using a scattered site approach in selecting properties is that it minimizes concentrations of low and moderate-income housing and avoids the stigma so often attached to affordable housing. We have partnered in house purchases from Briargate in the North to Widefield in the South, from neighborhoods in the East (Stetson Hills and Springs Ranch) to houses near Old Colorado City in the West.

Contact person: Angela Mendiola, Community Outreach Coordinator, (phone), (email)

Address:

1212 West Colorado Ave. Colorado Springs, CO 80904 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.rmclt.org