A development action plan details the reasons you plan to develop affordable housing and the steps your organization will take to prepare, execute, and succeed

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities.

Affordable housing is housing whose cost does not exceed 30 percent of the income of the household that lives in it (or who could live in it). For renters, this cost includes rent and utilities. For owners, it includes mortgage, taxes, insurance and utilities.

Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC)

Capacity is a measure of an organization's ability to deliver a service or product.

A Community Development Corporation (CDC) is a special type of nonprofit organization created to support or revitalize a particular community.

A Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) is a nonprofit, community-based organizations with the ability to develop affordable housing. CHDOs are eligible to use funds from a mandatory 15 percent set-aside of funding from HUD's Home Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program.

A Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA) is a local policy that gives qualified non-profit organizations the right of first offer and/or the right of first refusal to purchase eligible properties offered for sale.

A set of activities and processes intended to confirm the facts of a given property or transaction.

Economic mobility or upward economic mobility refers to the ability of an individual, family, or group to improve their economic status. For more information, see Enterprise's Upward Mobility program: https://www.enterprisecommunity.org/impact-areas/upward-mobility

A joint venture is created when two or more companies or organizations formally partner to share resources, experience and other assets for specific real estate and community development transactions.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building standards program.

Low-Income refers to an income level that corresponds to some income range up to 50, 60, or 80 percent of AMI. In some definitions, this refers to the entire range (e.g., 0 to 80 percent AMI), while in others it may be a particular band (e.g., 50 to 80 percent AMI). These limits are generally defined by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/il.html).

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) is the primary source of financing for the construction and preservation of affordable rental housing in the United States. This federal program provides an incentive for investors to invest in affordable housing construction and preservation via a tax credit.

Mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems (MEP)

Moderate-Income refers to an income range above 80 percent of AMI. The most common definitions are 80 to 100 percent of AMI or 80 to 120 percent of AMI.

Preservation is the direct anti-displacement and housing affordability strategy that seeks to improve the financial stability, physical condition, and continued operations of existing affordable homes through acquisition, rehabilitation, and/or stabilization of existing property owners and residents.

Resilience refers to the capacity of individuals, communities, housing, infrastructure, institutions, and businesses within a community to survive, adapt, and grow as they confront a variety of extreme and chronic stresses.

Return on Investment (ROI)

A portfolio of properties or buildings that are "scattered" or geographically separated

Housing that consists of single room dwelling units and commonly shared bathroom and kitchen facilities. These units are often intended to serve specific very- and extremely low-income populations, such as people who have experienced homelessness.

Small to medium multifamily (SMMF) properties are those that have between two and forty-nine units.

The networks of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society, enabling that society to function effectively.

Housing that consists of single room dwelling units and commonly shared bathroom and kitchen facilities. These units are often intended to serve specific very- and extremely low-income populations, such as people who have experienced homelessness.

A stakeholder is a person or organization who will be impacted by or has a vested interest in the development or associated activities.

Stewardship is the job of supervising or taking care of something, such as a property.

Syndication refers to the process of pooling capital from investors to make it available for investments such as housing development.

A Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) is a local policy that gives the tenants of a property the right of first offer and/or the right of first refusal to purchase eligible properties offered for sale.

Underwriting is the process that financial institutions use to decide whether an application for capital meets the institution's requirements and other applicable laws.

This toolkit focuses on SMMF properties that are unsubsidized and affordable to lower- income households. This unsubsidized, yet affordable housing is sometimes referred to as "naturally occurring affordable housing" or "NOAH" in the affordable housing sector. Recognizing the social and economic forces (e.g. disinvestment and redlining), property and neighborhood conditions (e.g., age, physical condition, surrounding amenities), and ownership characteristics (e.g. "mom and pop" landlords) that contribute to the relative affordability of rents in these properties, we will instead use the term "unsubsidized affordable housing."

Economic mobility or upward economic mobility refers to the ability of an individual, family, or group to improve their economic status. For more information, see Enterprise's Upward Mobility program: https://www.enterprisecommunity.org/impact-areas/upward-mobility