Affordable Housing

Litigation Services

DRA provides expert witness litigation services in matters of affordable housing inclusionary housing ordinances, financial and economic feasibility of proposed ordinances, impact fees, valuation and developer capacity, among others. Examples of services DRA has provided are listed below.

San Jose, California

DRA provided expert witness services to the City of San Jose City Attorney’s Office in defense of the City’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinance. The Ordinance came under legal challenge as a result of the Palmer case brought in lower California courts.

City of Ventura, California

DRA provided expert witness testimony and litigation support services responding to a legal challenge of the City of Ventura’s affordable homebuyer program. DRA’s services included reviewing the written record of homes sold to low and moderate income households and developed by the Bowmer Development Company, homebuyer applications, mortgage and title documents, disclosure statements, CC&Rs on the homes, agreements between the City and the City Housing Authority, between the Housing Authority and the developer, mortgage, title, funding, finance and regulatory documents, City staff reports, Council agenda items and supporting documentation. DRA also reviewed economic data and analysis associated with calculating defined affordable housing expense and affordable home price, income levels and market rate home prices at and since the time of sale for comparable product.

County of Maui, Hawaii

DRA provided litigation support to the County of Maui General Counsel’s office, in a successful defense of Maui’s inclusionary housing land use policy. DRA’s expert witness services included analysis of the financial feasibility and appropriateness of Maui’s inclusionary housing ordinance in the context of State law. DRA conducted financial analysis of developer’s proposed developments, and demonstrated to the court’s satisfaction the reasonableness of the County’s program.