Community Governance at BNCLT

What does Community Governance Look Like? A story about hiring BNCLT’s new Property Management Company.

         This fall, BNCLT set out to find a new Property Management Company for our current and growing portfolio of homes.  Our CLT residents stepped up and played an important role in leading us through the selection process.  More than anyone else, they know what is needed most from a Property Management Company—everything from services needed, to the most desired method to pay rent, to the nature of the relationship between the residents and the work crew.  The residents created a comprehensive list of criteria to include in our request for proposals, as well as the list of interview questions.  Residents took part in the interview process, which had the added benefit of demonstrating what their role would be moving forward.

Josefina Luna, a BNCLT resident since 2019, described the process:

This was an opportunity for everybody expressing themselves, their feelings, to open the door to be more clear about what we’re looking for.  By working with an organized community where everyone can speak and express their view, it gives the Property Management Company a better vision of what the community needs, and a clear idea of priorities for the whole community.  Now the Property Management Company has a better sense of what resources to bring to the table, because we told them! They will have more respect for us seeing that the tenant community is more organized and very engaged. That is a very powerful statement.  

          As a result of this process, BNCLT offered the PM role to UHM Properties, a minority owned Property Management Company based in Dorchester and Roxbury.  All parties involved felt this was a terrific match of values and goals between the organizations.  UHM will transition into this role to start on January 1, 2022.    Josefina’s reflection on UHM: 

I realized they have many resources in place that can be very helpful to us.  We now all understand how we can work together.  I think this will be very good for us.

Josefina commented on the evolution of a community governance model since becoming a Land Trust 2 years ago:

The process we’ve gone through for the last 2 years has been a very powerful development for the community.  Now that we have monthly meetings, residents feel like they are part of a group that can represent the whole BNCLT community. This is so valuable, so amazing.