BACKGROUND:
The County is an existing client of Goldfarb. Goldfarb represents the County on various legal issues related to redevelopment dissolution, new development financed by the County, and the preparation of legal documents for County-funded housing programs. Because Goldfarb’s concentration of work is in affordable housing, it is not uncommon for the firm to have an attorney-client relationship with more than one party to a complicated housing transaction.
Attached is a letter from Goldfarb requesting that the County acknowledge and waive the conflicts that exist in a transaction in which Goldfarb will represent the County and the Housing Consortium of the East Bay (HCEB), both of which are parties to a revocable grant agreement, a regulatory agreement and various ancillary documents as part of a revocable grant from the County to HCEB, as described in the attached letter from Goldfarb. The letter sets forth the attorney-client relationships that could affect the firm’s representation of both the County and HCEB and states that different attorneys within Goldfarb will represent the County and HCEB. The proposed consent to Goldfarb’s dual role is attached to Goldfarb’s letter.
In the proposed transaction, the County will grant approximately $1.2 million of Local Government Special Needs Housing Program (SNHP) (formerly a component under the Mental Health Services Act known as the MHSA Housing Program) funds to HCEB. The revocable grant will be used to pay for HCEB’s acquisition of real property in Richmond for use as affordable rental housing to individuals with a serious mental disorder. The grant may be revoked if HCEB fails to make the ten units on the two sites being acquired available for rent in accordance with the terms of a Regulatory Agreement. The Regulatory Agreement will have a 55-year term and will be secured by a deed of trust.
Staff for the Health Services Department have advised the County Counsel’s office that it is critical that the SNHP funds be used this year and that Goldfarb’s assistance will facilitate achieving that goal.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
Goldfarb would not be able to continue to represent the County in connection with the revocable grant. The result would likely be a delay in HCEB’s acquisition of the property and the potential loss of these SNHP funds.