BOSTON – Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced the appointment of West Roxbury resident Maureen Flynn as Deputy Director for Homeownership Programs.
In this position, Flynn will oversee the management and operations of the Boston Home Center, which plays a significant role in the execution of the City’s housing policy, helping Bostonians obtain, retain, and maintain their homes.
“In today’s housing market, it’s especially critical to ensure that Boston’s middle class has access to homeownership opportunities in the City of Boston,” Mayor Walsh said. “As our City grows, the success of middle class homeowners is crucial, and Maureen’s long history in the housing, finance, and community development space will be key to the success of the Boston Home Center and the people it helps.”
In her new position, Flynn will report to Sheila Dillon, Mayor Walsh’s Chief of Housing, and will be responsible for oversight of the Boston Home Center, which is housed within the Department of Neighborhood Development. The Boston Home Center is charged with creating programs to help Boston homebuyers buy a home in Boston, and assisting existing homeowners with maintenance issues in their homes. These programs include first-time homebuyer education; down payment and closing cost assistance to first-time homebuyers; lead paint abatement for housing units in Boston; and home repair programs for senior citizens.
The Boston Home Center also oversees City programs that assist homeowners with avoiding foreclosure, and works to enhance the City’s relationships with banks, mortgage companies, and non-profits to promote City programs and coordinate homeownership opportunities.
“For my entire career, I’ve been lucky to be able to help public agencies and non-profits to address housing and community development issues, and I hope my experience in the financial sector will help more Bostonians be able to achieve the dream of homeownership,” Flynn said. “I’m grateful to Mayor Walsh and Chief Dillon for the opportunity to return to the City, where the work of the Boston Home Center directly impacts so many Bostonians every day. As the Mayor says, anyone who wants to make Boston a better place to live should be able to afford to live here, and I couldn’t be more excited to get to work to make that vision a reality.”
Prior to coming to the Department of Neighborhood Development, Flynn served as the Executive Director for the Coalition for Occupied Homes in Foreclosure (COHIF). As the first executive director of this start-up non-profit, she helped create and manage the Greater Four Corners Pilot Project, which included the purchase, rehabilitation, and long-term management of occupied foreclosed properties. In addition, she advocated for changes in federal policy to minimize displacement for former homeowners and tenants in foreclosed properties.
Before her work at COHIF, she was General Counsel for the Housing and Economic Development Secretariat for former MA Governor Deval Patrick, and also served as Special Counsel to the secretariat. In that position, she drafted several provisions of the administration’s Economic Development Act, including a new housing tax credit for gateway cities, and also helped to coordinate the state’s response to the foreclosure crisis.
Prior to joining the executive office, Flynn was the Deputy Director of the MA Association of CDCs and wrote the state’s omnibus foreclosure law and expiring use law. She had previously worked at the Buffalo Urban League and Western New York Law Center where she developed a multi-dimensional foreclosure prevention project. She also worked for the City of Boston in various capacities for eight years. Flynn received her MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard in 1995 and her law degree from SUNY at Buffalo in 2000; she is licensed to practice in Massachusetts and New York.
Flynn will start her new position on October 16th.
