Virginia Housing Study Commission Records, 1970-2004

Access and use

Location of collection:
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Archives Reference Services
Phone: (804) 692-3888
Restrictions:

There are no restrictions.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions.

Preferred citation:

Virginia Housing Study Commission Records, 1970-2004. Accession 41286, State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Summary

Creator:
Virginia. Housing Study Commission
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Virginia Housing Study Commission Records, 1970-2004. Accession 41286, State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Background

Scope and content:

Records, 1970-2004, relating to the operations and activities of the Virginia Housing Study Commission, consist of correspondence and subject files. The material was created and used by Nancy M. Amber, Executive Director and Counsel, and her assistant, Nancy Blanchard. Included are agendas, annual reports, budget information, correspondence, commission meeting records, executive summaries, issue papers, legislation, memoranda, project files, publications, studies, talking points, and reports. Also included in this collection are electronic records, photographs, and audio tapes. The records pertain to a variety of housing-related subjects, including the Virginia Housing Partnership Fund, affordability, building products, Common Interest Community Associations, fair housing, landlord-tenant relations, elevator safety, eminent domain, homelessness, manufactured housing, mold, mortgage lending, predatory lending, rent to own contracts, rural housing issues, Uniform Statewide Building Code, visitability and Work Group meeting records, as well as records related to public hearings on housing issues. Many of the records are still housed in their original binders.

Biographical / historical:

The Virginia Housing Study Commission was established as an independent legislative agency by the Virginia General Assembly in April 1970. Rural and urban studies had previously found that substandard housing was a statewide problem. The Commission was ordered to "study and report its recommendations on the ways and means best designed to utilize existing resources and to develop facilities that will provide the Commonwealth's growing population with adequate housing." The Commission was initially comprised of 9 members, but the membership was later increased to 11, including five members of the House of Delegates, three members of the Senate and three gubernatorial appointees. The Commission's existence was continued by Act of Assembly in 1972, 1974 and 1976. The Commission worked to establish the Virginia Housing Development Authority (VHDA), aided in the passage of the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, helped pass the Uniform Statewide Building Code, and worked to ensure public building accessibility to disabled persons. The Commission also helped start the Virginia Housing Partnership Fund and the Virginia Indoor Plumbing Program.

A motion to collapse the operations of the Virginia Housing Study Commission into the Department of Legislative Services was presented and passed at the June 8, 2004 meeting of the Commission. The Virginia Housing Study Commission ceased to exist as an independent agency on June 30, 2004, with Nancy M. Ambler serving as the last executive director. Once under the heading of the Department of Legislative Services, the name was changed to the Virginia Housing Commission. The Commission still studies housing policy and continues to make recommendations to the General Assembly relating to housing, real property and community development issues.

Acquisition information:
Accession 41286 transferred by Nancy M. Ambler, Executive Director and Counsel, Virginia Housing Study Commmission, 601 S. Belvidere Street, Richmond, Va., 30 June 2004.
Processing information:

This collection has been processed using minimal processing standards: the original arrangement has been maintained, the container list is brief and simple, and the records have not been refoldered and fasteners have not been removed.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged into the following series:

  • Series I. Correspondence and Subject Files (Executive Director, Nancy Ambler), 1970-2004
  • Series II. Correspondence and Subject Files (Assistant, Nancy Blanchard), 1971-2004
  • Series III. Electronic records, 1997-2004

The physical arrangement of the collection has been maintained, but arrangement in the finding aid is alphabetical by folder title. (A box-by-box folder list is available in the receipt file).

Physical description:
29 cubic feet and 93.7 mb