Amy M. McClain

Amy M. McClain represents public housing authorities and affordable housing developers in the context of mixed-finance transactions. Amy closes affordable housing transactions involving a variety of funding sources, including Low Income Housing Tax Credits, the Rental Assistance Demonstration program, public housing and Section 8 funding sources, HUD-insured loans, tax-exempt bonds, state housing finance agency loan funds, and conventional financing. These transactions have provided her with the opportunity to negotiate issues among the financing parties, housing authorities, and developers while also coordinating the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development review and approval process. Amy also addresses traditional real estate issues intertwined with low-income housing development.

Representative Matters

• Represents a Pennsylvania-based affordable housing developer in its projects in Maryland, including the redevelopment of the former Freedom Village and Claremont Homes site, a portion of the East Baltimore development initiative, and Uplands, each involving various state and local financing resources, as well as compliance with the city's Bailey Consent Decree requirements
• Represented the Housing Authorities of Fresno on various transactions, including four of the country's first Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) conversions
• Represents the New York City Housing Authority in multiple low-income housing tax credit transactions, including the acquisition/rehabilitation tax credit transaction closed under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act HUD programs and the current conversion of 1,395 public housing units under HUD's RAD program
• Represented the Puerto Rico Public Housing Administration in the nation's largest bond issuance and Low Income Housing Tax Credit acquisition/rehabilitation transaction, involving more than $700 million in funds for the modernization of more than 4,000 units within 33 public housing developments
• Represented the Housing Authority of the City and County of Denver in its acquisition/rehabilitation Low Income Housing Tax Credit transaction, which maximized the tax credit-eligible basis generated by Energy Performance Contract improvements to three high-rise public housing sites
• Represents the Housing Authority of the City of Tacoma, Washington, in relation to the Salishan HOPE VI revitalization and the authority's mortgage of public housing land to finance the infrastructure of a portion of the redeveloped Salishan site

Pro Bono Experience

Coordinates the pro bono collaboration between attorneys and paralegals with Ballard Spahr's Baltimore office and Project HEAL, a medical-legal partnership of the Kennedy Krieger Institute to provide pro bono legal services for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities

Represented a teacher from Ethiopia seeking asylum in the United States from political persecution, and filed the petitions to successfully reunite the client with her family

Represented a community organization dedicated to preventing animal cruelty in connection with obtaining its 501(c)(3) designation

Professional Activities

American Bar Association, Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law, Immediate Past Chair and Governing Committee Member

Housing and Development Law Institute

Recognition & Accomplishments

Named one of The Daily Record's (Maryland) Top 100 Women in Maryland for 2014, for achievement of professional success and for making a difference through leadership, community service, and mentoring

Named to The Daily Record's (Maryland) 2011 Leading Women list, one of 46 women under the age of 40 recognized for their exceptional professional experience, community involvement, and commitment to inspiring change

Publications

Beginner’s Guide to Public Housing Conversion under RAD, published by the ABA's Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development, August 2014

Co-author, "Cross-Cutting Requirements: Federal Requirements Impacting HUD Programs," ABA's Navigating HUD Program – A Practitioner's Guide to the Labyrinth, 2012

Co-author, "Mixed-Finance Development of Public Housing," ABA's Legal Guide to Affordable Housing Development, 2011

"The Derailing of Maryland Property Law," 60Maryland Law Review1211, 2001

Speaking Engagements

Speaker, "RAD Update," Novogradac 2019 Affordable Housing Conference, Miami Beach, FL, January 10, 2019

Speaker, "RAD Current Practice Issues," Novogradac 2018 RAD Public Housing Conference, Philadelphia, April 26, 2018

Instructor, "Preservation of Existing HUD Housing," Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law, Cleveland, October 7, 2016

Moderator, "Rental Assistance Demonstration Workshop," American Bar Association: ABA Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law, Washington, D.C., May 26, 2016 

Panelist, "RAD Update, Roundtable and Case Studies," Maryland Association of Housing and Redevelopment Agencies Spring Conference, Ocean City, Maryland, May 18, 2016 

Instructor, "Overview of HUD's Rental Assistance Demonstration Program," American Bar Association: ABA Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law Boot Camp, New Orleans, Louisiana, February 5, 2016

Moderator, "Rental Assistance Demonstration," American Bar Association: ABA Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law, Washington, D.C., May 21, 2015

Panelist, "Tax Credit Hot Topics," Ballard Spahr CLE for Free Breakfast Briefing, November 5, 2014

Panelist, "Rental Assistance Demonstration Program," American Bar Association's 23rd Annual Affordable Housing and Community Development Law Conference, Washington, D.C., May 22, 2014

Panelist, "HUD's RAD Program: Lessons Learned So Far," Ballard Spahr Housing webinar, May 15, 2014

Panelist, "Evolving Trends in Maryland Affordable Housing," Ballard Spahr Housing briefing, Baltimore, Maryland, April 30, 2014

Panelist, "HUD's Rental Assistance Demonstration Program," National Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies, NALHFA 2014 Annual Educational Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, April 3, 2014

Panelist, "Rental Assistance Demonstration Program," Arizona Housing Alliance Academy – Developers Topics – Hot Topics in Affordable Rental Housing Finance, Phoenix, Arizona, January 23, 2014

Moderator, "Stretching the Green Dollar: Energy-Oriented Financing to Preserve Affordable Housing," American Bar Association's 22nd Annual Housing and Community Development Law Conference, Washington, D.C., May 23, 2013

Moderator, "Innovative Financing of Public Housing - Preservation and Beyond," American Bar Association's 20th Annual Affordable Housing and Community Development Law Conference, Washington, D.C., May 27, 2011

Panelist, "Use of Nontraditional Funding Structures for Development by Public Housing Authorities," American Bar Association's 19th Annual Affordable Housing and Community Development Law Conference, Washington, D.C., May 26, 2010

Moderator, "What Lawyers Should Know About Going Green," American Bar Association's 19th Annual Affordable Housing and Community Development Law Conference, Washington, D.C., May 26, 2010

Moderator, "Leveraging Resources through Energy Financing Tools," National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO), Summer Conference, Portland, Oregon, July 16-18, 2009

Speaker and Moderator, "Green Finance and Funding: Financial Resources and Models for Green Development," HUD HOPE VI Green Building & Energy Efficient Development Conference, Washington, D.C., June 25-26, 2009

Panelist, "Neighborhood Stabilization Program: Acquisition and More," National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (Colorado and Mountain Plains Chapter), Annual Conference, Snowmass, Colorado, June 17-19, 2009

Panelist, "Public Housing Mortgage Program and Operating Fund Financing Program," U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Maximizing Leverage Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, June 12-13, 2008

Instructor, "Affordable Housing Financing Resources," MICPEL Basics of Real Estate Transactions Evening Series, April 8, 2008

Panelist, "Financing Affordable Housing – A Primer," American Bar Association Section of Real Property, Trust & Estate Law Teleconference, April 17, 2007

Panelist, "Financing Affordable Housing – A Primer," American Bar Association Section of Real Property, Trust & Estate Law Teleconference, Joint Fall CLE Meeting, Denver,2006

Board Memberships

Msgr. O'Dwyer Youth Retreat House, 2012-2017

Harbor Walk Townhouse Association, 2015-2017

Southeast Community Development Corporation, 2009-2016

University of Maryland School of Law (J.D. 2002, with honors)
Student Lawyer, Community Transactions Clinic; Member, Order of the Coif; Associate Editor, Maryland Law Review

American University (B.A. 1993, magna cum laude)

Maryland