Urban Homesteading Assistance (U-hab) Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
132902798
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2124793300
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Management & Technical Assistance

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,500,620
Expenses
$6,425,921
Assets
$31,650,009
Liabilities
$24,821,986

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARGARET BROWN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • MARGARET BROWN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $247,816 total reported compensation
  • ANYA IRONS (GENERAL COUNSEL/COO): $202,611 total reported compensation
  • OSCAR MCDONALD (DIRECTOR COO-PRESERVATION): $155,230 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Uhab empowers low-to-moderate-income residents to take control of their housing and enhances communities by creating strong tenant associations and lasting affordable co-ops.

What it reported doing in 2024

Member services provides tools and support that directly save money for housing development fund corporations (hdfc) co-operatives, a unique type of affordable housing, in order to sustain the community of hdfc members and families. Hdfcs are operated and managed by their residents to remain affordable in perpetuity. Uhab's climate and resiliency team connects co-op residents with resources and access to energy efficiency measures to keep housing safe, healthy and affordable. Membership engagement: there are 400 hdfc co-ops who've joined uhab to use co-op accounting programs, enroll in bulk purchasing programs, and access benefits such as discounted registration rates for the cnyc housing conference. Bulk purchasing programsuhab fuel: uhab engages hdfcs to join our bulk fuel purchasing program, in partnership with energo to save on delivery of oil and natural gas for heating sources, and to connect to energy efficiency programs and resources. There is monthly income for this program.flip insurance: while the insurance market continues to be a hard market, the flip insurance program as of march 2025 insures 367 co-ops totaling 5,667 units with tiv $2,090,099,478.co-op accounting programsco-op accounting: our bookkeeping services provides regular monthly services to clients to assist buildings with their financial tracking. We have new clients for co-op accounting, including new connected book$ subscribers and hdfcs requesting assistance in meeting compliance for payroll deadlines, addressing troubleshooting and situations of past due taxes. Our team continues to provide training and financial assistance on financial filing requirements, audited statements, basic and advanced accounting topics. Climate and resiliency programsweatherization assistance program (wap) for hdfcs: uhab and partners association for energy affordability (aea) launched a campaign to enroll hdfc buildings in the federal program administered by nys homes and community renewal (hcr) in april 2024. This is a temporary subgrantee contract award to weatherize hundreds of low-income household units. Member hired project associates to enroll hdfcs and their support their residents as they complete weatherization projects. Co-ops go solar: uhab launched the third round of our co-ops go solar campaign in january 2025. This program is supported by an award from the New York state energy research development authority (nyserda) to assist building owners in the hdfc community to access renewable technologies to install rooftop solar and access community solar programs. Multifamily energy efficiency program: uhab performs outreach and lead generation for the multifamily energy efficiency program and affordable multifamily energy efficiency program, which provides incentive rebates to building owners for energy conservation measures such as air sealing, lighting, and gas heating systems. Uhab completed a number of projects bringing in-unit measures to hdfc shareholders. Uhab partners with utility company and energy agency partners to pilot energy efficiency improvements for the hdfc community.clean heat for co-ops: uhab's multi-year campaign is supported through an award with nyserda to assist building owners in the hdfc community to upgrade systems for space heating, hot water, and stove appliances. Youth green equity and clean energy internship programs: seven interns were placed and supported through the nyserda clean energy internship program as part of a statewide workforce development initiative. All interns received uhab's youth green equity training. As an approved host organization for the nyserda clean energy internship program, uhab is able to hire youth who are undergraduate and graduate students and receives salary reimbursements to offset a percentage of the intern salaries. Green trainings and education: member services continues to offer a range of trainings for the hdfc community. Our staff have developed and expanded trainings on energy efficiency and

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 76
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.6%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 75.4%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.94 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.1%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.93; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.78; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.6%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.2% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74.6% of revenue deployed · 75.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $4.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $248K · 21 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $145K reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 21 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 53/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 38/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.