Los Angeles Nonprofit Law Attorney

Alicia Matricardi headshot

Community Economic Development:
The Audacity to Advocate

Affordable Housing

We are experienced affordable housing developers—from working with nonprofits who develop affordable housing to working with for-profit developers who build affordable housing, Matricardi Law has firsthand knowledge of the affordable housing industry and the legal mechanics to enable your projects, whether it be design-build, ground-up construction, rehabilitation, the addition of land use covenants to ensure affordability, or the development of tools to operate a building as affordable in the years to come. 

We provide service and advice to our clients to grow their affordable housing portfolios and development goals, having experienced firsthand dozens, if not hundreds, of iterations of affordable housing deals throughout the State of California. The creation of affordable housing units requires the creativity and understanding of the financing mechanisms, obstacles, and innovation required to support these critical real estate development deals. We stand at the ready to engage in these transactions through their close, lease-up, and operation of these affordable housing deals. 

We provide innovative leadership and legal expertise for housing and development projects utilizing alternative and cutting-edge construction typologies like modular and manufactured housing, and 3D printed housing.

Board Governance Strategies

With experience as General Counsel to small to national nonprofit organization, Matricardi Law can advise on board governance, compliance and restructuring conversations, including strategies for growing the Board’s capacity, and for effective interactions between the Executive Team and the Board to increase capacity for nonprofit organization. 

Community Economic Development

Community economic development stands at the forefront of intersectionalities between economic investments, and the impacts that can be made for positive, healthy and equitable community growth strategies. Matricardi Law is experienced in the creation of deals that require an understanding of these natural tensions, equity, and the investments required to bring these deals to fruition. 

With 20+ years of experience in community development, we stand at the ready to provide technical assistance and legal advice as to relevant structures, considerations, and requirements for the development of deals of this size and nature. We bring innovative strategies that transcend traditional thinking to understand the key components of redevelopment plans to achieve triple bottom line success. Join us to understand your path to value enhancement. 

Community revitalization requires a mindfulness towards equity, while working to build places and spaces for people in our built environment + nature in its natural environment, to thrive. Our work can provide jobs, improve infrastructure, avoid displacement by strengthening access and affordable housing options, and help the dollar to circulate in communities underserved for years. 

Community Engagement

Community engagement is how working individuals advance their business needs while doing so in relation to the legacy and history, the culture and importance, of all of the individuals and spaces that will become affected by their work. Principal Alicia Matricardi has performed extensive community engagement work and is familiar with strategies for community economic development to inform planning and land use decision-making. Having performed numerous design charrettes and listening sessions, as well as having created events to drive participation and surveys among vulnerable immigrant communities in the City of Los Angeles, Matricardi Law is well-positioned to advise, develop, and effectuate community engagement strategies on behalf of clients and concepts. 

Corporate Counsel

Principal Alicia Matricardi is poised to support a Company’s wide-range of business objectives while minimizing legal risk and legal expense. Relevant experience includes the spearheading, negotiation, drafting, and development of a myriad of agreements including business development agreements, technology agreements, trademark licensing agreements, asset purchase agreements, and corporate governance for Companies and their affiliates. This work requires involves a high degree of confidentiality, complexity and tenacity. Matricardi Law is experienced in a full range of corporate work from performing preventative law audits to trademark, copyright, and contract litigation, transactional document deliverables, and due diligence matters. Advice provided to management includes employment law, intellectual property, government regulatory issues, and contract matters. The Firm retains the ability to advise on all potential litigation and intellectual property matters.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate social responsibility is a form of international private business self-regulation which aims to contribute to societal goals of a philanthropic, activist, or charitable nature by engaging in or supporting volunteering or ethically oriented practices. What about when a business wants to explore these principles and develop a set of governing principles or practices that help to elevate these outcomes, and what are the risks involved?  Have Matricardi Law advise on how you can develop your corporate social responsibility strategy, or, as a practitioner in the field with 20 years of experience in nonprofits and community development, we can also help to advise where donor-advise or corporate philanthropy would be most effective for your business or personal giving goals.

Fair Housing

Managing fair housing requirements, including income qualification requirements for affordable housing, are Landlord-side requirements that can be instrumental to the function of affordable housing. We are familiar with what your nonprofit needs to do to ensure that you consider and understand fair housing requirements. Let us help you to structure your public programming to reflect this knowledge and important requirement. 

Homebuyer Programs

Our Principal Alicia Matricardi was a former HUD-qualified Housing Counselor, performing countless homeownership workshops under the approved HUD 8-hour regulation for several years. Allow us to build-out or audit your programs to ensure your compliance standards, or to summarize them in a handbook or guideline for help with staff training and compliance needs.

Land Use Covenants

We are in regular review of the negotiation, application of, and potential removal of land use covenants as they affect real estate used by or to be used for nonprofit housing or economic development transactions. With experience working in multiple local municipalities at the City and County level, we understand the issues relating to these negotiations and are prepared to be your best advocate among our municipal and State agencies through resolution of land use covenant conversations and prelitigation strategy.

Landlord-Tenant Law

Matricardi Law is a transactional real estate firm that advises on matters relating to commercial and residential tenancies throughout California. These include landlord and owner representations of residential and affordable housing units. These also include significant experience in representing commercial tenants and commercial landlords in the development of lease agreements, negotiation and drafting of contracts, and in advising on litigation strategy in pre-litigation efforts. Matricardi Law is well-positioned to advise on all Landlord-Tenant matters in California. 

Private Foundations

Bringing family together to set up your intention for charitable giving can be a life-long goal, or eternal headache. Matricardi Law operates as legal advisors with the intention, temperament, and care that we would afford our own family members in navigating these important, and sometimes difficult, conversations. Our experience can help you to determine your mission, whom to include on your Board, how to invest your funds, and how and where funds can be given away. Allow us to expand on your charitable giving, formalize it, or review it with a legal lens, to ensure that your family name is protected while it lives on in your charitable giving. We are also skilled experts in how to evaluate giving strategies, and know both Southern California, and national organizations that will likely match and elevate some of your giving objectives. 

Property Management

Property management is the key link between an active real property asset and risks that can decimate a property’s return potential, requiring years to build it back up. Matricardi Law has experience, both in the ability to help property owners select and terminate property management companies, but in understanding what great property management should look like. With experience in both commercial and large portfolio residential property management (both in the market-rate and affordable housing context in Southern California), we have the ability to identify your property management needs to serve our ever-changing real estate market and help you sleep at night. Let us understand your ownership expectations, and align you with working professionals who similarly understand that business requirement. 

Public Benefit Corporations

We are social enterprise lawyers for social enterprise businesses. That innovation and integrity in business growth is exactly what should drive our changing economy as we focus on equity and community benefits while earning money for ourselves and our families for generations. 

Matricardi Law is skilled in the creation of California Benefit Corporations, a corporate form for double-bottom lines, or triple-bottom lines (driving profit, people, and places or planet in the work of the company). Let us work with you as a Social Entrepreneur, as we are too, and we can provide the structures and advice helpful to form your primary or subsidiary companies as you grow innovation and profit for your business endeavor. 

Rental Subsidy Programs

Matricardi Law is a skilled law firm representing nonprofit affordable housing developers in the creation of affordable housing that utilizes rental housing subsidies. Matricardi Law is a skilled affordable housing law firm. We welcome your needs in this discrete are of the law. 

SNDA/Estoppels

Subordination, Non-Disturbance and Attornment Agreements, and Estoppels or Estoppel Certificates are significant documents requiring careful review and detail. Matricardi Law is greatly experienced at drafting, reviewing, preparing, and negotiating these documents. Yes- they can be negotiated. Yes- they should change from form documents into documents that reflect the needs of clients that have already negotiated hard-fought leases and do not need them undermined by a lender’s desire for an ironclad document to protect themselves. Matricardi Law has significant experience in preparing and completing these processes on behalf of Landlords and Tenants. Save your headaches and let us know how we may help. 

Homebuyer Programs

Our Principal Alicia Matricardi was a former HUD-qualified Housing Counselor, performing countless homeownership workshops under the approved HUD 8-hour regulation for several years. Allow us to build-out or audit your programs to ensure your compliance standards, or to summarize them in a handbook or guideline for help with staff training and compliance needs.