January 12, 2023–OAKLAND, CA
Maria Duarte retires this week after 26 years with Merritt Community Capital. We celebrate and thank her for her time building Merritt’s Asset Management team and fostering strong relationships inside and outside the organization.
“Maria’s work at Merritt as Director of Asset Management and Risk Manager built a solid foundation for not only the Asset Management team but for Merritt as an organization,” said Ari Beliak, CEO of Merritt. “She helped develop and maintain an industry leading portfolio and has been generous with her knowledge, sharing with new staff both her asset management experience and organizational insights. Maria has been a great ambassador for Merritt, particularly to our project partners, and a wonderful relationship builder. We hope that she leaves knowing Merritt is in good hands and that we will carry on the mission she’s worked so hard toward.”
In 1997, Maria joined Merritt as the Administration and Human Resources Manager and in 1999 she began to create the Asset Management department for Merritt, creating long-lasting partnerships with asset management and property management teams across California. Her dedication to the onsite property teams and the residents made a positive and lasting impact for the asset management team and structure. Maria has helped Merritt preserve a low asset manager to property ratio and guided her team to maintain strong relationships with each property.
Maria helped design Merritt’s project review and selection process, maintaining a voice for asset management, and identified challenges that helped Merritt structure deals for long-term success. Maria leaves a portfolio that has had no foreclosures, has not drawn any upper tier reservices and has nearly 97% of properties with an AHIC “A” rating.
Maria not only created and built up the Asset Management program, but she also planned for the continued success of the team. Izaac Singh, Merritt’s current Director of Asset Management, worked with Maria for 4 years before taking the reins as Director of Asset Management.
Thank you for your dedication, your time, and your wisdom, Maria!
About Merritt Community Capital Corporation
Merritt Community Capital Corporation is a nonprofit dedicated to our mission to provide equity capital for affordable housing exclusively to California. We do this by partnering with mission-aligned affordable housing developers throughout the state to ensure the most critical communities are developed and maintained for low-income residents. Since 1989, Merritt has created and/or preserved 11,000 affordable homes, through investing over $1.2 billion in 26 separate funds, providing housing for over 29,700 people.