Last week, the Housing, Transportation and Community Development subcommittee of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs committee held a hearing on Rural Housing Legislation. The witnesses:
- Natalie Maxwell, managing attorney of the National Housing Law Project;
- Christopher Potterpin, president of Council for Affordable and Rural Housing;
- David Lipsetz, president and CEO of the Housing Assistance Council;
- Dianne Hunt, president of Syringa Property Management; and
- Anne Mavity, executive director of the Minnesota Housing Partnership
highlighted the housing challenges in rural communities and offered legislative solutions, including the rural basis boost included in the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act. Much of the hearing focused on the Rural Housing Service Reform Act (S. 1389), which would notably decouple a Section 515 mortgage from Section 521 Rental Assistance so that rental assistance doesn’t disappear when those mortgages mature.
