Thom Amdur Author Archives

When you think of innovation in American business you probably think of Apple, Google and the myriad of tech “unicorns” (i.e. billion dollar startups) which dominate the business news. What do all of these companies have in common? Their business models are fundamentally all based on disruption.

Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) is placing a greater emphasis on strategic planning and the way we invest our resources. Over the past several years we have been restructuring, refocusing and reimagining our department. Our work has led to a greater emphasis on data, research and customer service. In 2017, we are carrying that […]

California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority (CAEATFA) is hosting a public workshop on the Affordable Multifamily Energy Efficiency Financing Pilot under the California Hub for Energy Efficiency Financing (CHEEF) on Tuesday, November 7, 2017.  CAEATFA, in its partnership with the CPUC, will provide a credit enhancement to private capital lenders to expand access to financing […]

According to a press release issued on October 31, 2017 Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) today led members of the Washington state delegation representing King County in introducing the Access to Affordable Housing Act to increase the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) by 50 percent.  At press time bill text was not yet available. “Making […]

U.S. Senator Jack Reed and Mayor Scott Avedisian joined Barbara Fields, Executive Director of RIHousing and representatives from Property Advisory Group & Cathedral Development Group to celebrate the completion of renovations at Greenwood Terrace, a housing development for low-income seniors on Post Road. The event came as Rhode Island faces a serious housing shortage, particularly […]

On October 25, 2017, RBC Capital Markets Tax Credit Equity Group announced the closing of the RBC Tax Credit Equity National Fund-26 with total tax credit equity of $146,435,718. The Fund represents the third closing of a multi-investor, multi-property national fund in 2017 and speaks to the strength of investor confidence in RBCCM’s tax credit […]

The Department of Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) has established a plan for releasing updated program eligibility information based upon Census Bureau data from the 2011-2015 American Community Survey (ACS). Eligibility requirements for the Bank Enterprise Award Program (BEA Program), Community Development Financial Institutions Program (CDFI Program), Native American CDFI Assistance Program […]

NH&RA has joined other members of the Affordable Rental Housing ACTION Steering Committee in a letter to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the Senate Committee on Finance and House Ways & Means Committees urging Congress to include the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2017 (S. 548 / HR 1661) in tax reform legislation […]

Lori Givens Little has been selected as President and CEO of National Affordable Housing Trust (NAHT), the first non-profit low income housing tax credit syndicator in the country. Ms. Little succeeds James Bowman, who is retiring after serving as President and CEO of the organization since 1998. Ms. Little, who will be the fourth President […]

In an op-ed in The Hill, Mark Dellontem, president and CEO of Love Funding, highlights the success of the federal Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program in utilizing targeted taxpayer dollars to stimulate private capital for renovations and produce wide-ranging benefits. The RAD program, which is a federal program that converts public housing authorities’ (PHAs) existing […]

The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis recently launched a new interactive tool, Community Investment Explorer (CIE). CIE aggregates customizable data from the CDFI Program, New Markets Tax Credit Program (NMTC Program) and Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Program to show geographic comparisons and trends over time. CIE draws on publicly available data from over […]

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy unveiled the largest study to date of inclusionary housing – the policy where developers reserve a portion of new development as affordable.  The study, authored by Emily Thaden and Rouniu (Vince) Wang surveys inclusionary zoning policies in 886 jurisdictions in 25 states.  The paper documents nearly 200,000 affordable housing […]