Federal / Agency News

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released recently a draft form of an updated Multifamily Accelerated Processing (MAP) Guide. The agency is inviting stakeholders to provide feedback until May 14, 2015.

House Appropriations Transportation-HUD subcommittee approved a fiscal 2016 appropriations bill that would provide $55.27 in discretionary spending for infrastructure and housing programs. The measure would put FY-2016 funding above 2015 enacted levels, but still fall short of the Obama Administration’s budget request.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense program is launching Water Wednesdays. The project intends to help HUD project officers and HUD grantees incorporate water efficiency into their programs and projects.

Congress passed a bill that will implement new measures to encourage building owners and tenants to use more cost-effective energy efficiency and water efficiency measures. The bill is a more modest version of a larger efficiency bill sponsored by Senators Portman and Shaheen.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released the 2009-2011 National Rental Dynamics Report, which uses the longitudinal features of the American Housing Survey to track changes in rental housing affordability. The report examines how recent changes in affordability fit into the trajectory of the rental housing stock over the course of the recession and recovery.

The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance held a hearing on private sector involvement in affordable housing. The hearing focused on opportunities to leverage large private sector investments, including the HUD Rental Assistance Demonstration program and the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC).

The Multifamily Housing Office at the Department of Housing and Urban Development offered clarifications of the policy surrounding its interest rate reductions (IRR), particularly for the Section 202 and 223(f) programs.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has begun issuing awards to applicants that were previously on the RAD first component waiting list. In response to questions from new awardees, HUD released several clarifications.

NH&RA signed on the Housing Assistance Council’s campaign to encourage appropriators in Congress to support the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) has announced that it will conduct a two-day workshop for potential applicants on April 30 – May 1, 2015 in Washington, D.C.

Ed Golding, a former senior adviser in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Policy and Development of Research, replaced Biniam Gebre as head of the Federal Housing Administration.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a notice that will extend for 30 days the comment period on the Application for the Energy Innovation Fund – Multifamily Pilot Program.