Federal / Agency News

On July 31, a bipartisan group of 103 Representatives, including 44 Republicans and 59 Democrats, sent a letter to House leadership urging the inclusion of LIHTC priorities in the next COVID-19 response package.

HUD released a fully updated set of NSPIRE Inspection Standards, version 1.3, which improves technical accuracy, relevance, clarity and better defines the applicability to HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher program. HUD welcomes public comments on all aspects of the standards. Feedback on the revised list of standards can be submitted here.

HUD has posted to the RAD Resource Desk a new “Post-Conversion Approval Processing Guide,” which provides information to Owners and PHAs on how to process post-closing issues that may arise after RAD conversion, some of which require HUD approval.

IRS recently published Notice 2020-58 which extends the measuring period used in satisfying the substantial rehabilitation (sub rehab) test requirement for historic tax credits. Projects with a 24- or 60-month measuring period ending on or after April 1, 2020, and before March 31, 2021, now have until March 31, 2021 to incur sufficient qualified rehabilitation expenditures to satisfy the sub rehab test.

Rural Development (RD) at USDA announced that, effective August 17, 2020, Ernie Wetherbee will become the first Director of RD’s Multifamily Housing’s new Field Operations Division. Wetherbee has extensive leadership experience at RD, including 11 years implementing Rural Housing programs in the field, which makes him uniquely qualified to take on this new position.

HUD Office of Environment and Energy will hold a webinar on its Environmental Review Online System at 1:00 pm ET on August 6. The webinar will quiz participants on frequently asked questions regarding the HUD Environmental Review Online System (HEROS) that users have submitted through the HUD Exchange Ask A Question portal, field offices, and other various outlets.

The ACTION Campaign recently updated its national, state and district fact sheets to include the most recent data from 2018. The update found that nationwide more than 3.3 million affordable rental homes have been financed by the Housing Credit, which have served an estimated 8 million households and provided an estimated 5.2 million jobs, $206 billion in tax revenue, and $593 billion in wages and business income.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued final regulations regarding the provision of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that limits the deduction for business interest expense, including basic statutory amendments made by the CARES Act.

HUD is making available $224 million of CARES Act funds available to offset property expenditures to combat the effects of COVID-19. The supplemental payments may cover additional cleaning and disinfecting, additional staff, face coverings and other expenses to help keep properties safe for residents. Requests are due to HUD or the Contract Administrator by August 5, 2020.

On Monday, Senate Republican’s released text of their Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection and Schools (HEALS) Act. The bills include an additional round of $1,200 stimulus payments, additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), liability protections for businesses that reopen and unemployment compensation. The bill notably does not extend the eviction moratorium that expired on July 24 or any LIHTC provisions.

HUD released a new final rule, Preserving Community and Neighborhood Choice, which would replace the Obama Administration’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule. Under the new rule, a federal grantee would be required to certify that it has affirmatively furthered fair housing. The final rule has yet to be officially published in the Federal Register. Comments are due 30 days after publication.

Reps. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Wm. Lacy Clay (D-MO) and Denny Heck (D-WA), sent a letter to Dr. Mark Calabria, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), urging the agency to prioritize economic recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic crisis by pausing a rulemaking that would set new capital requirements for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (collectively “the Enterprises”) until after the pandemic.