Federal / Agency News

HUD Secretary Dr. Ben Carson was added to the White House Coronavirus Task Force. While the risk of infections for Americans remains low, HUD is encouraging multifamily owners and agents, Public Housing Authorities, Performance Based Contract Administrators, FHA lenders to make the information below available to residents and employees.

Former Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden released his housing plan, which calls for the expansion of LIHTC authority by $10 billion and the permanent authorization and expansion of the New Markets Tax Credit.

HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing published a Housing Notice (HN) & Mortgagee Letter (ML) called Revision of the Section 223(f) Policy Requiring Three Years of Post-Construction Sustained Occupancy. This new policy will allow newly constructed or substantially rehabilitated projects to refinance under Section 223(f) without a three-year waiting period. 

HUD Handbook 4350.1, Chapter 38, contains useful information about disaster preparedness and maintaining an up to date disaster plan. HUD asks owners to continue to keep them apprised of property conditions and vacancies.

On February 28, 2020, HUD published updated Administrative Guidelines governing subsidy layering reviews (SLRs) for Project-Based Vouchers (PBV). Effective immediately, the New Guidelines update prior SLR guidelines issued by HUD on September 26, 2014 (79 Fed. Reg. 57955).

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently authorized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to disburse payments to HUD for the Housing Trust Fund (HTF) and to the Treasury Department for the Capital Magnet Fund (CMF). According to FHFA, HTF will receive $326.4 million for the year, while CMF will receive $175.8 million. Last year, HTF […]

The House Financial Services Committee approved several housing-related bills, including Chairwoman Maxine Waters’ Housing Is Infrastructure Act (H.R. 5187). This bill would authorize more than $100 billion for public housing, Community Development Block Grants (CDBGs), the HOME Investment Partnerships program and other programs.

The Government Accountability Office released a Preliminary Recommendations to Strengthen DOD’s Oversight and Monitoring of Privatized Housing report, which outlines the range of assessments and data collection used by the Office of the Secretary of the Defense.

The Department of the Treasury invites the general public to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections. Currently, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) is soliciting comments concerning the Community Development Financial Institutions CDFI Program (CDFI Program), Native American CDFI Assistance Program (NACA Program) and New Markets Tax Credit Program (NMTC Program) Annual Report, including the Awards Management and Information System (AMIS) Compliance and Performance Report (ACPR).

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Feb. 25, 2020) – On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance shared updated Internal Revenue Service data showing the continuing cost of abusive conservation easement tax shelters. The following statement can be attributed to Andrew Bowman, president and CEO of the Land Trust Alliance:

HUD is seeking 4,500 participants for its National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate (NSPIRE) demonstration, which updates the Real Estate Assessment Center’s (REAC) physical housing inspection process. HUD is also seeking comments to ensure clarity, accuracy and overall usability on early versions of NSPIRE standards for HUD-assisted housing.

HUD published Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 average income minimum set asides for LIHTC properties, in ten percent increments from 20 to 80 percent of the area median income in each state and metropolitan fair market rent/income limits area, based on the fiscal year 2019 Multifamily Tax Subsidy Project income limits.