Federal / Agency News

The White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council launched its new website, www.OpportunityZones.gov, which will serve as an information resource for those engaged with the Opportunity Zones initiative. The Opportunity Zones website includes an interactive map of the 8,764 Opportunity Zones nationwide; links to the Opportunity Zone-focused website of each State and Territory; comprehensive Federal tools […]

Last week the House passed a continuing resolution (CR) that would fund the government through November 21, 2019, averting a government shutdown as Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 comes to a close. The measure (H.R. 4378) passed the House with a veto-proof majority vote of 301-123. The Senate is expected to pass the measure and the President is expected to sign the bill before the end of the fiscal year.

HUD published the FY 2020 Fair Market Rents (FMRs) here. The FY 2020 FMRs will be effective October 1, 2019, unless there is a request for reevaluation by September 30, 2019. The Federal Register notice contains the procedures for such reevaluation requests. These FMRs are used in the Housing Choice Voucher, the Moderate Rehabilitation Single […]

The Council of Economic Advisers released The State of Homelessness in America report. The report raises serious methodological concerns, cherry-picks data that supports the reports positions and relies on outdated studies. The report’s primary argument posits that the deregulation of 11 housing markets would lead to a reduction of 71,709 people experiencing homelessness. The report takes aim at municipalities that have implemented right-to-shelter policies and policies that affect the tolerability of living on the streets for decreasing the demand for housing and increasing homelessness.

HUD is offering hands-on group learning and individualized technical assistance (TA) to multifamily assisted housing owners and management agents to help implement Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) programs. The TA will include coaching, education and hands-on guidance from an expert in FSS program implementation over a nine-month period. This TA will help housing providers successfully develop the program framework, access needed resources and launch their FSS programs.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) released a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the pilot program for Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Planning. Nineteen million dollars in funding is available to support comprehensive planning for new fixed guideway and core capacity improvement projects. The FTA will award grants ranging from $250,000 to $2 million dollars for proposals […]

Donald “DJ” LaVoy was sworn in on September 17 as deputy under secretary for Rural Development at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. DJ most recently served as the head of HUD’s Real Estate Assessment Center. The under secretary for Rural Development position, eliminated by USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue and reinstated by Section 12407 of the […]

Revenue Procedure 2019-38 provides a safe harbor for certain interests in rental real estate, including interests in mixed-use property, to be treated as a trade or business for purposes of the qualified business income deduction under section 199A of the Internal Revenue Code (section 199A deduction).

Yesterday the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies (T-HUD) favorably reported its FY 2020 funding bill to the full committee. The full Senate Appropriations Committee will hold a hearing on the bill at 10:30 am EDT on September 19 in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 106 and via webcast.

As of publication, the T-HUD bill has yet to be released. Overall the subcommittee received a 302(b) allocation of $74.3 billion, $3.2 billion above the FY 2019 enacted levels. HUD received $56.0 billion in total budgetary resources, which is offset by $7.4 billion in receipts from the Federal Housing Agency/Ginnie Mae for a net funding level of $48.6 billion, an increase of $2.3 billion above the FY 2019 enacted level.

The House has passed a set of housing-related bills, advancing these measures to the Senate. The Strategy and Investment in Rural Housing Preservation Act of 2019 (H.R. 3620) would permanently authorize the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Multifamily Housing Preservation and Revitalization program, and would authorize $1 billion to carry out the program. The Safe Housing for Families Act of 2019 (H.R. 1690) would authorize over $300 million over three years to fund the installation and maintenance of carbon monoxide detectors in HUD’s public housing units.

Finally, the Homebuyer Assistance Act of 2019 (H.R. 2852) would make it easier for homebuyers to buy a home with a Federal Housing Administration mortgage by alleviating the current shortage of certified appraisers.

HUD released a proposed rule that would revise HUD regulations by implementing sections 102, 103 and 104 of the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016 (HOTMA S. 3083/H.R. 3700 of the 114th Congress). These sections make sweeping changes to the United States Housing Act of 1937, particularly those affecting income calculation and reviews. Comments are due by November 18.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced new multifamily loan purchase caps of $100 million each for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from the fourth quarter of 2019 to the fourth quarter of 2020. The new caps apply to all multifamily business with no exclusions. The FHFA also directs at least 37.5 percent of Fannie […]