Federal / Agency News

On February 26, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs will vote on the nomination of Mark Calabria to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The Committee will also consider the nominations of Seth Appleton to lead HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research and Robert Hunter Kurtz to be the Assistant Secretary […]

HUD published Notice PIH 2019-01, which makes available $5 million for Tenant Protection Vouchers (TPVs) for certain at-risk households in low-vacancy areas from FY 2018 appropriations. The FY 2018 appropriations bill set aside $5 million of the total $85 million for TPV.

The Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding is leading a sign-on letter urging Congress to lift FY 2020 spending caps and fund affordable housing and transportation programs at the highest levels possible. NH&RA signed the letter and encourages our members to consider signing-on as well. The deadline to sign-on is March 1, 2019.

This week House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittees will hold two housing-related hearings. On Tuesday, Feb. 26 at 10 am the Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee will hold a hearing on “Leveraging Private Capital For Underserved Communities and Individuals: A Look Into Community Development Financial Institutions” in the Rayburn House Office Building, room 2362-A. On […]

Last week Congress and the President averted another shutdown by passing funding for the remainder of FY 2019, which runs through Sept. 30, 2019. Overall, the bill provides HUD programs with more than $12 billion above the President’s request and provides $1.5 billion in new resources in FY 2019.

NH&RA member Enterprise Community Partner recently published a blog post on Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Crapo’s (R-ID) housing finance reform outline. Vice President of Policy Development Andrew Jakabovics argues that eliminating the explicit commitment to affordable housing is a step in the wrong direction and that the housing finance system […]

Evelyn Lim joined the HUD Region Eight team, which covers Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana and North and South Dakota. Prior to her appointment at HUD, she served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

HUD announced it is reducing the advance notice it provides to public housing authorities (PHAs) and private owners of HUD-subsidized apartment developments before their housing is inspected to ensure it is decent, safe and healthy.  HUD’s new standard provides PHAs and private owners of HUD-assisted housing 14 calendar days’ notice before an inspection, a dramatic reduction from the current notice which can frequently extend up to four months.

NH&RA joined a letter led by the National Housing Conference, the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the Capital Magnet Fund Coalition, LISC and the Opportunity Finance Network which calls on the Acting Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency to continue making allocations to the Capital Magnet Fund (CMF) and the national Housing Trust Fund (HTF).

On Feb. 1, HUD sent proposed changes to its disparate impact regulations to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). OIRA now has up to 90 days to review the changes and send them back to HUD to publish in the Federal Register.

The Office of Multifamily Housing at HUD sent a message to owners with rental subsidy contracts that have expired or are due to expire in February notifying them that HUD is prioritizing their contract renewals.

The Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund awarded 38 organizations $142.9 million through the FY 2018 round of the Capital Magnet Fund. The 38 awardees were selected after a merit-based competitive review of applications submitted from 116 organizations, which requested more than $570 million in awards this round of the Capital Magnet Fund.