General News

On March 16 HUD issued a new mortgagee letter that effectively raises the maximum FHA mortgage amount for multifamily FHA-insured loans by excluding land value from the calculation of the statutory mortgage limits. It is expected that this new determination by the FHA will expand the use of FHA insurance for multifamily housing in major high-cost cities such as New York City, San Francisco, Boston, and Philadelphia. NH&RA’s General Counsel Bingham McCutchen provided the following summary:

The Louisiana Housing Finance Authority (LHFA) has released a description of the procedures used for processing and ranking the requests for additional GO Zone tax credits, and provided examples of the procedures.

The Urban Land Institute has published a new report entitled Housing in America: The Next Decade. The first part of this report reviews the current state of the market.

The Ohio Housing Finance Agency’s Office of Program Compliance has issued a compliance update memo addressing several topics. The memo highlights changes to OHFA policies and procedures based on internal review or guidance from program administrators such as the IRS, including:

National Housing & Rehabilitation Association (NH&RA) is pleased to announce that it has extended its discounted early registration rate deadline for the 2010 Spring Policy Forum, May 20-21 at the Liaison Hotel in Washington, DC. Simply register online by no later than Friday, April 30 to receive $100 off conference fees.

The Iowa Finance Authority (IFA) is offering a series of three housing tax credit program compliance seminars later this month. The training will cover significant changes to compliance requirements recently issued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Governor David A. Paterson today announced that Brian E. Lawlor has been appointed Commissioner of the State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) and CEO and President of ‘nyhomes,’ which includes the state’s Housing Finance Agency (HFA) and the State of New York Mortgage Agency (SONYMA).

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) is seeking greater participation on the part of constituents and stakeholders in helping to shape its future research agenda. PD&R is inviting suggestions and ideas from the public for new research projects to be funded in FY 2011 and beyond.

House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Sander Levin (D-Mich.) has indicated that he hope to have his tax credit extenders legislation (HR 4213) and small-business focused tax bill (HR 4849) enacted into law before Memorial Day.

Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson has signed a measure into law (SB 430) that removes the annual cap to the Kansas State Historic Tax Credit.

The House Financial Services Committee has released an update draft of comprehensive preservation legislation. The legislation addresses a wide-range of issues creating financing sources and mechanisms to preserve the affordability of HUD-assisted properties. The legislation is expected to be considered by the Ways & Means Committee some time shortly after the Spring recess (currently scheduled for March 29-April 9). Additionally, the legislation is expected to be a vehicle for other HUD oriented legislation including HR 4099, legislation endorsed by NH&RA’s Council For Energy Friendly Affordable Housing.

The New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) today announced that owners of rent regulated apartments in New York State can now fulfill their Annual Rent Registration requirement completely online, avoiding time-consuming errors and eliminating paperwork and the need to mail forms or disks to DHCR.