General News

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Policy Development and Research recently published the overall Physical Inspection Scores of HUD-assisted and subsidized properties to the HUD USER website.

The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency’s board recently approved its qualified allocation plan (QAP) for the agency’s 2010 low-income housing tax credit program.  The agency will allocate 2010 tax credits based on the following overriding principles and preferences:

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has released a report of its Tax Credit Assistance Program (TCAP) activities that provides the amount of funds committed and dispersed for TCAP-funded projects, and total grant commitments for state housing agencies.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed on December 16 the Jobs for Main Street Act, which includes over $150 billion in provisions intended to spur job creation and fund various infrastructure and relief programs with targeted investments for highways and transit, school renovation, hiring of teachers, police, and firefighters, and job training.

The Alabama Housing Finance Agency’s Board of Directors approved the 2010 Qualified Allocation Plan and 2010 HOME Action Plan, for administering the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and HOME Programs, respectively, on December 16.

The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate conferees have agreed to a $446.8 billion omnibus appropriations bill (HR 3288). This “˜omnibus’ legislation includes the Transportation-HUD appropriations measure as well as the Commerce-Justice-Science, Financial Services, Labor-Health and Human Services, Milcon-VA, and State-Foreign Operations bills.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Department of Community Affairs has published a study called, Affordability and Availability of Rental Housing in Pennsylvania, which assesses the housing needs of Pennsylvania’s low-income renter households and describes how their needs vary across the state.

The Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) has scheduled a public hearing to solicit questions comments on the 2010 Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP) for the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Program.

Oregon Housing and Community Services has announced that it will hold one funding round in its 2010 Consolidated Funding Cycle, which includes low-income housing tax credits and other resources, and has postponed the cycle 60 days.

The Kentucky Housing Corporation (KHC) has issued a notice saying it will be revising its 2010 qualified allocation plan (QAP) for its low-income housing tax credit program to ease current difficulties in developing multifamily housing, including the difficulty in securing equity secure investors, insufficient gap financing, the uncertainty surrounding proposed federal legislative changes, and other developer concerns.

The Virginia Housing Development Authority has approved its proposed 2010 qualified allocation plan for its low-income housing tax credit program, and sent it to the governor for his signature.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Policy Development & Research has published a Regulatory Impact Analysis for the Housing Trust Fund, which was established by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 to expand the supply of affordable rental units, and increase homeownership opportunities for extremely low- and very low-income households.