General News

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) of Michigan signed legislation extending the state’s Historic Tax Credit (HTC) through 2030.  S.B. 54 allows a qualified taxpayer with a certificate of completed rehabilitation issued after December 31, 2020 and before January 1, 2031, to credit against the income tax or Corporate Income Tax (CIT) 25 percent of the qualified expenditures that met eligibility criteria […]

The Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF) said it has launched a $20 million COVID-19 LIHTC Developer Fee Bridge Initiative to support affordable housing developers facing liquidity challenges in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic and ensuing recession. LIIF said in a press release that with a guarantee from the Community Investment Guarantee Pool (CIGP), the flexible capital would be available to fill gaps created when fees are stalled in phases of LIHTC development.

Freddie Mac released a white paper Dec. 10 that found LIHTC supports 40.1 percent of the multifamily housing market in rural Persistent Poverty Counties (PPCs) – a rate that is more than three times greater than the national average and one and a half times greater than all rural areas.

National Housing Trust partnered with Leading Age to analyze the QAPs from all 50 states to see how Housing Credit Allocating Agencies use LIHTCs to encourage the production and preservation of affordable housing specifically for older adults. The analysis revealed that:

Seven states have established a set-aside for creating or preserving affordable housing for older adults;
Twenty-seven states award points for creating or preserving affordable housing serving older adults;
Twenty states award points for providing certain features in affordable housing serving older adults; and
Three states provide a basis boost for crating or preserving affordable housing serving older adults.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) announced that it received 208 applications under the calendar year (CY) 2020 round of the New Markets Tax Credit Program (NMTC Program).

A new report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University (JCHS) presents results from a survey conducted between June 23 and July 17, 2020 to explore the experiences of service coordinators during the early months of COVID-19.

The National Housing Trust and Climate Central released an analysis evaluating the risk to affordable housing from flooding related to sea-level rise over the next 30 years. The report found, among other items, that the number of affordable rental apartments at risk from coastal flooding and sea-level rise is expected to more than triple during the next three decades.

NLIHC and i4J estimate the costs of emergency shelter, inpatient and emergency medical services, foster care and juvenile delinquency to people experiencing homelessness as a result of eviction. Depending on the number of households evicted, these public costs would range between $62 billion and $129 billion.

NH&RA joined with 139 other organizations to support the National Council of State Housing Agencies’ (NCSHA) letter to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Department of the Treasury calling for an extension to the temporary COVID-related LIHTC relief.

Enterprise Community Partners (Enterprise), HUD, Fannie Mae, and Bellwether Enterprise are holding a webinar from 1:30 – 3 p.m. ET on December 10 to discuss their new Ready to Respond: Business Continuity Toolkit. The toolkit equips multifamily affordable building owners & managers with a plan to address crisis as many housing communities confront risks associated with natural disasters and other risks that affect tenants and business resiliency, such as COVID-19.

The Counselors of Real Estate published an article by James Burling, vice president of legal affairs at Pacific Legal Foundation, on America’s Sordid History of Exclusionary Zoning. Burling traces the history state-sponsored, racially motivated exclusionary housing laws via George McMechen’s efforts to obtain a home in the suburbs.

“We agree with the State Auditor that California must develop and implement a long-term, comprehensive and coordinated plan to house those who are experiencing homelessness and lack access to affordable homes. While the claim in the November 2020 audit that $2.7B in tax-exempt bonds were wasted oversimplifies the program mechanics and ignores the economic conditions at the time, what’s critical now — when housing bond demand exceeds supply by more than two-to-one — is that the state allocate all remaining bond issuance authority to affordable housing.”