General News

The Boston Housing Authority will become the first in the nation to voluntarily adopt small area fair market rents (SAFMRs). Doing so would link the value of a housing voucher to rent levels by ZIP code rather than to rent levels for the housing market overall, meaning that people with vouchers may have greater access to higher-cost neighborhoods.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System has released its Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2018. It shows that three percent of renters were evicted or moved because of the threat of eviction in the prior two years. It also shows that over half of U.S. renters needed a repair to their homes at some point in the prior year, and 15 percent of renters had moderate or substantial difficulty getting their landlord to complete the repair.

The National Council of Housing Market Analysts (NCHMA) sent comments and recommendations to HUD as it updates Chapter 7 of the Multifamily Accelerated Processing (MAP) Guide Market Study Guidelines.

The California Housing Partnership released new reports in collaboration with local and regional housing organizations that document the deteriorating conditions facing low-income renters in five Southern California counties: Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego. The reports offers policy recommendations for state, local and regional leaders…

On May 17, Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D) signed HB19-1228 into law. The bill increases the amount of state Affordable Housing Tax Credits available for annual allocation by the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority from $5 million to $10 million for 2020-2024.

A new report released from the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA) showcases the work of five public housing authorities (PHAs) that are successfully collaborating with postsecondary institutions and local nonprofit organizations to increase college access, retention and graduation rates for current public housing residents and college students who are experiencing homelessness.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) published its annual Advocates’ Guide: A Primer on Federal Resources Related to Affordable Housing Programs and Community Development. T

UnitedHealthcare has partnered with the Louisiana Housing Corporation (LHC) and the Louisiana Department of Health to support important initiatives aimed at reducing homelessness throughout the state.

New York City’s Department of City Planning recently released Zoning for Coastal Flood Resiliency, a set of recommendations that would improve upon and make permanent existing temporary zoning rules that were adopted on an emergency basis after Hurricane Sandy.

HUD’s Housing Notice 2019-07 provides incentives for multi-family property owners to invest in Opportunity Zones across the nation. Applicants to FHA’s Section 221(d)(4), Section 220 and Section 223(f) will be eligible for significantly lower application fees provided the property is located within an Opportunity Zone.

The Tidwell Group welcomed Justin Heberling as its newest partner in the firm’s Birmingham, AL office. The Tidwell Group also announced Joel T. McDowell, CPA as the Firm’s Birmingham Office Managing Partner. 

Novogradac updated its Rent & Income Limit Calculator© with HUD’s FY 2019 rent and income limit data. Using the HUD-published data, the Novogradac Rent & Income Limit Calculator© will calculate low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) rent and income limits for every county and every metropolitan statistical area in the US.