General News

On June 25 the United States Supreme Court issued a decision upholding the use of the “disparate impact” analysis in the Fair Housing Act. The decision upholds an important and longstanding principle of the Fair Housing Act, namely that housing policy can be discriminatory by showing that what may seem like neutral policies have the effect of furthering discrimination.

The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development approved Tuesday a FY-2016 THUD funding bill that slashes funds for the HOME program, which often provides vital funding for housing credit developments.

HUD published a notice outlining a new sampling methodology to calculate utility allowances for several multifamily affordable housing programs. The notice standardizes the methodology used to calculate utility allowances across many HUD housing programs and bases the calculations on actual consumption.

NH&RA calls on its members to stop the Senate Appropriations Committee from slashing funding to the HOME program, join efforts to strength LIHTC, help preserve tax-exempt multifamily bonds, and advocate for the historic tax credit.

The CDFI Fund announced more than $3.5 billion in New Markets Tax Credit awards aimed at stimulating investment and economic growth in low-income urban neighborhoods and rural communities nationwide. Thirteen NH&RA members were among the 76 organizations across the country that will receive tax credit allocation authority under the 2014 round of the New Markets Tax Credit Program.

The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund will implement a new enterprise-wide Awards Management Information System (AMIS). Beginning August 2015 through the fall of 2016, the CDFI Fund will transition from using the myCDFIFund Portal to using AMIS to track organization and application information.

The House passed the FY-2016 Transportation-HUD spending bill on a vote of 216-210. The legislation includes funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Transportation, and other related agencies through the end of the fiscal year on September 30, 2016.

The White House selected Michael Stegman, a senior official in the U.S. Department of the Treasury, to be the main housing adviser on the National Economic Council.

The supply of affordable rental housing failed to keep pace with demand in the 11 largest U.S. cities between 2006 and 2013, according to a new report from the NYU Furman Center/Capital One National Affordable Housing Landscape. The report examined rental housing affordability trends in the 11 cities and illustrates how these trends affected renters as more households chose to rent amid rising rental costs.

The National Affordable Housing Management Association (NAHMA) announced its 2015 Affordable 100—a list of the 100 largest affordable multifamily property management companies ranked by affordable unit counts. The list includes many NH&RA members.

Boston Capital is investing in the construction of Tri-Town Landing, Phase III, a 32-unit apartment community for individuals and families located in Lunenburg, Massachusetts. The developer is Great Bridge Properties, LLC based in Manchester, NH.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is opening a public comment period on a proposed a rule that would use small area fair market rents (FMRs) in the Housing Choice Voucher Program instead of the current 50th percentile fair market rents. The public comment period ends July 2, 2015.