General News

Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund has issued a call for well-qualified personnel to serve as application Reviewers and Alternates for the 2014 round of the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program.

FHA Commissioner Carole Galante recently announced she will leave her role as HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Housing and FHA Commissioner in the fall. In January, she will assume the I. Donald Terner Distinguished Professorship in Affordable Housing and Urban Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and will also serve as the Director of the Berkeley Program in Housing and Urban Policy and co-chair the Fisher Center on Real Estate Policy Advisory Board.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently released Notice 2014-46, further clarifying Notices 2013-29 and 2013-60, regarding (i) how to satisfy the Physical Work Test and (ii) the effect of various types of transfers with respect to a facility after construction has begun. The Notice also modifies the application of the five percent Safe Harbor. Notice 2014-46 clarifies that a fully- or partially-developed facility may be transferred without losing its qualification under the Physical Work Test or the Safe Harbor for purposes of the PTC or the ITC.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a new report that addresses the complex financial structures of New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) transactions. The report questions whether combining multiple federal, state, or local subsidies is unnecessarily duplicative and whether the complexity of such structures are masking higher rates of return for NMTC investors.

A recent memo released by HUD dated August 7, 2014, addresses the use of a lender ordered MAP appraisals in lieu of a separate Rent Comparability Study (RCS) for Mark-Up-To-Market transactions. The Department plans to change the current RCS guidelines upon publication of the long awaited updated Section 8 Renewal Policy Guide to allow for the use of a lender ordered MAP appraisal that will serve a dual purpose; serving as an RCS and for use in underwriting an application for HUD mortgage insurance.

The Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund recently released the Notice of Allocation Availability (NOAA) to open the next allocation round for the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program. The NOAA makes $5 billion in tax credit authority available for the calendar year (CY) 2014 round.

Representative Pete Gallego (D-TX) recently introduced H.R. 5198 to amend Section 42(d)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide an appeal process  for designation as qualified census tracts (QCTs) and difficult development areas (DDAs) under the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. This legislation would allow any State or local government agency to […]

Representatives Dennis Ross (R-FL), Jim Himes (D-CT), John Delaney (D-MD) , Sean Duffy (R-WI), Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) and Ann Wagner (R-MO) recently introduced “Pay-for-Success” legislation (H.R. 5104 ) to increase energy efficiency in multifamily rental housing.

Effective Friday July 18, 2014, Mark Van Kirk, the Director of Asset Management for the Office of Multifamily Housing Programs, will be departing HUD and Margaret Salazar will also be stepping down as Director of the Office of Affordable Housing Preservation (OAHP) to assume the role of Field Office Director for HUD’s Portland, OR office in August.

Last December, Wisconsin Act 62 created a 20 percent tax credit for rehabilitation of certain historic properties…

Representatives John Carney (D-DE), John K. Delaney (D-MD), and Jim Himes (D-CT) recently introduced the Partnership to Strengthen Homeownership Act (HR 5055), the latest of several housing finance reform proposals

State Senator Elder A. Vogel Jr. (R-47th District) and a bipartisan group of Pennsylvania State Senators sponsored a bill to expand the Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement Fund, commonly known as the State Housing Trust Fund….