General News

HUD recently released Mortgagee Letter (ML) 2013–31, which extends certain provisions within a previously released ML 2012-13 and ML 2011-13. The authority within ML 2011-13 allowed Multifamily HUD Hubs to process waiver requests pertaining to the three-year rule for Section 223(f) applications, but that rule expired in July 2012 and ML 2012-13 extended the rule for one year.

HUD has published its final Fair Market Rents (FMRs) for the Housing Choice Voucher Program and Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy Program and any other programs requiring their use for Fiscal Year 2014. The FY 2014 FMRs are based on using 5-year, 2007-2011 data collected by the American Community Survey (ACS).

On Wednesday, October 9, the Senate Banking Committee held a hearing on Hosing Finance Reform: Essential Elements of the Multifamily Housing Finance System,” which focused on the multifamily perspective of housing finance reform.

On October 2, 2013, The Virginia Housing Finance Authority (VHDA) Board of Commissioners Approved revisions to the 2014 Qualified Allocation Plan. The application deadline is January 29, 2014 and application materials will be available in mid-December.

The Ohio Housing Finance Agency has issued a new draft of its Multifamily Underwriting Guidelines. Notable changes include increasing the Developer’s Fee for 4% Housing Tax Credit Projects to increase basis.

The United States Congress has not been able to pass a bill to fund the government beyond September 30, 2013, resulting in a government shutdown. On September 27, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released a “Contingency Plan for Possible Lapse in Appropriations” if Congress failed to pass the Fiscal Year 2014 Budget. It is unclear how long the shutdown will last or its full affects it will have on housing, but here are some of the major affects the shutdown will have on HUD and other federal housing programs.

The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs announces the availability of up to $21,692,495 in funding from the HOME Investment Partnerships Program for the development of affordable multifamily rental housing for low-income Texans.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that it is waiving certain limitations for projects financed with Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) or exempt facility bonds so that owners and operates across the United States can provide housing to victims of severe storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides in Colorado that began September 11, 2013.

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund announced Wednesday $3.5 billion in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) awards nationwide. Treasury will provide 85 organizations with tax credit allocation authority under the tenth award round of the NMTC Program.

The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives Appropriations Committees have both approved the T-HUD Subcommittee versions of the fiscal year (FY) 2014 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (T-HUD) and FY 2014 Agriculture and Rural Development funding bills.

HUD has released a Notice in the Federal Register to announce revisions to the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) Program and to solicit comments on eligibility and selection criteria. The Notice proposes updates to PIH 2012-32, originally issued on July 26, 2012, which provided for full implementation of the RAD program.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-UT) recently distributed a “Dear Colleague” letter outlining a “blank slate” approach to tax reform. This method approaches tax reform with the assumption that all special provisions will be eliminated unless there is clear evidence they should be kept in the code.