News

In 2016, the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) Office of Multifamily Housing Programs introduced a voluntary green building standards program that allowed for a reduced annual mortgage insurance premium (MIP) at the rate of 0.25 percent for properties that are committed to green building practices. The reduced MIP for industry-recognized green housing encouraged owners to adopt higher standards for construction, rehabilitation, repairs, maintenance and property operations.

A bipartisan group of four Senators recently introduced a bill that would require that ten percent of the annual New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation be made to community development entities (CDEs) for investment in developments in Indian and Native lands

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, announced several updates to the Committee schedule:

January 29 at 10:00 am ET – The full Committee will convene for a hearing entitled, “The Community Reinvestment Act: Is the OCC Undermining the Law’s Purpose and Intent?”

January 29 at 2:00 pm ET – The Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance will convene for a hearing entitled, “Examining the Availability of Insurance for Nonprofits.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the following financial services bills to support veterans, benefit investors, provide housing opportunities, hold regulators accountable, promote Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) and improve cybersecurity:

Governor Gavin Newsom (D) issued an executive order on January 8 to expedite the state’s response to the homelessness crisis in advance of 2020-21 budget negotiations.

On January 7, in his State of the City address, Mayor Martin Walsh (D) pledged to dedicate $500 million over the next five years for affordable housing. These new investments will create rental and homeownership opportunities, preserve public housing, and establish a city-funded rental voucher program.

On December 17, Governor Charlie Baker (R) signed the supplemental budget to close out the $1 billion surplus from Fiscal Year (FY) 2019. The budget includes $2.5 million for a down payment assistance program for first-time homebuyers with low and moderate incomes as well as $2 million for a rental and mortgage arrearage assistance pilot […]

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston (FHLBank Boston) is hosting three sessions to assess its Affordable Housing Program (AHP) priorities and competitive scoring framework to ensure that the program remains a vital, flexible capital source to support a wide range of affordable housing initiatives across New England and the communities its members serve.

This week, HUD released a proposed rule on Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AHHF) that would dramatically alter the Obama administration’s final rule published in 2015. The rule changes the definition of AFFH and eliminates the community participation and engagement requirement as well as the requirement that federal grantees complete an analysis of impediments to fair housing. Comments on the proposed rule are due 60 days after its publication in the Federal Register.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued final (and proposed) regulations on the Opportunity Zones (OZ) tax incentive. The regulations modify and finalize the two previous proposed regulations that were issued in October 2018 and April 2019. The Treasury notes that “the final rules provide clarity for Opportunity Funds and their eligible subsidiaries in determining qualification and levels of new investment in Opportunity Zones.”

As RAD conversions continue to drive Project Based Voucher (PBV) growth, HUD proposes to fill an information gap to enable monitoring, tracking and analysis of PHAs’ PBV performance. Comments are due February 24, 2020.

A new white paper released by Freddie Mac details how communities can use mixed-income and social impact housing to stimulate economic growth and diversity while preserving affordable housing. The research examines properties in areas of concentrated poverty, which are areas designated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency that are characterized by disinvestment, persistently high poverty levels, low economic opportunity and high housing costs relative to income.