News

Last week, HUD published the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Fair Market Rents (FMRs) in the Federal Register. The new rents will become effective on October 1, 2019 for the Housing Choice Voucher program and Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy program, unless HUD receives a valid request for reevaluation of specific area FMRs. The notice also includes responses to public comments from the June 5, 2019 Federal Register notice announcing two method changes in the calculation of FMRs.

The National Housing Conference (NHC) released a new white paper on housing finance reform that calls for bipartisan cooperation between Congress and the Trump administration to complete housing finance reform leading to the release of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from conservatorship. he paper establishes seven conditions to guide administrative and statutory reform to ensure that the U.S. will have a well-functioning housing finance system that provides consistent, affordable credit to borrowers across the nation and through all parts of the credit cycle, while minimizing the risk of another taxpayer-funded bailout.

The Community Development Advisory Board will hold an open meeting on September 23, from 9 am  3 pm EST at the Department of the Treasury. The meeting will be open to the public who may either attend the meeting in-person (the venue will accommodate up to 50 members of the public on a first-come, first-served basis) or view it as a live webcast. W

This New York Times article debates the merits of Opportunity Zones arguing “billions of untaxed investment profits are beginning to pour into high-end apartment buildings and hotels, storage facilities that employ only a handful of workers, and student housing in bustling college towns, among other projects.” The article explores how developments in New Orleans, Miami, […]

In a new paper, Michael Stegman with the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studiers (JCHS) argues that “eliminating exclusionary land use regulations should be the civil rights issue of our time.” Stegman looks back at five presidential commissions and federal initiatives to eliminate local barriers to housing development, put in motion by both Democratic and Republican administrations, arguing that each was based on the proposition that unnecessary land use regulations drive up production costs and drive down housing supply.

HUD published the Notice of Demonstration to Assess the National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate (NSPIRE) and Associated Protocols in the Federal Register. Comments are due on October 21, 2019.

The San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA) board approved a $486 million funding package that will support a range of projects, including a 326-unit apartment building with half the units reserved for renters earning up to 50 percent of the area median income (AMI), a 252-unit complex entirely reserved for residents earning up to 50 percent […]

The San Jose City Council is set to adopt a new Housing Payment Equity Ordinance that prohibits the discrimination of income sources. The ordinance will cover all rentals—including single-family homes, duplexes, multifamily units, co-living spaces, accessory dwelling units, guest houses and mobile homes—with one exception: rooms in single-family homes where the landlord lives in the house, too.

Last week the House Financial Service Committee (HFSC) held a field hearing titled “Examining the Homelessness Crisis in Los Angeles.” In her opening remarks, Chairwoman Maxine Waters called for a  bold and comprehensive response at the federal, state and local levels to address the homelessness crisis.

HUD published its Implementation of the Fair Housing Act’s Disparate Impact Standard proposed rule in the Federal Register. If implemented, the proposed rule would raise the burden of proof to bring a disparate impact claim, making it harder to pursue housing discrimination cases. Comments are due by October 18, 2019.

HUD has released the first set of NSPIRE standards with standards for chimneys, exit signs, sinks, smoke detectors and trash chutes. HUD is seeking feedback about the clarity of the deficiencies, the accuracy of the rationales and the overall usability of the standards. Please review the instructions on how to submit your feedback.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released its Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds Final Rule. The rule denies visas to persons the government deems to be a ‘public charge’, through their income and potential use of federal programs like Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers, Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance, and Public Housing programs, as well as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid and parts of Medicare. The final rule significantly expands the list of federal programs that can be used to determine if someone is deemed a public charge and is scheduled to take effect on Oct. 15, 2019.