News

Last week Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), along with Reps. Darrin LaHood (R-IL), Terri Sewell (D-AL), Mike Kelly (R-PA), Michael Turner (R-OH) and Brian Higgins (D-NY), introduced the Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity (HTC-GO) Act, H.R. 2825. 

This American Banker article explores the remarks from President Trump at the recent National Association of Realtors event. “This is a pretty urgent problem.  We’re doing well with it now… We have many geniuses looking at it and we’ll figure something out.”

At the Mortgage Bankers Association conference, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Dr. Mark Calabria said “ while I’m committed to working with Congress, I’m not going to wait on Congress.”

UnitedHealthcare has partnered with the Louisiana Housing Corporation (LHC) and the Louisiana Department of Health to support important initiatives aimed at reducing homelessness throughout the state.

New York City’s Department of City Planning recently released Zoning for Coastal Flood Resiliency, a set of recommendations that would improve upon and make permanent existing temporary zoning rules that were adopted on an emergency basis after Hurricane Sandy.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has announced that Clinton Jones, Lynn Fisher and Matt Grinney will join the Agency. Jones has been named Senior Advisor for Legal Affairs and Policy, Fisher will serve as Senior Advisor for Economics and Grinney will be a Senior Communications and Policy Advisor. 

USDA Rural Development (RD) announced today that Jen Larson has accepted the position of Director for the Multi-Family Housing Portfolio Management Division, effective May 28, 2019.

The House Appropriations Committee recently approved FY 2020 allocations for its 12 subcommittees, known as 302(b)s. The allocations total $1.295 trillion in discretionary funding and were approved on a 30-22 vote.

On May 1, Deputy Assistant Secretary in HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing Program Lamar Seats sent a memo to HUD field offices titled “What to Do When a Project Receives a Zero as a Result of an Owner Refusing to Allow HUD to Inspect.”

HUD awarded nearly $1.5 billion to support seven states in their recovery from 2018 disasters, including Hurricane Michael, Hurricane Florence and wildfires in California.

On May 21 at 10 am, the full House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) will hold a hearing, titled “Housing in America: Oversight of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.”

HUD released a proposed rule that would prohibit mixed immigration status families from living in public and other HUD-assisted housing. The proposed rule would require the verification of the eligible immigration status of all household members and would make prorated assistance temporary until the eligibility for housing assistance has been determined.

HUD’s Housing Notice 2019-07 provides incentives for multi-family property owners to invest in Opportunity Zones across the nation. Applicants to FHA’s Section 221(d)(4), Section 220 and Section 223(f) will be eligible for significantly lower application fees provided the property is located within an Opportunity Zone.