News

Governor Larry Hogan (R-MD) announced a series of initiatives and legislation to expand the Maryland Opportunity Zone program. A total of $56.5 million would be dedicated to attracting new businesses and development and continuing to invest in Maryland’s workforce.

Mark Stivers left his post as executive director of the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (TCAC) on Sunday, Jan. 6. Stivers was appointed by California State Treasurer John Chiang in 2015. In an email to TCAC stakeholders, Stivers wrote “I intend to remain in public service working on housing issues.”

The Federal Financing Bank (FFB) multifamily risk-sharing initiative with Housing Finance Agencies (HFAs) officially ended on Dec. 31, 2019. In February of 2018, HUD announced that it would end the FFB financing initiative on Sept. 30, 2018. In September of 2018, HUD then granted an extension through the end of the year to review the program’s effectiveness.

A new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Poverty & Race Research Action Council examines where families with children use housing vouchers in the 50 largest metropolitan areas. This report is the first metropolitan-level analysis to explore the concentration of families using vouchers across multiple neighborhood characteristics.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a proposed rule on reissuance of state or local bonds. The proposed rule provides steps for determining when tax-exempt bonds are treated as retired for purposes of sections 103 and 141 through 150 of title 26 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The proposed rule also amends §1.1001–3(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code to conform that section to the special rules in the proposed rule for retirement of qualified tender bonds.

President Trump has named Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting as acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) beginning Jan. 6, after Director Mel Watt’s term ends.

HUD issued a notice of Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Annual Adjustment Factors (AAFs) for certain properties in HUD’s Section 8 housing assistance payment (HAP) programs. The AAFs are provide annual adjustments to rents based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index survey.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a final rule that updates requirements for public approval of tax-exempt private activity bonds (PABs). All PABs are required to hold a hearing of public approval. The rule changes the reasonable public notice period from 14 to 7 days prior to the hearing and allows for the posting of the hearing on a website without other notice.

Dear TCAC stakeholders, Sunday (1/6/2019) will be my last day as TCAC Executive Director. I want to thank Treasurer Chiang for the amazing opportunity to serve in this position for the last four years. It has been both an honor and a source of personal growth for me, and it has allowed me to make […]

Congress is readying a short-term continuing resolution that would fund the government through Feb. 8 and avert a partial government shutdown on Friday, Dec. 21. Seven appropriations subcommittee bills, including Transportation-HUD, still have yet to receive funding for all of Fiscal Year (FY) 2019. Five of the twelve appropriations subcommittee bills are funded for all of FY 2019 and won’t need a CR to continue operating.

Annie Donovan announced that she will step down as the director of the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Donovan will be replaced by Jodie Harris in January.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Purdue sent a letter to House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Chairman Robert Aderhold (R-AL) to explain staffing changes within the Rural Housing Service (RHS) Section 538 rental guarantee program and Section 515 rental loan program.