News

The Minneapolis City Council voted 12-1 to endorse Minneapolis 2040 – The City’s Comprehensive Plan, with 22 policy recommendations, each with action steps, that are specific to housing.

At the Dec. 13 meeting, the Board of Directors of the Florida Housing Finance Corporation (Florida Housing) approved a portfolio preservation action plan.

The 2019 Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) rents are now available, which will be used any new awards issued starting in 2019.

HUD recently issued Notice 2018-10 that details best practices to help ensure guest suite use is consistent with National Housing Act prohibitions against transient or hotel use of multifamily properties. HUD acknowledges guest suites as an amenity may contribute to the marketability of certain multifamily projects.

The House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) will hold a hearing on “A Legislative Proposal to Provide for a Sustainable Housing Finance System: The Bipartisan Housing Finance Reform Act of 2018” on Friday, Dec. 21 at 9 a.m. EST in Rayburn House Office Building, room 2128.

HUD’s 2018 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress found that 552,830 persons experienced homelessness on a single night in 2018, an increase of 0.3 percent since last year. The report did note significant declines among veterans as well as families with children experiencing homelessness with a 5.4 percent and 2.7 percent nationwide decline over 2017, respectively.

HUD Deputy Secretary Pam Patenaude announced she will be leaving HUD in the new year. FHA Commissioner Brian Montgomery has been named as Acting Deputy Secretary.

President Trump signed an executive order creating the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council. The council, led by HUD Secretary Carson, spans 13 federal agencies with the intent of prioritizing opportunity zones in a variety of federal efforts, including grant funding, loan guarantees, infrastructure spending and crime prevention.

The 2019-2020 Qualified Allocation Plan approved by the Virginia Housing Development Authority is now available.

A new Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) notice from HUD amends the previous final notice by stating that “that execution of a Project Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) contract as a result of the conversion of Rent Supp, RAP, Mod Rehab, or Mod Rehab SRO contracts through RAD after the publication of this notice does not trigger Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements.”

The New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority (NHHFA) recently issued its Income Averaging (IA) policy. Both four and nine percent Low Income Housing Tax Credit projects are eligible to select IA as a minimum set-aside.

The city of Miami has released a list of the first round of projects to be funded by the $400 million Miami Forever General Obligation bond.