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House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) introduced a new year-end tax relief package. The bill includes the same provision in his original bill that clarifies that veterans are a specified group for preferences within the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program and extends the LIHTC public use provisions from nine percent allocations to also include four percent bond allocations.

The White House announced its intent to nominate Mark Calabria to take over as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) following the departure of current FHFA director Mel Watt on Jan. 4, 2019.

The ACTION Campaign updated its district fact sheets with new data to show the LIHTC’s impact in each congressional district. Last month they released the updated state fact sheets.

The U.S. Department of the Agriculture though the Rural Utilities Service is accepting applications for the Rural Broadband Access Loans and Loan Guarantees Program. Loans will be made available for the construction, improvement, and acquisition of facilities and equipment that will provide service at the Broadband Lending Speed in eligible rural areas with loans ranging from $100,000 to $25 million.

A new note from Peter Lawrence with Novogradac and Co. analyses state use of the private activity bonds (PABs). In 2017, eleven states reported no multifamily PAB issuance, up from ten in 2016 and down from the high of 30 in 2011.

HUD published the Utility Allowance Adjustment Factors (UAFs) for 2019 which will be effective on Feb. 11, 2019. Compared to 2018 UAFs, oil increased by 3.35 percent, natural gas increased by 12.62 percent, electric increased by 3.61 percent and water, trash and sewer increased by 0.09 percent nationwide.

On November 15, Sens. Richard Burr (R-NC), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Lindsay Graham (R-SC), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) introduced the “Hurricanes Florence and Michael and California Wildfire Tax Relief Act” (S. 3648). The bill, in addition to providing tax relief for victims of the natural disasters like an employment credit and tax-favored withdrawals from retirement plans, would designate all of the applicable disaster zones as an Opportunity Zones.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published the 2019 state caps for the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and Private Activity Bonds (PAB) in Revenue Procedure 2018-57. The LIHTC is the greater of $2.75625 times the state population or a minimum of $3,166,875. The PAB volume cap is the greater of $105 times the state […]

NH&RA member firm Dominium recently published three articles on income averaging. The first article dispels the myth that there is an income averaging ‘cliff’ when one unit on the property goes out of compliance. Rather, 40 percent of units must serve households that on average make 60 percent of the area median income.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury released its 2018-2019 Priority Guidance Plan.  Part one covers implementation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Notably, the first item in this section is issuing regulations for LIHTC income averaging. The plan also includes issuing regulations for utility allowances under the LIHTC, clarification and revision of […]

Politico convened a group of 14 bipartisan business leaders, thinkers and policymakers to explore barriers to opportunity in America. Three of their nine recommendations focus on housing:  prioritize internet connectivity, ease zoning restrictions in some cities and rethink housing rehabilitation policies in other cities.

Funding for the federal government was scheduled to run out on Friday, Dec. 7. On Thursday, Dec. 6 Congress passed a short term continuing resolution that funds the remaining seven appropriations subcommittee bills through Dec. 21. President Trump signed the bill on Friday, Dec. 7.