News

The U.S. Department of Treasury’s updated 2013-2014 Priority Guidance Plan contains 324 projects that are priorities for allocation of the resources of its offices during the plan year which runs from July 2013 through June 2014.

National Housing & Rehabilitation Association (NH&RA) announced today it will honor Vincent F. O’Donnell, who recently retired as Vice President Affordable Housing Programs at the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, and Jack Manning, co-founder, president and CEO of Boston Capital Corporation, with its 2013 Affordable Housing Vision Awards for career achievement at a ceremony on the evening of November 13 at the Langham Hotel in Boston.

The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) has released the preliminary staff drafts of 2014 Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP) and key subchapters of the Uniform Multifamily Rules related to the QAP requirements. Additionally, an online forum with the discussion threads for each of the various parts of the rules is available online and TDHCA staff encourages potential members and the public to make comments on the preliminary QAP.

HUD recently released Notice H 2013-23 to revise the financial reporting requirements for small multifamily housing projects. This Notice, which comes as a part of the White House’s Rental Policy Working Group’s (RPWG) changes to auditing standards and requirements, would relieve owners of small multifamily projects of submitting audited financial statements.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced that Tammye Treviño, who most recently served as Administrator of the Rural Housing Service (RHS), has left the agency to become Regional Director of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) Region VI, based in Texas.

Two Committees within the California State Assembly, the Committee on Housing and Community Development and the Labor and Employment Committee, recently approved the California Homes and Jobs Act of 2013 (SB 391).

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) recently introduced the Historic Downtown Preservation and Access Act (S. 1421) to amend Section 47 of the Internal Revenue Code to provide a refundable tax credit for the installation of sprinklers and elevators in historic structures.

A recent report conducted by Rapoza Associates entitled “The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit: Overcoming Barriers to Affordable Housing in Rural America” examines the importance of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) in the developing and preserving affordable housing in rural communities.

Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA) will host a Public Hearing for the 2014 Tennessee LIHTC QAP on August 29, 2013 from 10:00 am to 11:00 am

The Colorado Housing Finance Authority will hold two public hearings to receive input from the public to develop the 2014 Colorado QAP.

HUD recently released its proposed fiscal year (FY) 2014 fair market rents (FMRs) for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) and Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy programs.

House Finance Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) recently announced intentions to introduce the Protecting American Taxpayers and Homeowners (PATH ) Act, a measure which according to Hensarling, would create a more sustainable housing finance system.