News

The U.S. Senate on March 20 passed by a vote of 73 to 26 an amended version of the U.S. House of Representatives FY 2013 continuing resolution (CR), H.R. 933. The legislation provides funding for all federally funded agencies for the remainder of FY 2013, which ends on September 30, 2013.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar recently announced the results of a National Park Service review of the historic tax credit. Overall, the document is very encouraging and addresses many of the issues NH&RA highlighted in recent comments to DOI.

The U.S. Census Bureau and HUD recently released the new 2012 Rental Housing Finance Survey, which provides a more complete picture of the nation’s multifamily rental properties, including data on property values, how their mortgages are financed, and characteristics of the structures.

HUD recently released Notice H 2013-07 to provide supplemental guidance to previously issued Mortgagee Letter (ML) 2010-21 and Notice H 2010-11 to clarify processing procedures and to describe how lenders can obtain prior approval for mortgage insurance commitments.

Wisconsin Representative Chad Weininger (R-Green Bay) recently introduced legislation that streamlines and expands Wisconsin’s current historic tax credit program and raises the state match of the supplemental historic preservation credit from 5 percent to 20 percent.

The Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) recently released the final rule and proposed implementation guidance for its Major Capital Investment Projects program (also known as New Starts/Small Starts), which includes updated provisions for assessing a plan’s commitment to affordable housing.

U.S. Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN) recently re-introduced the Common Sense Housing Investment Act of 2013 (H.R. 1213) which would replace the federal mortgage interest deduction (MID) with a 15 percent non-refundable tax credit for all mortgages up to $500,000. Legislators expect that phasing out the MID would increase federal revenue by $196 billion over ten years.

U.S. Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) recently introduced legislation that would make permanent the enhanced tax incentives for conservation easements (including historic buildings) that are scheduled to expire at the end of 2013.

Moody’s Investors Service recently released a report on the current financial outlook for state housing finance agencies (HFAs). Moody’s concludes while the U.S. housing market has begun to show signs of improvement, the fiscal outlook for the state HFA sector remains negative due to significant market and credit pressures.

The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) recently released the schedule for six public hearings to gather public comment on the 2013 Competitive Housing Tax Credit Applications.

Proposed amendments, a new rule, re-proposed amendments, re-proposed new rules, and a re-proposed repeal to the 2013 Qualified Allocation Plan were published in the New Jersey Register on March 18, 2013.

After months of stalemate on December 31 (US Senate) and January 1 (US House of Representatives) respectively, has passed HR 8, The American Taxpayer Relief Act, which addresses the tax provisions of the “fiscal cliff.” The legislation is expected to be signed into law by President Obama imminently. The legislation includes a number of tax extenders including extensions of most of the expiring “Bush-era” income tax rates, a permanent “patch” for the alternative minimum tax, and most notably for NH&RA members extensions of the New Markets Tax Credit and the fixed 9 percent rate for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit through 2013. The measure also postpones sequestration, automatic spending cuts to government spending that was set to occur in January, by two months to allow time for further negotiation.