News

The Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (MHFA) has begun its formal review and revision process for the 2013 Qualified Allocation Plan, and recently released a summary of proposed changes. MHFA’s Board will review the final QAP and procedural manual revisions at its March 22 meeting.

The IRS issued a notice in the Federal Register that it will hold a hearing on a proposed rule regarding the definition of an “interest in a limited partnership as a limited partner” for purposes of determining whether a taxpayer materially participates in an activity under Section 469 of the Internal Revenue Code.

On March 13, the United States Senate voted on several remaining amendments to the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century, or the MAP-21 Act (S. 1813).

HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research is conducting a comprehensive study of the housing needs of Native Americans, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians, and recently announced the latest updates to the study.

HUD has published its quarterly notice of all regulatory waivers that the Department has approved for the Office of Community Planning and Development, the Office of Housing ““ Federal Housing Administration (FHA), and the Office of Public and Indian Housing.

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has launched a new online green building products database, in conjunction with Home Depot.

The latest issue of HUD’s Evidence Matters: Transforming Knowledge into Housing and Community Development Policy (Winter 2012) examines how local capacity, leadership, and community connections can help regions avoid or recover from stresses, and how the federal Strong Cities, Strong Communities initiative is fostering capacity-building in some of the nation’s hardest hit areas.

The Montana Department of Commerce on March 8 published a Notice of Amendment on two proposed changes pertaining to the low-income housing tax credit program and allocation procedure.

Congressman Joe Baca (D-Rialto) introduced legislation in the House of Representatives that would give non-profit agencies and Community Development Corporations (CDCs) access to funds for affordable housing projects made available through the State Small Business Credit Initiative.

The IRS recently released Notice 2012-23 to provide guidance on tax-related issues involving cash payments for specified energy property in lieu of tax credits under Section 1603 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009 (ARRTA).

In accordance with IRS Revenue Procedure 2007-54, the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) and the Kentucky Housing Corporation (KHC) have permitted owners of Section 42 LIHTC properties to provide temporary emergency housing to individuals affected by the recent floods and tornadoes.

The Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Office of Affordable Housing has published the following documents for use in preparing applications in the 2012 OAH Funding Round.