News

The Iowa Finance Authority (IFA) recently released the state’s proposed 2012 Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP) and an overview of significant changes to the plan.

The White House Rental Policy Working Group which includes officials from the White House, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Agricultural Rural Development has unveiled a pilot program, the Physical Inspections Alignment Program, as part of the Obama Administration’s recent goal to streamline Federal rental housing policy.

The Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA) has released the State of Tennessee proposed 2012 Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP). THDA clarifies that the amount of tax credits available for allocation under the 2012 QAP is limited to those that were not previously made available in the 2011 allocation round as forward commitments.

The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity met November 2, 2011 to discuss the Obama Administration’s proposed demonstration program, Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD). The RAD proposal evolved out of the Obama Administration’s Transformation of Rental Assistance proposal and would help preserve public housing and projects subsidized by the HUD “orphan” programs (RAP, Rent Supp and Section 8 Moderate Rehab) by allowing Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) and owners to apply to convert to long term project-based rental assistance (either project-based section 8 vouchers or MAHRA type-project-based rental assistance).

The Washington State Housing Finance Commission (WSHFC) has announced that the state’s Credit per Unit limit has changed due to recent changes to the per capita rate used to calculate state credit ceilings. The revised rate leads to the changes to WSHFC’s LIHTC Program Limits.

The California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (CTCAC) released a memo that announced updates have been made to the California Utility Allowance Calculator (CUAC), has answered some frequently asked questions regarding using the calculator for newly constructed tax credit developments and has updated submission requirements.

The Community Development Financial Institution Fund (CDFI Fund) has issued a call for comments about the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program. This request is due to the CDFI Fund’s ongoing mission to improve the effectiveness of the program while simultaneously reducing costs and the burden the program places on participants.

A new report entitled “The Effect on Program Participation of Replacing Current Low-Income Housing Programs with an Entitlement Housing Voucher Program” was released last week that estimates the effects of alternative reforms of the current system of low-income housing assistance on the number of people of various types who would receive assistance.

The Housing Assistance Council (HAC) has published “Rurality in the United States,” the first in its new series of Rural Research Notes, highlighting economic and housing characteristics of rural America.

The U.S. Department of the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is soliciting comments from the public regarding the FY 2012 Transformation Initiative for Research Grants related to the Choice Neighborhoods Demonstration’s Small Grants Research Program.

HUD recently announced that it is proposing new regulatory requirements under its HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) that would re-write some of HOME’s compliance requirements.

California’s Tax Credit Allocation Committee (TCAC) has released its proposed 2011/2012 Tax Credit Program Schedule & Deadlines. Public hearings for proposed regulation changes will be held in December 2011.