News

Housing & Urban Development Director Shaun Donovan last week traveled to Columbus, Ohio to help popularize the Project Rebuild initiative that has been proposed as part of President Obama’s American Jobs Act.

The Washington State Housing Finance Commission has released the 2012 Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program Application Packet.

On Thursday, October 6th, the Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing entitled, “The Obama Administration’s Response to the Housing Crisis.” The hearing examined the Administration’s response to the housing crisis, including new proposals announced by the President during his recent speech to a joint session of Congress.

HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing has released a notice that provides public housing agencies (PHAs) with instructions for operating subsidy calculation submissions in 2012.

Governor John Kitzhaber has announced the appointment of Margaret Shephard Van Vliet to fill the position of Oregon Housing and Community Services Director.

The Missouri House of Representatives approved an economic development bill that includes tax credits towards a China trade hub at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, a corporate income tax reduction from 6.25 percent to 5.5 percent starting in January 2012, and changes to the historic and low-incoming housing tax programs.

The Missouri House of Representatives approved an economic development bill that includes tax credits towards a China trade hub at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, a corporate income tax reduction from 6.25 percent to 5.5 percent starting in January 2012, and changes to the historic and low-incoming housing tax programs.

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) last week released a new report entitled “What Have We Learned from Energy Efficiency Financing Programs?” that shows that energy-efficiency loan programs for building upgrades have exceedingly low default rates, ranging from 0 to 3 percent.

A recent Associate Chief Counsel Memorandum (2011-004) discusses the federal income tax treatment of the receipt of excessive payments under Section 1603 of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

U.S. Congressmen Jim McDermott (D-WA), Erik Paulsen (R-MN), and Keith Ellison (D-MN) have introduced a bill that would update the existing tax law to allow formerly homeless young people to pursue a four-year college education and still qualify for Low Income Housing Tax Credits housing units.

The Office of Development in HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing Programs will host an overview of the revised 2011 MAP Guidebook via webcast on October 17, 2011 from 11:30 am to 3:00 pm with a 45 minute break for lunch between 12:30 and 1:15 pm. The implementation of the MAP Guidebook has been postponed until November 1, 2011 to accommodate more time for interested parties to raise questions and make comments about the revisions.

HUD has released the final fiscal year 2012 fair market rents (FMRs) to become effective October 1, 2011. The primary uses of FMRs are to determine payment standards for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, to determine renewal rents for expiring project based Section 8 contracts, to determine initial rents for housing assistance payment contracts in the Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy program, and to serve as rent ceilings in the HOME program.