News

Sandra Henriquez was recently sworn in as the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development’s Assistant Secretary for the Office of Public and Indian Housing.

According to a report released recently by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), minority-based Community Development Entities (CDE) were less successful in obtaining federal New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocations from 2005 through 2008.

Montana’s Board of Housing recently released its draft qualified allocation plan (QAP) for the 2010 low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) program. The plan governs the allocation of LIHTCs in Montana and provides an overview of the program, administrative processes, eligible competitions, and fee schedules.

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed H.R. 1674, which establishes the National Consumer Cooperative Bank as a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI).

The House of Representatives recently passed by a 417-2 vote the Homes for Heroes Act of 2009 (H.R. 403), which makes housing rental vouchers available to all homeless veterans and includes veterans in public housing planning programs.

Yesterday U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan announced HUD’s proposed fiscal year 2010 budget. The budget represents a renewed commitment to multifamily housing, interagency partnerships and program transparency.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued a new notice that allows for the use of a utility allowance for rent-restricted units in a low-income housing tax credit project where utility sub-metering is used, and lays out the conditions that must be met for this treatment to apply. The new guidance, in Notice 2009-44, clarifies and is retroactive to the effective date of the final utility allowance regulation published on July 29, 2008.

The Internal Revenue Service is soliciting comments by August 10 on IRS Form 8874, which is completed and submitted by investors to report equity investments made in community development entities (CDEs) under the federal new markets tax credit (NMTC) program.

The New York Department of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) has published a report, Statewide Affordable Housing Needs Study under its Office of Policy Research and Development.

The Ohio Housing Finance Agency has released several draft policy documents with respect to its upcoming 2010 qualified allocation plan for the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) program.

The Ohio Housing Finance Agency has released application procedures and underwriting guidelines for its low-income housing tax credit assistance and tax credit exchange programs.

The California Tax Credit Allocation Committee has released applications for projects that received a previous allocation of low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC), with state tax credits, for tax credit assistance (TCAP) and exchange program funding provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).