News

President Joseph Biden (D) nominated Arthur Jemison to be Assistant Secretary of Community Planning and Development (CPD) at HUD. Jemison has been serving in an acting capacity and now awaits approval before the Senate.

Last week, the House Financial Services Committee reported a marked-up Expediting Assistance to Renters and Landlords Act of 2021 (H.R. 5196) to the House, which, if enacted, would make significant changes to the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP).

The House Financial Services Committee completed their work on Tuesday and sent their portion of the bill to the House floor with a 30-24 party-line vote. The committee voted down all of the amendments offered by Republicans.  

The OCC announced it is soliciting comments on proposed rules to rescind the CRA rule issued in 2020 and replace it with rules adopted jointly by the federal banking agencies in 1995, as amended. 

HUD designated Difficult Development Areas and Qualified Census Tracts for 2022.

Last week, the White House released a sweeping set of actions the Biden-Harris administration is taking to increase the supply of affordable housing.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Rev. Proc. 2021-39, which extends the ability of bond issuers to conduct hearings virtually through March 31, 2022 due to COVID-19.

The National Council of State Housing Agencies, along with other major national organizations representing Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) grantees sent a letter to House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) providing recommendations on amending the ERA program to eliminate statutory barriers in administration and expedite the provision of assistance to eligible households.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) and Public and Affordable Housing Research Corporation (PAHRC) updated its National Housing Preservation Database with new data for properties assisted by Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance, LIHTCs, Public Housing, HUD-insured mortgages, Section 202 Direct Loans, Section 515 mortgages, Section 538 Guaranteed Loans, fair market rent and Real Estate Assessment Center scores.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) convened a special session of the New York state legislature, which then voted to extend the eviction moratorium until Jan. 15, 2022 and implement certain changes to the moratorium to address two recent Supreme Court decisions that blocked portions of the State’s moratorium and the larger Federal moratorium. 

The Maryland Public Service Commission unanimously voted to expand the capacity of the state’s community solar program, as well as improve access for low- and moderate-income customer participation in the state’s Community Solar Pilot Program.

A Dear Colleague letter, led by Reps. Suzan DelBene (D-WA) and Don Beyer (D-VA), asking Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to include LIHTC provision in the partisan reconciliation package was signed by 111 representatives.