News

In 2013, members of Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future (SAHF) adopted the Big Reach with the goal of reducing energy and water use portfolio-wide by 20 percent by 2020. SAHF members surpassed the goals achieving 29 percent energy savings and 24 percent water savings portfolio-wide.

The House Appropriations Subcommittee approved the fiscal year 2022 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies funding bill. The bill provides $26.55 billion in funding – an increase of $2.851 billion, more than 10 percent – above 2021. 

HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge sent a letter to public housing authorities (PHAs), Continuums of Care (CoC) partners, multifamily owners and HUD grantees, clarifying that returning citizens—formerly incarcerated individuals returning to their communities—who are at-risk of homelessness are among the eligible populations for the recently awarded 70,000 emergency housing vouchers funded by the American Rescue Plan Act.

On July 20 at 1 p.m. ET the Federal Housing Finance Agency will hold a listening session on radon testing and mitigation at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) multifamily properties. Register here.

Last week the Supreme Court of the U.S. (SCOTUS) ruled 7-2 in Collins v. Yellen that the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is removable by the president. The court ruled that the Housing and Economic Recovery Act’s structure, which restricts the President’s power to remove the FHFA director, violates the separation of powers. 

President Joe Biden (D) and a bipartisan group of 21 senators reached an agreement on the contours of an infrastructure package. Details remain scarce, but at this point, we know that affordable housing provisions were not included in the bipartisan compromise package. The framework focuses on “more traditional” infrastructure items like roads, bridges, public transportation, water delivery, etc. It also aims to connect every American to reliable high-speed internet and drive down prices for internet service and close the digital divide. 

President Joe Biden (D) nominated Julia Gordon to serve as Assistant Secretary for Housing, Federal Housing Commissioner and Dave Uejio for Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at HUD.  

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) extended its eviction moratorium through July 31 for one final time. The one-month extension is designed to allow state and local governments more time to distribute emergency rental assistance (ERA) payments. The White House will hold a summit on housing affordability and evictions at 1 p.m. ET on June 30 and is increasing coordination with local officials and legal aid organizations to minimize evictions after July 31.

The Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) of Harvard University’s 2021 State of the Nation’s Housing report describes the K-shaped economic recovery in which higher-income households used wealth accumulated throughout the pandemic to purchase homes, while others struggled to stay in their homes as incomes dropped precipitously. 

The Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, as well as the Ohio Housing Council are leading a sign-on letter opposing a budget amendment that would require auditors to value LIHTC properties and other properties receiving federal subsidies to be valued as market-rate properties without regard to governmental use restrictions. 

Enterprise Community Partners is launching  Equitable Path Forward: Advisory Services (EPF AS), a 24-month program that will support up to eight Black, Indigenous and people of color- (BIPOC) led affordable housing organizations enhance their capabilities and strengthen their operations. 

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published an updated frequently asked questions (FAQ) document concerning the Federal Historic Tax Credit (HTC). The questions addressed what types of entities can claim the HTC, how and when the HTC can be claimed on a tax return key program definitions, qualified rehabilitation expenditures, basis and several other key aspects surrounding HTC.