HUD

The Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) is soliciting comments to the draft allocation plan for the FY 2020 Greater Opportunities for Affordable Living (GOAL) Program and QAP.  These documents govern the allocation of four funding sources: the Low Income Housing Tax Credit; the HOME Investment Partnership Act; the National Housing Trust Fund; and the Senior Citizens Housing Development Fund.

HUD published a notice of proposed changes for estimation of Fair Market Rents (FMRs) in the Federal Register. In response to frequent comments on the need for more local and timely data, HUD is considering updating its FMR methodology to include Trend Factor Changes and to use neighboring zip codes in place of county-based Small Area FMRs.

HUD posted new closing checklists for use with the recently revised FHA closing documents. The new checklists include non-substantive changes to the layout, re-ordering of certain items, removal of items that have been added to other form documents, and a new checklist for the “Heavy” 223(f) closings.

HUD published an updated RAD Inventory Assessment Tool. The tool is designed for PHAs that are newly considering or re-considering RAD at RAD rents based on the FY 18 Appropriation levels.

On June 4, the House Appropriations Committee approved the FY 2020 Transportation-HUD appropriations bills on a partisan 29-21 vote. The bill provides $50.1 billion for HUD programs, $5.9 billion of the FY 2019 enacted funding level.

The City of Newport News, VA and the Newport News Redevelopment and Housing Authority are the recipients of a $30 million grant from HUD’s FY 2018 Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CNI) Awards. Pennrose and the Newport News Redevelopment and Housing Authority will replace Ridley Place’s 259 public housing units, as well as create 133 moderate-income housing units and 98 market rate units.

The Boston Housing Authority will become the first in the nation to voluntarily adopt small area fair market rents (SAFMRs). Doing so would link the value of a housing voucher to rent levels by ZIP code rather than to rent levels for the housing market overall, meaning that people with vouchers may have greater access to higher-cost neighborhoods.

Last week HUD released Version 3 of the Location Affordability Index (LAI) dataset. The LAI is a nationwide database of modeled household housing and transportation costs launched by HUD and the Department of Transportation in 2013. The updated version provides greater insight into how these costs vary by geographic and household characteristics. Version 3 primarily uses data from the 2012-2016 American Community Su

Two HUD proposed rules seek to create flexibilities in the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnerships programs to incentivize their use in Opportunity Zones.

HUD published a Notice of Emergency Approval of an Information Collection: National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate (NSPIRE) Demonstration. The document outlines a few important details for the new 2-year Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) demonstration which HUD hopes will identify potential adjustments to standards, protocols, and processes.

The National Council of Housing Market Analysts (NCHMA) sent comments and recommendations to HUD as it updates Chapter 7 of the Multifamily Accelerated Processing (MAP) Guide Market Study Guidelines.

Approximately $2 million in Section 811 project-based rental assistance is available under Round 1 of the Section 811 Project Rental Assistance (PRA) program. Units provided this rental assistance would need to be occupied by PRA-eligible tenants no later than September 30, 2020. The California Housing Finance Agency is accepting applications now an over-the counter first-come-first-served […]