Tax Exempt Bonds

Due to higher demand for long term bonds in Oregon, the Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) has undertaken an analysis of current charges for bonds and 4% transactions. On June 7, 2013 the State Housing Council moved to approve the change of the 4% LIHTC reservation charge from 6.5% to 12% on all existing applications and future applications using OHCS Bonds. The 4% LIHTC transaction which use private activity bonds that have a PAB committee date set as of July 11, 2013 will not be affected at this time by the changes, though the Oregon State Housing Council will vote on expanding the reservation charge to include 4% LIHTC transactions at the August 2, 2013 meeting.

The Michigan State Housing Department Authority (MSHDA) has posted an updated version of the Scoring Criteria for the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program to its website. MSHDA made this necessary update to modify the Cost Containment criteria to reflect new data that is now available following the completion of awards of 9% LIHTC from the 2013 allocation year. MSHDA also announced that the first competitive funding round for 2014 Low Income Housing Tax Credit will have an application submission deadline on August 15, 2013 at 5:00 P.M. EST.

The National Affordable Housing Management Association (NAHMA) recently released its Affordable 100 which ranks the largest affordable multifamily property management companies, ranked by affordable unit counts. In an effort to accurately determine the portfolio of affordable units receiving federal subsidy in the United States, NAHMA publishes this annual listing of affordable units containing at least one of the following federal subsidies: HUD Project-based Assistance, Section 42 LIHTC, HOME funds, USDA Section 515, or Bonds. 

In his State of the City speech earlier this year, Washington, DC Mayor Vincent Gray pledged $100 million towards affordable housing for the District of Columbia. The plan that will guide the administration’s affordable housing efforts was recently unveiled. “Bridges to Opportunity: A New Housing Strategy for DC” was produced by a task force appointed by the Mayor in 2012 and proposes three broad strategic goals and 24 Action Items to achieve those goals.

NH&RA hosted nearly 150 professionals at the 2013 Spring Developers Forum May 7-8 in Marina del Rey, CA. All conference materials, Power Point presentations, relevant articles, reports, memos, etc. are available for review.

NH&RA member firm, Novogradac & Company, recently released a report entitled “Affordable Rental Housing after Tax Reform” which details the effect corporate tax reform could have on the equity raised from Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC).

The Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) recently released a draft of the 2013 Bond Gap Financing (BGF) program guidelines for public comment and review.

The National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA) recently released its 2011 Factbook, a comprehensive survey of housing finance agency (HFA) program activity.

The Arizona Department of Housing (ADOH) has posted updated versions of the Multifamily Revenue Bond Procedural Guidelines.

The House Ways & Means Committee recently held a hearing on federal tax provisions that affect residential real estate, including the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC).

The staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation has released a report summarizing the various tax code breaks and incentives for residential real estate in advance of the upcoming House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means public hearing entitled “Tax Reform and Residential Real Estate,” which is scheduled for Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 9:30 am.

The NH&RA Advocacy Archive was created to provide a one-stop-shop for NH&RA members who are interested in advocating to elected officials to support key affordable housing and tax credit programs. We have collected a variety of documents, reports, templates and best practices that should be helpful in this effort. Please note this is a work in progress–check back often as we add additional resources.