Thom Amdur Author Archives

April was a busy month for affordable housing in Washington, DC.

If adopted, President Trump’s FY-2020 budget would make significant cuts to HUD’s budget—overall, a $9.6 billion decrease from FY-2019 appropriated levels—and would zero out many critical community development programs entirely.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Press Contact: Thom Amdur, President National Housing & Rehabilitation Association 202-939-1753 or tamdur@housingonline.com March 6–The National Housing & Rehabilitation Association is proud to announce that its Board of Directors elected Robert Fein, Principal and Chief Operating Officer for Red Stone Equity Partners, as its Chair and named Thom Amdur as the organization’s […]

Historically, when policy makers and advocates discuss preservation, we are referring to the preservation of rental assistance contracts that are associated with older HUD and/or USDA Rural Development assisted properties (i.e. Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance, Section 515, etc.).

When I started my career in affordable housing, the term “preservation” generally was attributable to strategies and resources aimed at extending the affordability of HUD Assisted or USDA Rural Development properties.

Last summer, National Housing & Rehabilitation Association launched a new policy advocacy and educational initiative focused on increasing Multifamily Tax-Exempt Bond production across the country.

Mark Einstein passed away unexpectedly this past New Year’s Eve.  He was looking forward to celebrating his 70th birthday this February. For many years, Mark was the Director of Tax and Real Estate Services at CohnReznick.  He guided developers, investors, and syndicators in structuring tax-advantaged real estate transactions with a particular focus on affordable housing […]

On this recent Thanksgiving, I hope our elected officials—both present and future—took the opportunity to remember the spirit of collaboration between the Mayflower Pilgrims and the Wampanoags on that first Thanksgiving.

Congress returns this week after its Thanksgiving break with a full agenda.  Priorities include extending funding for most federal agencies for FY 2019, which expires on Dec. 7, and a potential tax package. Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Kevin Brady (R-TX) released a tax bill that Congressional Republicans hope to pass during the lame-duck. The bill makes corrections to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, extends several expiring tax measures, includes disaster tax relief and makes changes to retirement and savings tax provisions. 

On November 23, 2018 HUD released the 2019 operating cost adjustment factors (OCAFs) for project-based rental assistance with an anniversary date on or after February 11, 2019. The nationwide OCAF increased by 2.9 percent, ranging from 0.9 percent in Vermont to 3.5 percent in Alaska.  OCAFs are annual factors used to adjust Section 8 rents […]

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) published a final rule amending the Federal Home Loan Banks’ (FHLBanks) Affordable Housing Program (AHP) regulations. FHLBanks are required to allocate 10 percent of prior year’s income to fund the AHP, which helps subsidize the purchase, construction and rehabilitation of affordable rental and owner-occupied housing for moderate-, low- and […]

Housing was on the ballot in many communities last week.  Below are links to some notable highlights from around the country: San Francisco voters approved a tax on big business to fund permanent housing, emergency shelters and mental health services for the city’s homeless people. Economists said it would raise $250 million to $300 million.  Portland-area […]