Federal / Agency News

Evelyn Lim joined the HUD Region Eight team, which covers Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana and North and South Dakota. Prior to her appointment at HUD, she served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

HUD announced it is reducing the advance notice it provides to public housing authorities (PHAs) and private owners of HUD-subsidized apartment developments before their housing is inspected to ensure it is decent, safe and healthy.  HUD’s new standard provides PHAs and private owners of HUD-assisted housing 14 calendar days’ notice before an inspection, a dramatic reduction from the current notice which can frequently extend up to four months.

NH&RA joined a letter led by the National Housing Conference, the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the Capital Magnet Fund Coalition, LISC and the Opportunity Finance Network which calls on the Acting Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency to continue making allocations to the Capital Magnet Fund (CMF) and the national Housing Trust Fund (HTF).

On Feb. 1, HUD sent proposed changes to its disparate impact regulations to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). OIRA now has up to 90 days to review the changes and send them back to HUD to publish in the Federal Register.

The Office of Multifamily Housing at HUD sent a message to owners with rental subsidy contracts that have expired or are due to expire in February notifying them that HUD is prioritizing their contract renewals.

The Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund awarded 38 organizations $142.9 million through the FY 2018 round of the Capital Magnet Fund. The 38 awardees were selected after a merit-based competitive review of applications submitted from 116 organizations, which requested more than $570 million in awards this round of the Capital Magnet Fund.

The Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency are holding a two-day workshop for potential FY 2019 Qualified Issuer and Guarantee applicants on Feb. 25 & 26, 2019.

The Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund announced that the allocation awards announcement for the calendar year 2018 round of the new markets tax credit (NMTC) is delayed until spring 2019, due to the recent government shutdown.

Representatives Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) and Sean Duffy (R-WI) reintroduced the Housing Choice Voucher Mobility Demonstration Act of 2019, which encourages families receiving housing choice vouchers to move to lower-poverty areas, enabling more access to areas of greater opportunity.

The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs will consider the nomination of Mark Calabria to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) on Feb. 14 at 10 am ET.

Funding for the federal government is government is set to expire on Feb. 15 and lawmakers have been working around the clock to broker a deal on funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that can garner support from President Trump and Democrats.

Nondefense discretionary (NDD) United is leading a letter urging Congress to end the Budget Control Act of 2011 sequester spending caps. Overall NDD funding would be cut by 12 percent (adjusting for inflation) compared to fiscal 2019 levels. NH&RA signed the letter and encourages our members to consider signing as well. The deadline to sign the letter is Feb. 15.