Federal / Agency News

LifeSTEPS and USA Properties Fund’s RN Coaching PILOT Program has received the 2020 HUD Secretary’s Awards for Healthy Homes, an annual award that recognizes programs that promote healthier housing through partnering, outreach and innovative practices.

On October 14, HUD issued a further update to its Frequently Asked Questions for subsidized multifamily housing programs to clarify and extend certain interim procedures and tie in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s order creating a national eviction moratorium for nonpayment of rent.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued a stay and preliminary injunction to prevent HUD from implementing its new Disparate Impact rule. The suit claimed the new rule violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and drew support and declarations from over a dozen community-based organizations.

The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) posted an updated calendar year (CY) 2020 New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program Allocation Application Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) document and a revised CY 2020 NMTC Program Allocation Application.

On Monday, the Senate voted down a motion to consider the House-passed resolution of disapproval (H.J. Res. 90) to nullify the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s new rule on Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The Federal Reserve’s advanced notice of proposed rulemaking was officially published in the Federal Register. Comments are due by February 16, 2021; NH&RA will submit comments and encourages our members to do so as well.

Representative Katherine Clark (D-MA) introduced the Support Allowing Volume Exception for (SAVE) Federally-Assisted Housing Act, a targeted effort to address the national shortage of affordable housing units by freeing up the availability of private activity bonds used to support the preservation, improvement or replacement of federally-assisted housing facilities.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new resources on its eviction moratorium, including a declaration template and FAQs, prepared in consultation with the Department of Health and Human Services, HUD and the Department of Justice. 

After 28 years of federal service working on the American Housing Survey (AHS), Dav Vandenbroucke’s last working day will be Wednesday, October 14. Vandenbroucke was the senior economist at HUD and leaves the AHS in the capable hands of George Carter and Portia Hemphill.

HUD published the Resident Declaration Form required by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eviction moratorium in 20 different languages: Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Chinese, French, German, Haitian Creole, Hindi, Italian, Khmer, Korea, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Spanish (Puerto Rican), Tagalog, Thai and Vietnamese.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published Revenue Procedure 2020-42 announcing $3,105,001 of unused LIHTCs allocated from the national pool to 33 qualified states for calendar year 2020.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Development’s (RD) Office Multifamily Housing (MFH) announced that, effective October 11, 2020, Becki Meyer, Byron Waters, Karissa Stiers and Laurie Warzinski will become the first Regional directors of MFH’s Field Operations Division.

On September 29, House Democrats released a scaled down COVID-19 relief proposal, calling it an updated Heroes Act, with a price tag of $2.2 trillion. The bill is nearly $1 trillion less than the earlier version and includes new relief for the airline, restaurant and other hardest-hit industries, as well as additional funds to support education and childcare. Despite the lower price tag, negotiations between the House, White House and Senate are not progressing, and it seems unlikely that they will reach agreement to enact further large-scale relief before the election.