General News

HUD recently released new guidance regarding tenant protections for households when owners use both HUD-assistance (eg. Project-Based Section 8, Section 236, Section 202) and Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) financing.

California State Treasurer John Chiang appointed two new executive directors to key state housing programs as he launches a larger effort to address the state’s growing affordable housing crisis.

Elevate Energy has joined forces with New Ecology to help affordable housing property owners and managers to reduce their property’s energy costs. They are offering free baselining services to multifamily affordable housing properties in Illinois, Missouri, Maryland, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania, along with the Richmond, VA, Metro area.

On December 23, 2014, HUD released a Notice detailing and clarifying its enforcement policy with respect to application of Davis-Bacon Wage and the second component of the RAD program.

NH&RA signed-on to support the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s campaign to urge lawmakers to to act quickly to stop budget caps and sequestration from taking effect in the upcoming fiscal year.

Affordable housing development executive Chrystal Kornegay will be the new chief of the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development. She succeeds Aaron Gornstein, who served in former Governor Duval Patrick’s administration.

Jones Walker announced in January that Brian E. Lawlor, former New Orleans and New York housing official, joined the firm’s affordable housing team as special counsel in the New York and New Orleans offices.

U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday, December 9 introduced the so-called “Cromnibus” spending legislation, a $1 trillion bill that will fund most of the government through September 30, 2015. The measure combines a three-month continuing resolution (CR) for the Department of Homeland Security and 11 full spending bills for the remaining government agencies through the end of fiscal year (FY) 2015.

On Dec 11, 2014, House Ways and Means Committee chairman Rep. Dave Camp H.R. 1, released the Tax Reform Act of 2014 and U.S. Senate Senate Finance Committee Republican staff released the report “Comprehensive Tax Reform for 2015 and Beyond.” Both the legislation and the report have implications for the future of housing tax credits.

Federal revenue generated by the New Markets Tax Credit more than pays for the cost of the program, according to a recently released report from the New Markets Tax Credit Coalition. This was just one of the findings of “A Decade of the New Markets Tax Credit: An Economic Impact Analysis,” which examines the economic impact of the NMTC program from 2003 to 2012.

Housing credit properties are performing well across-the-board, including large, small, urban, and exurban projects, according to a new report from Cohn Reznick.

Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Melvin L. Watt instructed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to begin setting aside and allocating funds for the Housing Trust Fund and the Capital Magnet Fund. The funds have sat empty since they were created six years ago due to a temporary suspension.