General News

A new blog and paper by Don Layton with the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University explore whether the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) plans and actions are consistent with making the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (collectively, the Government Sponsored Enterprises or GSEs) attractive enough to equity investors, and – given the need to raise such unprecedentedly large amounts of equity – to do so globally and broadly.

A new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Household Rental Debt During COVID-19, estimates that by December 2020, 1.3 million renter households will owe $7.2 billion in rent, which is around $5,400 each.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) announced restoration of $466 million of housing cuts in FY2021 to the city’s department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). Mayor de Blasio’s decision to reverse course and restore HPD’s 2021 capital budget will produce roughly 11,000 units of affordable housing, at a time when those homes are […]

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia updated its Rental Housing Affordability Data Tool for households in Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey. The newly updated data suggest that housing insecurity was widespread among lower-income renters in the Third District even prior to the Coronavirus pandemic and the associated economic downturn.

A new report from the National Leased Housing Association warns, “in the long run, the negative impacts on housing providers, if not addressed, will result in lower housing supply, reduced renter mobility and foregone benefits to low- and moderate-income communities. However, if housing providers can recover financially and restore investments in new housing developments, including affordable housing, the industry can play an important role in the economic recovery from COVID-19.”

The Bipartisan Policy Center’s (BPC) Housing and Infrastructure Project released federal policy recommendations designed to dramatically reduce the number of working families with destabilizing rent burdens and at risk of eviction, minimize the number of people experiencing homelessness, and prevent further spread of COVID-19.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) awarded 397 Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) $204.1 million in awards.

Minnesota Housing will hold a hearing on its proposed 2022-2023 QAP on October 21 from 10 to 11 a.m. CT. Minnesota Housing plans to release a revised 2022-2023 QAP Self-Scoring Worksheet, and methodologies for LIHTC and deferred projects in mid-October. The second round of public comments will run from October 12 through 5 p.m. CT on October 26.

In July, 77 percent of adults said they were doing at least OK financially, up from 72 percent in early April, and 75 percent in October 2019. This increase is likely due to some people returning to work, as well as the availability of assistance programs either from the government or from charitable organizations.

The Kentucky Housing Corporation (KHC) closed the Universal Funding Application (UFA) for multifamily developments utilizing Tax-Exempt Bonds (TEB) and the Federal four percent LIHTC due to limitations on available private activity bond cap.

The National Leased Housing Association (NLHA) has formulated a survey to collect data to further inform what impact the pandemic is having (both short-term and long-term) on housing providers and the rental market. A report will be produced to assess the negative impacts of COVID-19 on rental housing providers, which will be widely distributed. The deadline for completion is Tuesday, August 18.

Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb (R) recently announced that the state will allocate an additional $15 million to the COVID-19 Rental Assistance Program. Governor Holcomb also announced that he intends to allow the rental property eviction and foreclosure moratorium and ban on disconnecting utility services to expire on August 14.