General News

Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) hired Seth Leonard of Winooski for the newly created position of Managing Director of Community Development. Leonard comes to VHFA from the USDA Office of Rural Development, where he served as Housing Program Director for Vermont and New Hampshire. Prior to that, Leonard worked at VHFA for four years as Homeownership Outreach Coordinator.

On December 28, Mike Kennealy was sworn in as the new Secretary of Housing and Economic Development. Kennealy replaces former Secretary Jay Ash, who departed to become CEO of the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership. Kennealy previously served as Assistant Secretary of Housing and Economic Development in the Baker Administration. The Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development […]

The Multifamily Programs office of the Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA) sent an email providing several updates on its activities. THDA has yet to publish its 2019 Multifamily Tax-Exempt Bond Authority (MTBA) and Competitive Low Income Housing Tax Credit applications but wrote that they are under development and should be available soon.  

Minnesota Housing published guidance for the use of income averaging with Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) properties. Eligible properties include new LIHTC applications beginning with Round 2 of Minnesota Housing’s 2019 LIHTC Program and previously selected LIHTC projects that have not yet filed Form 8609 with the IRS.

Governor Larry Hogan (R-MD) announced a series of initiatives and legislation to expand the Maryland Opportunity Zone program. A total of $56.5 million would be dedicated to attracting new businesses and development and continuing to invest in Maryland’s workforce.

Mark Stivers left his post as executive director of the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (TCAC) on Sunday, Jan. 6. Stivers was appointed by California State Treasurer John Chiang in 2015. In an email to TCAC stakeholders, Stivers wrote “I intend to remain in public service working on housing issues.”

A new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Poverty & Race Research Action Council examines where families with children use housing vouchers in the 50 largest metropolitan areas. This report is the first metropolitan-level analysis to explore the concentration of families using vouchers across multiple neighborhood characteristics.

Dear TCAC stakeholders, Sunday (1/6/2019) will be my last day as TCAC Executive Director. I want to thank Treasurer Chiang for the amazing opportunity to serve in this position for the last four years. It has been both an honor and a source of personal growth for me, and it has allowed me to make […]

The California Department of Housing and Community Development released an updated list of California cities and counties subject to streamlined ministerial approval process. Under SB 35, which was signed into law in 2017, cities and counties that are not meeting their housing needs must expedite approvals for certain new housing projects in jurisdictions.

The Minneapolis City Council voted 12-1 to endorse Minneapolis 2040 – The City’s Comprehensive Plan, with 22 policy recommendations, each with action steps, that are specific to housing.

At the Dec. 13 meeting, the Board of Directors of the Florida Housing Finance Corporation (Florida Housing) approved a portfolio preservation action plan.

HUD’s 2018 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress found that 552,830 persons experienced homelessness on a single night in 2018, an increase of 0.3 percent since last year. The report did note significant declines among veterans as well as families with children experiencing homelessness with a 5.4 percent and 2.7 percent nationwide decline over 2017, respectively.