News

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) of Michigan signed legislation extending the state’s Historic Tax Credit (HTC) through 2030.  S.B. 54 allows a qualified taxpayer with a certificate of completed rehabilitation issued after December 31, 2020 and before January 1, 2031, to credit against the income tax or Corporate Income Tax (CIT) 25 percent of the qualified expenditures that met eligibility criteria […]

On Monday, December 21, Congress passed a sweeping $1.4 trillion package to fund the government through September 30, 2021 plus $900 billion in Coronavirus aid. Many, many thanks to our members and partners who kept up the drumbeat all year long to get important housing priorities included in the bill.

HUD published its updated 2020 Multifamily Accelerated Processing (MAP) Guide, which becomes effective January 21, 20201. In addition to some reorganization and streamlining throughout, the updated MAP Guide includes:
• The integration of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Multifamily Closing Guide, previously a separate document;
• A new chapter specific to energy efficiency and FHA’s Green Mortgage Insurance Premium (MIP) program; and
• Expanded appendices that provide access to tools and forms.

NH&RA created a customizable template letter for developers to submit comments to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Department of the Treasury (Treasury) on their Average Income Test proposed rule. Comments are due by December 29 and should be submitted here.

The Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF) said it has launched a $20 million COVID-19 LIHTC Developer Fee Bridge Initiative to support affordable housing developers facing liquidity challenges in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic and ensuing recession. LIIF said in a press release that with a guarantee from the Community Investment Guarantee Pool (CIGP), the flexible capital would be available to fill gaps created when fees are stalled in phases of LIHTC development.

The $748 billion aid package is widely seen as the one that will advance; it contains $25 billion in rental assistance and extends the CDC eviction moratorium through January 31, 2020. Any one individual household is eligible to receive up to 18 months of assistance for arrearages and future rent payments. Importantly, landlords and owners may apply on behalf of tenants. Thank you to the many NH&RA members that contributed to the development of the NH&RA’s COVID-19 housing assistance advocacy letter, several of the asks in that letter are included in the legislative text!

Representatives Terri Sewell (D-AL) and Tom Reed (R-NY) introduced legislation to increase the NMTC allocation by $3.5 billion over four years, allow investors to carry back those credits for five years, exempt the NMTC from the 75 percent general business credit limitation, among other provisions.

Freddie Mac released a white paper Dec. 10 that found LIHTC supports 40.1 percent of the multifamily housing market in rural Persistent Poverty Counties (PPCs) – a rate that is more than three times greater than the national average and one and a half times greater than all rural areas.

Several news outlets are reporting that President-elect Joe Biden will nominate Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH) as HUD secretary. Fudge was first elected to federal office in 2008, is the member of the House Agriculture Committee, a member (and former chair) of the Congressional Black Caucus and served as mayor of Warrensville Heights, OH from 2000 to 2008.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) announced that it received 208 applications under the calendar year (CY) 2020 round of the New Markets Tax Credit Program (NMTC Program).

A new report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University (JCHS) presents results from a survey conducted between June 23 and July 17, 2020 to explore the experiences of service coordinators during the early months of COVID-19.

The National Housing Trust and Climate Central released an analysis evaluating the risk to affordable housing from flooding related to sea-level rise over the next 30 years. The report found, among other items, that the number of affordable rental apartments at risk from coastal flooding and sea-level rise is expected to more than triple during the next three decades.