News

At his recent State of the State address, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that New York State will significantly increase its affordable housing investment with a $1 billion program to preserve or produce 14,000 affordable housing units over the next 5 years.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a report to Congress entitled “Tax Expenditures: Background and Evaluation Criteria and Questions.” The report examines the costs and benefits of tax expenditures and the effectiveness of specific tax expenditures in meeting their intended goals.

HUD recently released a Federal Register Notice to solicit comments on the Senior Preservation Rental Assistance Contracts (SPRACs) awards processes. The Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Act of 2010, signed into law in January 2011, authorizes HUD to provide SPRACs with 20-year terms to prevent displacement of elderly residents of certain projects assisted under HUD’s Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly program in the case of refinancing or recapitalization and to further preserve and maintain affordability of Section 202 Direct Loan projects.

Following the passage of The American Taxpayer Relief Act and the resulting extension of the 9 percent credit rate to allocations made before January 1, 2014, the Ohio Housing Finance Agency has announced that low-income housing tax credit applicants may use the 9% credit rate in its estimations for their 2013 housing tax credit amount. OHFA also announced the gap financing resources that will be available to applicants in 2013

The Virginia Housing Development Authority has made corrections to its 2013 Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Reservation Application and updated its Rural Development Priority list.

The California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (CTCAC) has released a final list of its proposed substantive changes to the 2013 tax credit program regulations. CTCAC initially released its list of 23 proposed changes on October 24, 2012. After holding four public hearings and collecting public comments, CTCAC plans to proceed with nine of the originally proposed changes and amend 14 of its original proposed changes.

The Texas Department of Housing & Community Affairs has released several updates for its multifamily housing programs.

The Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund has announced they are currently reviewing applications submitted for the 2012 NMTC allocation round, which were due September 12, 2012. The agency estimates that the 2012 awards will be announced in April 2013.

HUD recently released a HOME Investment Partnership (HOME) Program and Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) guidebook which provides technical guidance to HOME Participating Jurisdictions (PJs) on projects that combine HOME Program funds with LIHTCs.

On Monday December 31, 2012, the Senate approved the appointment of Carol J. Galante as the Commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Assistant Secretary of Housing for HUD by a measure of 69-24, with 18 of the approving votes coming from Senate Republicans.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released it latest LIHC Newsletter, which provides a forum for networking and sharing information about Section 42, the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, and communicating technical knowledge and skills, guidance, and assistance for developing LIHTC issues.

NH&RA member firm, CohnReznick LLP recently released a study which examined the operating performance of low-income housing tax credit properties. The report, entitled “The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program at Year 25: An Expanded Look at Its Performance”, finds a striking imbalance between the supply and demand of affordable rental housing and confirms the critical shortage that currently exists for affordable housing.