HUD

Maine’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Affordable Housing had its inaugural meeting in Augusta last week to plot out a course of action to address Maine’s crisis in low-income housing.

HUD has published a notice that designates Difficult Development Areas (DDA) for purposes of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit. HUD makes new DDA and Qualified Census Tract (QCT) designations annually.

HUD has released the operating cost adjustment factors (OCAFs) for project based assistance contracts for eligible multifamily housing projects having an anniversary date on or after February 11, 2012.

Committees from both the House and Senate have sent deficit reduction recommendations to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (Super Committee). Several recommendations made by both parties from the House Financial Services would have significant impacts on federal housing program funding.

Last week, the United States Senate considered multiple amendments to an appropriations minibus, H.R.2112, which includes the annual spending bills for Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development. Despite Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) hopes to approve the spending bill by the end of last week, the Senate instead made a deal to revisit the legislation and vote by November 1.

HUD issued Notice H 2011-30 to provide additional guidance on how the Reserve for Replacements account must be used for properties that have completed a restructuring under the Mark-to-Market (M2M) program.

President Barack Obama recently announced his intent to nominate Carole J. Galante as HUD’s Assistant Secretary and Commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Galante previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Multifamily Housing at HUD.

The Massachusetts Legislature recently gave initial approval to a supplemental budget bill, which includes provisions to raise the cap on State Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) by $10 million in 2013 and $10 million in 2014.

HUD’s Department of Policy Research & Development has published three more Comprehensive Housing Market Analyses for State College, Pennsylvania; Victoria, Texas; and New Orleans, Louisiana.

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan announced HUD will speed federal disaster assistance to the State of Maryland and provide support to homeowners and low-income renters who have been displaced or whose residences are uninhabitable as a result of Tropical Storm Lee.

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan announced HUD will speed federal disaster assistance to the State of New Jersey and provide support to homeowners and low-income renters who have been displaced or whose residences are uninhabitable as a result of Tropical Storm Lee.

Committees in the House and Senate recently approved FY-2012 funding bills that would make deep cuts in the budget for HUD programs. And while both houses have expressed a firm commitment to preserving federal rental assistance for the low-income families, neither funding bill achieves this goal, according to a new report released by the Center on Budget & Policy Priorities (CBPP).