HUD

HUD has released a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) document on RAD Rent and Funding Levels for Applications Received by December 31, 2013, which incorporate and expand on elements contained in previous FAQs posted on 3/15/13 and 9/13/13.

HUD recently issued a notice in the Federal Register to combine and streamline public housing capital funding and the public housing development program.

All conference materials, PowerPoint presentations, relevant articles, reports, memos, etc. from the 2013 NCHMA Annual Meeting are available for download.

HUD recently released Mortgagee Letter (ML) 2013–31, which extends certain provisions within a previously released ML 2012-13 and ML 2011-13. The authority within ML 2011-13 allowed Multifamily HUD Hubs to process waiver requests pertaining to the three-year rule for Section 223(f) applications, but that rule expired in July 2012 and ML 2012-13 extended the rule for one year.

HUD has published its final Fair Market Rents (FMRs) for the Housing Choice Voucher Program and Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy Program and any other programs requiring their use for Fiscal Year 2014. The FY 2014 FMRs are based on using 5-year, 2007-2011 data collected by the American Community Survey (ACS).

Multifamily housing developers, community organizations, investors, and lenders interested in affordable rental housing in New England have a new resource available that provides a comprehensive overview of current opportunities. A special report entitled “A Variety of Approaches: New England State Agencies Differ in Needs, Priorities in Their Housing Credit Programs” reviews recent and current tax credit allocation activity, project trends, and state priorities in the New England states ““Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

The United States Congress has not been able to pass a bill to fund the government beyond September 30, 2013, resulting in a government shutdown. On September 27, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released a “Contingency Plan for Possible Lapse in Appropriations” if Congress failed to pass the Fiscal Year 2014 Budget. It is unclear how long the shutdown will last or its full affects it will have on housing, but here are some of the major affects the shutdown will have on HUD and other federal housing programs.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that it is waiving certain limitations for projects financed with Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) or exempt facility bonds so that owners and operates across the United States can provide housing to victims of severe storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides in Colorado that began September 11, 2013.

The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives Appropriations Committees have both approved the T-HUD Subcommittee versions of the fiscal year (FY) 2014 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (T-HUD) and FY 2014 Agriculture and Rural Development funding bills.

HUD has released a Notice in the Federal Register to announce revisions to the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) Program and to solicit comments on eligibility and selection criteria. The Notice proposes updates to PIH 2012-32, originally issued on July 26, 2012, which provided for full implementation of the RAD program.

HUD’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Multifamily Housing Ben Metcalf recently released a letter announcing that the agency has exhausted its $25 billion commitment authority limit allotted for fiscal year (FY) 2013 to operate its FHA Multifamily Risk Share and Healthcare programs.

HUD has issued a notice announcing that mortgage insurance premiums (MIPs) for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Multifamily, Healthcare Facilities, and Hospital mortgage insurance programs that have commitments to be issued or reissued in FY-2014 will remain the same as in FY-2013.