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Wells Fargo & Co. recently disclosed in a regulatory filing that multiple U.S. agencies are probing into the bank's use of low-income housing tax credits. "Federal government agencies have undertaken formal or informal inquiries or investigations" about how Wells Fargo bought, and negotiated the purchase of, "certain federal low-income housing tax credits in connection with the financing of low-income housing developments," the bank said on its 10-Q filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Ranking Member of the Joint Economic Committee, recently released a report entitled “Investing in Rural America,” which provides a deep dive into the current state of the rural economy and the policies that may help advance opportunity in rural areas—which includes opportunities for affordable housing.
According to a new report from the Urban Institute, a nonprofit research organization, although the LIHTC is the biggest source of funding for new affordable rental housing, it faces legislative and economic challenges.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) recently released its annual report, Out of Reach. It documents the gap between wages and the cost of rental housing across the United States. According to the findings, even with the recent wage growth for the lowest-paid workers, there is still nowhere in the country where someone working a full-time minimum wage job could afford to rent a modest two-bedroom apartment.
According to a recent report issued by the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, the LIHTC has created $75 billion in property value, $923 million in tax revenue, and 137,000 jobs in North Carolina over the history of the program. The LIHTC has financed 83,000 apartments in the state, including 35,600 in rural areas.
HUD Secretary Ben Carson recently announced the “Protect Our Kids!” Campaign, a Department-wide enforcement effort to protect young children from lead poisoning in older housing. The campaign aims to get landlords and sellers of older homes to fulfill responsibilities to disclose lead-based hazards in their properties, while also working to ensure that all federally assisted homes are lead-safe. Lead is a highly toxic metal that can cause a range of health problems, especially in young children. HUD estimates that nearly 30 million homes in the U.S.
Following the authorization from the 2018 omnibus spending bill passed earlier this year for the “income-averaging” option for minimum set-aside elections in the LIHTC program, the IRS has published a revised Form 8609. Form 8609 is used for Low-Income Housing Credit Allocation and Certification and now includes the income-averaging option. The IRS instructions for the form have yet to be updated.
The city of Philadelphia's Task Force on Eviction Prevention and Response recently released a draft report outlining 17 recommendations for eviction prevention and the provision of additional legal aid for tenants.
The Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently published Notice 2018-43 soliciting public comment on recommendations for items that the Treasury/IRS should include in its 2018–2019 Priority Guidance Plan. The Priority Guidance Plan identifies guidance projects that the Treasury and IRS intend to work on during the period from July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019.
In reviewing recommendations and selecting projects for inclusion on the 2016–2017 Priority Guidance Plan, the IRS will consider the following:
A recent report entitled “Low-Income Families with Children Face Affordability/Unit Size/Neighborhood Opportunity Tradeoff in Housing Search,” issued by Brandeis University’s School of Social Policy and Management, looked at the siting of lower-cost rental housing homes that can accommodate large families in relation to neighborhood opportunity. The report found that lower-cost, large units, defined as units with three or more bedrooms, are disproportionately located in low-opportunity neighborhoods, making it difficult for families to access high-opportunity areas.
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