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Home building and remodeling, including the development and rehab of LIHTC sites, have generated 274,000 jobs over the past two and a half years, said Robert Dietz, an economist with the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Dietz recently testified before the Senate Banking Committee’s Subcommittee on Economic Policy during a hearing examining the drivers of job creation. He discussed the health of housing as a key for the overall state of the U.S. economy and how housing stands poised to serve as an engine of job growth with the right policies in place.
Q: A young couple is interested in renting a one-bedroom unit at your tax credit site. They recently moved here from Russia, so you tell them about a vacancy next door to a Russian-speaking family. Although there are other available units, you believe they’d be more comfortable living near others who share the same cultural background. Since you’re looking out for their best interests, you can’t be accused of a fair housing violation. True or false?
On April 3, the Senate Finance Committee amended and then approved by voice vote tax extender legislation known as the EXPIRE Act. This legislation extends dozens of expiring and expired tax provisions, including those relating to the LIHTC program. It was drafted by Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D. Ore., and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch, R. Utah. The extension is through 2015. And now that the Senate Finance Committee has approved the bill, Wyden may introduce it to the full Senate for debate. The following provisions in the package pertain to the low-income housing industry:
There are 31 affordable housing units available for every 100 extremely low-income renter households, according to The National Low Income Housing Coalition, which recently released its "Out of Reach" annual report. According to the report, there were over 40 million renter households in the U.S. in 2012, making up 35 percent of all households nationwide. This is a 1.1 million increase over the previous year and double the rate of growth in previous decades.
The recently released Census Bureau population estimates show the nation becoming increasingly metropolitan. Large metro areas are growing at twice the rate of smaller ones. In fact, nearly one in seven Americans reside in just three metro areas—Chicago, Los Angeles, or New York. And almost one in three live in one of the 10 most populous areas, which include the three just mentioned, plus Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Philadelphia, Washington, Miami, Atlanta, and Boston.
On March 4, President Obama introduced his fiscal year (FY) 2015 budget, requesting a total of $46.7 billion for HUD programs, as well as significant policy proposals aimed at improving the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. The "Green Book," which is used to provide general explanations of the administration’s budget and revenue proposals, provides significant detail into different policy recommendations having to do with the LIHTC and other programs within the tax code. Here are the LIHTC-related proposals:
The IRS recently released its 2014 Calendar Year Resident Population Estimates in IRS Notice 2014-12. This notice advises state and local housing credit agencies that allocate low-income housing tax credits of the population figures to use in calculating tax credit ceilings and tax-exempt private activity bond caps. This year, each state's low-income housing tax credit ceiling is equal to the greater of $2.30 multiplied by the state population or $2,635,000.
The IRS has extended through 2014 the Physical Inspections Pilot Program for participating states, which is an alternative method, announced in Notice 2012-18 to satisfy certain physical inspection and certification review requirements under Regulation Section 1.42-5(c)(2).
On Feb. 7, President Obama signed the Agriculture Act of 2014 into law. The legislation ensures that 900 communities eligible for rural housing programs since 2000 will retain status as "rural" areas. It also increases the population definition of a rural community from 25,000 to 35,000.
On Jan. 30, the Senate approved the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act (S. 1926), legislation that would provide relief from rising flood insurance premium rates for site owners across the nation. Premium increases for National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policyholders had been scheduled to take effect this year. The bill, which was introduced by Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), delays the increases for about four years.
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