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HUD recently announced the expansion of its FHA Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Pilot program by increasing the number of participating HUD Hub Processing Offices by five and to make the pilot available to LIHTC projects nationwide. The program is designed to test streamlined approval processes for the purchase or refinancing of LIHTC properties.

The added HUD offices are in Atlanta, Denver, Fort Worth, San Francisco, and Seattle. They join the original participating Hub Offices in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, and Los Angeles.

HUD recently designated difficult development areas (DDAs) for 2013 for the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC). A DDA is an area designated by HUD with high construction, land, and utility costs relative to its area median gross income (AMGI). DDAs are eligible for tax credits at 130 percent of qualified basis, meaning that more of the development costs are borne by the tax credit funding than in areas not designated a DDA.

Q: To avoid fair housing problems, you should always handle maintenance requests on a first-come, first-served basis. True or false?

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently invited public comments on Form 8611: Recapture of Low-Income Housing Credit. Site owners use Form 8611 to recapture part of the tax credits claimed in previous years if the property is disposed of or if it fails to meet certain requirements over a 15-year compliance period and a bond is not posted.

New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo recently announced that $72 million is available through New York State Homes & Community Renewal (HCR) for shovel-ready projects to build affordable housing units across the state.

Since its inception, the nation’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program helped produce more than 2.2 million affordable apartments, accounting for roughly one-third of all multifamily rental housing constructed between 1987 and 2006. A recent HUD report entitled "What Happens to Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Properties at Year 15 and Beyond?" finds that after an initial 15-year required “affordability period,” the vast majority of these LIHTC properties remain affordable for working families.

Q: The owner of the site you manage included the community room in the site’s eligible basis. You may not charge an LIHTC resident to use the community room, but you may charge a market-rate resident a fee to use the room for, say, a birthday party. True or false?

A: False. If the community room is included in eligible basis, you may not charge anyone rent or any separate fee to use the room. You may, however, charge a refundable cleaning deposit.

A 53-year-old woman in Woodbury, Minn., has been indicted for using fake identities to receive housing benefits. Specifically, she was recently charged with five counts of Social Security fraud, four counts of making false statements, and one count of passport fraud.