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Don’t refuse a live-in aide request just because the aide is related to the household member making the request. Relatives of disabled household members can be live-in aides if they fit the Handbook’s definition and aren’t married to the person in need of the aide’s supportive services [Handbook 4350.3, par. 3-6(E)(3)(a)(3)].

The National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA) recently sent a letter to the IRS and the Treasury Department asking them to take immediate action to provide deadline extensions and other necessary accommodations for the LIHTC program due to the severe disruptions the COVID-19 pandemic is having on construction activities and the ongoing operations of existing LIHTC sites.

The following are the specific accommodations requested:

A total of 221 members of the House of Representatives have signed on to cosponsor the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act, H.R.3077 (AHCIA). This represents a majority of the House of Representatives. The AHCIA seeks to increase housing credit allocation by 50 percent, phased in over five years. It would also lock in the 4 percent LIHTC credit rate for financing with housing bonds and tax credits.

HUD has published average income minimum set-asides for low-income housing tax credit properties. Income limits are provided for every 10 percent increment from 20 percent to 80 percent of the area median income in each state and metropolitan fair market rent/income limits area, based on the fiscal year 2019 Multifamily Tax Subsidy Project income limits.

The 20 percent to 80 percent income limits can be found here.

In Alabama, a court recently ruled against the state’s Department of Revenue (DOR) concerning its policy of disregarding LIHTC extended-use restrictions when determining assessment of value for property taxes. The Alabama Affordable Housing Association (AAHA) had filed a lawsuit arguing the DOR was wrong in treating low-income housing incentives as taxable assets. The Circuit Court of Jefferson County ruled in favor of the AAHA. The ruling said counties “must take into account the legal restrictions on rents and use and operation of such properties.”

In January, Maine Governor Janet Mills signed a bill establishing a Maine affordable housing tax credit (AHTC). The Maine State Housing Authority will be tasked with administering and allocating $80 million of credits to affordable rental housing developers between 2021 and 2028, with up to $10 million allocated each year. The program would also leverage an equal amount of federal low-income housing tax credit dollars.

The law aims to create nearly 1,000 additional affordable housing units over eight years and double the current rate of new affordable housing production in Maine.

The Inspector General of the U.S. Department of the Treasury recently launched an internal investigation on abuse in the Opportunity Zone program. Treasury Inspector Richard Delmar announced the investigation a few months after Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), and Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.) sent him a letter requesting an investigation after news reports indicated that friends of the Trump administration were benefiting from the program.

Freddie Mac recently announced it has topped the $1 billion mark in LIHTC equity investments after reentering the market in 2018. Freddie Mac has created an interactive map that details each of its LIHTC equity investments, including property names, locations, the number of units financed, and other key facts.

HUD recently released its 2019 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress. HUD’s national estimate is based upon data reported by approximately 3,000 cities and counties across the nation. Every year on a single night in January, planning agencies called “Continuums of Care” (COC), along with tens of thousands of volunteers, seek to identify the number of individuals and families living in emergency shelters, transitional housing programs, and in unsheltered settings.

A bipartisan group of 45 mayors from communities in 19 states and the District of Columbia recently sent a letter to Congressional leaders calling for the addition of the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2019 (AHCIA) in any year-end legislative tax package. The letter said the LIHTC is our nation’s primary tool for encouraging private investment in affordable rental housing. And the AHCIA would help strengthen and expand the highly effective Housing Credit, resulting in more than half a million additional affordable homes nationwide over the next decade.