Online Alerts

RSS

A U.S. District Court in Texas recently dismissed a lawsuit by Inclusive Communities Project Inc. against the U.S. Department of Treasury and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The Treasury Department oversees the LIHTC program, and the OCC oversees the banks that make a significant percent of LIHTC investments.              

HUD recently submitted to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) proposed changes to its 2013 Disparate Impact Rule. HUD’s disparate impact rule was enacted by HUD during the Obama administration and is used as a way to enforce the Fair Housing Act. Under HUD’s rule, lenders, landlords, and other housing providers can be held liable for discrimination against protected classes even if it was not their intent to discriminate.

Prosperity Now, a national nonprofit dedicated to expanding economic opportunity for low-income families and communities in the United States, recently released a report called the “2019 Prosperity Now Scorecard.” The Scorecard ranks states on 52 outcome measures across five issue areas on the financial situation of all residents.

The Hamilton Project of the Brookings Institution recently released an update of its study on poverty in America. For the past few years, the Hamilton Project has released an annual report characterizing poverty in America. The latest one, “Who was Poor in the United States in 2017,” is intended to describe who is poor, inform anti-poverty policy, and aid in determining eligibility for means-tested programs.

As part of his first proposed budget, new California Governor Gavin Newsom proposed to aggressively reform the state’s housing supply laws by withholding transportation funds from local governments that don’t meet new housing production targets. The governor also proposes overhauling the state’s process for establishing regional housing quotas, so that the targeted numbers are bigger than they’ve been in the past.

The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) allocates a portion of the State of New York's federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit. The amount of HPD's authority is negotiated annually with the state. Typically, HPD allocates $12 to $14 million in credits per year to 20 or more projects creating approximately 1,000 low-income units.

The A Call To Invest in Our Neighborhoods (ACTION) Campaign is a national, grassroots coalition of over 2,200 national, state, and local organizations and businesses calling on Congress to protect, expand, and strengthen the LIHTC program. The group recently updated its fact sheets showing the LIHTC’s impact in every congressional district and the affordable housing needs that still remain in every state.

Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, recently introduced a revised year-end tax relief package that continues to include a provision to clarify that veterans are a specified group for purposes of the LIHTC program. Some industry members had raised concerns that while Section 42 allows LIHTC projects to include preferences for veterans, Section 142, which governs tax-exempt bonds, contains no similar exemption from the public use requirements. The included fix would clarify that veteran-focused LIHTC projects that rely on bonds are permitted.

A recent study from Apartment List entitled, The Housing Affordability Struggle of 21st Century Veterans, found that post-9/11 veterans are more likely to struggle with housing affordability than veterans of previous generations. According to the study, post-9/11 veterans have become the first and only generation of veterans to struggle with housing affordability compared to civilians of like ages and demographics.

Freddie Mac recently published two white papers, “LIHTC in Middle Appalachia” and “LIHTC in Indian Areas,” highlighting how the LIHTC is being used to bring affordable rental housing to underserved markets. The series is a component of Freddie Mac’s Duty to Serve plan to expand rental and homeownership opportunities in historically underserved markets.