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The IRS recently released Revenue Procedure 2015-53, which outlines the inflation adjustments for nearly 50 federal tax provisions, including the amount of Low Income Housing Tax Credit (Housing Credit) authority each state will receive. Under the new guidelines, each state will be allocated $2.35 in Housing Credit authority multiplied by its population, or $2.69 million, whichever is greater. This is a slight increase from 2015, when states received $2.30 for every resident, and the minimum was $2.635 million.
Recently, the J. Ronald Terwilliger Foundation for Housing America’s Families hosted the New Hampshire Housing Summit and invited presidential candidates to address an audience of about 200 housing industry officials. Seven presidential candidates individually discussed how they would address the affordable housing crisis if elected president.
On Oct. 21, HUD announced a proposed rule that would formalize the standards for evaluating harassment claims in housing or housing-related transactions under the Fair Housing Act. According to HUD, sexual harassment is the most common type of harassment complaint it receives. Harassment in housing threatens a resident's sense of safety and privacy in her own home, and there can be little opportunity to escape such harassment unless the individual or family moves.
National accounting firm CohnReznick has spearheaded an effort to bring together independent state housing associations. The Council of Independent State Housing Associations (CISHA) will, for the first time, formally connect representatives of affordable housing associations with one another in order to combine and amplify advocacy efforts for the LIHTC program on the federal level and share best practices with one another.
The former Miami-based Carlisle chief executive officer recently admitted to participating in a $30 million fraud scheme involving 10 low-income housing sites. Specifically, he pled guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit theft of government money, in connection with a scheme to steal government funds intended for the construction of low-income housing.
In response to a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) suggesting that a joint administration between the IRS and HUD would benefit the LIHTC program, LIHTC industry groups have opposed the GAO’s recommendations. The GAO report suggests that the IRS currently lacks appropriate resources to engage in more than minimal oversight of the program. It notes that, since 1986, the IRS has conducted seven audits of 56 state housing finance agencies (HFA) on which the IRS relies to administer and oversee the program.
Ten years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf Coast, Louisiana State University researchers have analyzed and documented the recovery effort for the state. Initial reports were recently released. Due to the unprecedented destruction of the 2005 storm season, recovery efforts traditionally supported by insurance and FEMA were supplemented by a unique set of programs funded through $13.4 billion of Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery funds.
When developers seek financial resources for affordable rental housing development, many combine funds generated through the LIHTC program offered by the IRS with housing block grant funds provided through the HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) program administered by HUD. For example, to establish affordable rents in many markets, a site’s rents may not adequately support sufficient conventional mortgage debt. The equity raised from the LIHTC may not be sufficient to provide all of the additional capital required by the project.
Recently, Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) released “State of the Nation’s Housing 2015,” which suggests that an expansion of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit is needed in order to respond to increasing pressures on the program.
Recently, the Senate Finance Committee led by Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) released reports from five bipartisan tax working groups. The groups were tasked earlier this year to examine and recommend changes to particular elements of the federal tax code.
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