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HUD launched its LIHTC pilot program in 2012 to streamline processing of Section 223(f) LIHTC transactions with repairs up to $40,000 per unit. As a result of the pilot program, 34 percent of HUD’s 912 loans insured in 2018 were LIHTC transactions. And of the 148,726 units insured last year, 31 percent were LIHTC units. When the pilot program started in 2012, less than 5 percent of HUD’s loan volume was LIHTC.
The White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council, chaired by HUD Secretary Ben Carson, recently published its Implementation Plan. It details how the council will accomplish the goals specified in Executive Order 13583 of Dec. 12, 2018. The Implementation Plan explains the various subcommittees of the council and describes the strategy to implement administrative reforms and initiatives that will target, streamline, coordinate, and optimize federal resources in economically distressed communities, including Opportunity Zones.
The National Housing Conference (NHC) recently released its 2018 Paycheck to Paycheck report and database highlighting housing affordability challenges for workers in 81 occupations living in 259 metropolitan areas in the United States. The annual report focuses on the affordability challenges of workers in five vocational categories and provides average rent and homeownership costs for each profession in these metropolitan areas. The five vocational categories include carpenters; electricians; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning mechanics; maintenance workers; and plumbers.
HUD recently announced charges against Facebook for violating fair housing law by encouraging, enabling, and causing housing discrimination through the company’s advertising platform. The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination against consumers based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, and national origin. The Fair Housing Act also makes it illegal to “make, print, or publish, or cause to be made, printed, or published any notice, statement, or advertisement” that would limit housing options for protected groups.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition recently released its annual report, The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes. Its analysis found that there are only 37 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 extremely low-income renter households nationwide. These renter households also are more likely to be severely housing cost-burdened, spending more than half of their incomes on rent and utilities. According to the report, 7.8 million, or 71 percent, of the nation’s 11 million extremely low-income renter households fall into the severely housing cost-burdened category.
Six senators recently sent a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig requesting that he issue a notice clarifying that affordable housing projects for veterans that comply with the LIHTC General Public Use criteria are also eligible for Private Activity Bonds (PABs).
The IRS recently released 2019 population figures indicating that the 2019 LIHTC ceiling and tax-exempt private activity bond (PAB) cap for all states will increase. From 2018–2019, the U.S. population increased by 1,448,256 people to 327,167,434 in total, representing a 0.4 percent gain. U.S. territories lost more than 140,000 people, a 3.8 percent decrease. The FY 2018 omnibus appropriations bill provided a 12.5 percent increase in LIHTC allocations from 2018–2021. For 2019–2021, annual inflation adjustments would be applied to the new 2018 allocation amounts.
HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing Programs recently published a Housing Notice and related Mortgagee Letter that expands the use of an LIHTC pilot program into New Construction and Substantial Rehabilitation loan products under Sections 221(d)(4) and 220.
More than a year after the Missouri Housing Development Commission voted to freeze the state’s LIHTC program, the Missouri State Senate recently signaled initial approval to bring it back with a few changes. Senate Bill 28 would set the state’s cap on spending to a 72.5 percent match of the funding from the federal LIHTC program. Prior to the program’s freeze, the state tax credits were issued at a matching rate with the federal funds.
Several 2020 presidential candidates have introduced housing proposals. Three of the top Democratic contenders in 2020, Senators Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, and Elizabeth Warren, have already introduced major proposals in the Senate that would reshape affordable housing in America.
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