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January 3, 2020

NAHMA welcomes you to the new decade!

NAHMA welcomes our members to a new decade of affordable housing management challenges and solutions. Congress returns next week to take up various legislative issues ahead of the busy election season.

Join NAHMA’s first Government Affairs Committee Call of 2020

This joint call of NAHMA’s Federal Affairs, Regulatory Affairs, Tax Credit, Senior Housing, Rural Housing, and Fair Housing Committees will include key items for discussion, current updates, and next steps for committees.

In addition to updates on funding, guidance, March Meeting planning, and NAHMA’s advocacy challenge winners, the committee call agenda includes the following discussion items:

  • Public Comments on Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing Development
  • HUD oversight of lead-based health hazards in multifamily housing
  • Changes to LIHTC compliance monitoring regs
  • NSPIRE demonstration (physical inspections)
  • Feedback on challenges when working with RD and tax credits

The call will be held on Thursday, January 9, 2020, from 2:00 – 3:00 EST. Join from Computer: https://meetings.ringcentral.com/j/1482319174 Or by phone: +1(773)2319226, 148 231 9174. Please reach out to your NAHMA GR team with questions.

Housing Agencies reflect on 2019 Accomplishments

Reflecting on a busy year at HUD and USDA, the agencies each published a list of accomplishments in the past year. According to the agency website, HUD has achieved the following advancements under the guidance of Secretary Ben Carson:

  • Submitted a Housing Finance Reform Plan to the President
  • Oversaw the production or preservation of over 2.6 million insured and assisted multifamily rental units and provided over $4.3 billion in insurance for hospitals and residential care facilities in FY 2019
  • Developed more than 19,000 homes through the HOME Investment Partnerships Program and SelfHelp Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP) programs
  • Added 18 new Family Self Sufficiency Programs for the first time since 2012
  • Digitized Notice of Funds Available (NOFA) procedures which reduced processing from 7 to 10 days to 3 days
  • Proposed revisions to HUD’s 2013 Disparate Impact Regulation to provide clarity for plaintiffs and defendants in disparate impact cases and align HUD’s regulations with the Supreme Court’s ruling in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc
  • Collaborated across the Executive Branch to establish the White House Council on Eliminating Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing, covering eight federal agencies, led by Secretary Ben Carson
  • Preserved affordable housing options by improving over 17,000 public housing units in FY2019 through the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program. Additionally, HUD expanded the RAD conversion process to include supportive housing properties for very-low income elderly persons
  • Expanded the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) pilot program for multifamily properties to include new construction and substantial rehabilitation to stimulate greater capital investment in affordable housing, including housing in Opportunity Zones, and
  • Implemented program incentives for lenders intending to build or refinance multifamily properties, hospitals, and residential care facilities located in Opportunity Zones to spur investment where it’s needed most.

According to a USDA press release, USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Donald “DJ” LaVoy highlighted major accomplishments and investments in the nation’s rural businesses and communities:

  • Committed $600 million in 2019 to support rural broadband expansion through the ReConnect Pilot Program
  • Invested $788 million in loans and grants that funded 783 essential community facilitiessuch as rural hospitals, educational institutions and public safety facilities. These investments will benefit more than 11 million rural residents
  • Invested $42.5 million in 133 distance learning and telemedicine projects. These investments will benefit 5.4 million rural residents. They will make it easier for thousands of rural residents to take advantage of economic, health care and educational opportunities without having to travel long distances. More than one-third of these distance learning projects, 51, totaling $14.7 million in grants, will provide access to opioid prevention, treatment and recovery services for 2 million rural residents, and
  • Provided more than 99,000 homeownership loan guarantees to low- and moderate-income families in rural areas in all 50 states, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

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