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Representative Urges Colleagues to Co-Sponsor Tax Credit Bill
Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) is circulating a “Dear Colleague” letter asking his House colleagues to co-sponsor the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act (H.R.1661), bipartisan legislation to strengthen the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit. According to the letter, the bill “will make the Housing Credit more flexible, simplify program requirements, support the preservation of existing affordable housing, facilitate Housing Credit development in challenging markets and for hard-to-reach populations, and institute other modifications to make the Housing Credit an even more effective program.” To read the letter, click on the Web Link below.
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Industry Trends
"Affordable Housing Success Strategies"
"Harvard Report Highlights Persistent Gap in Affordable Housing"
HUD-Related Activity
"HUD Seeks Comment on Disparate Impact Rule"
State and Local Activities
"Nevada Lawmakers Want New Program to Fund Affordable Rental Housing"
"Parson Won't Reinstate Low-Income Housing Tax Credits This Year"
Management and Compliance
"Prepare Your Building for a Hurricane Before It's Too Late"
Green Building
"Multifamily Developers Embrace Green Building"
Association News
ASAE Honors SHCM Certification Program
Learn How to Improve Team Performance
Save the Date: LeadingAge Annual Meeting and Expo in Philadelphia, Oct. 28-31
Green Energy Certification Could Ideally Be Tied to Tax Credit Awards
NCSHA Sends Letter to IRS, Treasury Concerning Income-Averaging Issues
NAHMA Releases New 2018 Affordable 100 List
Become a Specialist in Housing Credit Management® (SHCM®) Company!
Upcoming Events
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Industry Trends
Affordable Housing Success Strategies
Housing Finance (06/15/18)
A comprehensive report issued by the National Low Income Housing Coalition underscores the problem of declining affordable housing options for many Americans. Tracy Peters at RED Capital Markets, LLC, says although Congress passed legislation in the past year to increase the amount of tax credits available, new projects are facing higher construction costs, higher interest rates, and lower equity pricing. Meanwhile, many former Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) projects have become market-rate projects after the LURA matures, he notes. Many public housing and Sec. 8 projects are also becoming obsolete. Given this environment, it is an obligation for those in the affordable housing community to continue to find ways to protect the current supply of affordable housing and expand upon it, Peters says. It is also essential to partner with and demonstrate to local communities, employers, and other vested parties that affordable housing is critical for the growth and well-being of any community.
Harvard Report Highlights Persistent Gap in Affordable Housing
Novogradac (06/19/2018)
The State of the Nation's Housing 2018 was released by Harvard University and the Joint Center for Housing Studies on June 19, reporting that the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) remains the largest provider of assisted rental affordable housing in the United States. The study says a 12.5 percent increase in LIHTC allocations over the next four years will provide a boost, but notes there remains a significant gap in affordable housing. Just over 38 million households in 2016 spent more than 30 percent of their income on housing, according to the report, a decline of 800,000 from the previous year, but 6.5 million higher than in 2001. The report calls for an additional increase to the LIHTC program, as well as boosts for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Housing Choice Voucher, HOME and Community Development Block Grant programs.
HUD-Related Activity
HUD Seeks Comment on Disparate Impact Rule
National Law Review (06/20/18) Andreano Jr., Richard J.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is soliciting feedback on whether its 2013 Disparate Impact Rule should be revised in light of the 2015 Supreme Court ruling in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs vs. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc.. The rule provides that liability may be established under the Fair Housing Act based on a practice's discriminatory effect (disparate impact), even if the bias was not deliberate. HUD also notes that in a report issued in October 2017, the Treasury Department recommended that the agency reconsider applications of the rule, particularly in the context of the insurance industry.
State and Local Activities
Nevada Lawmakers Want New Program to Fund Affordable Rental Housing
Las Vegas Review-Journal (NV) (06/01/18) Davidson, Michael Scott
A bipartisan committee of lawmakers in Nevada has unanimously voted to draft a bill to create a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program during the 2019 legislative session. Private investors would receive a dollar-for-dollar reduction in state tax liability for helping to finance the creation or preservation of affordable rental housing. Under the four-year pilot, which would launch in 2020, as much as $10 million of transferable tax credits could be allocated each fiscal year, and unused credits could roll over year-to-year. The Nevada Housing Division would be charged with determining which projects receive the credits, and the housing would be subject to rent restrictions and tenant-income limits for 30 years. The proposed tax-credit program would be the state's first new funding source for affordable housing since the Low-Income Housing Trust Fund was established some 30 years ago. The program would work in tandem with its federal counterpart. More than a dozen states have tax-credit programs.
Parson Won't Reinstate Low-Income Housing Tax Credits This Year
Columbian Missourian (06/06/18) Hall, Matthew
Missouri will not issue any Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTCs) this year, according to new Gov. Mike Parson. During a news conference on June 6, Parson said the popular LIHTC program needs to be reformed, and that he wants to create a commission to study low-income housing in the state. House Budget Committee Chairman Scott Fitzpatrick utilized a state law to prevent tax credits from being issued, days before the Missouri legislative session ended, according to St. Louis Public Radio. Fitzpatrick's biggest concern with the program is with how its funds were used. A 2017 report from State Auditor Nicole Galloway says the program was run in a grossly inefficient way--only 42 cents of every $1 of credit was being used for low-income housing projects. "I'd like to see a significant amount of reductions on spending and some caps on credit," Fitzpatrick says of the program, which costs up to $200 million a year. "In addition to capping the credit, maybe some kind of requirement that at least some larger percent gets invested into the project, because a lot of the money bleeds into the developers."
Management and Compliance
Prepare Your Building for a Hurricane Before It's Too Late
Buildings (06/15/18) Craven, Valerie Dennis
Buildings in hurricane-prone areas must be prepared for the worst. One of the top priorities is to have a disaster cleanup and business continuity plan in place before a hurricane approaches. Determine what level you want or need your building to function following a disaster. Building owners and managers should determine initial priorities, such as keep the building dry, if disaster cleanup is necessary. Going to a performance-based design approach would allow for better performance of buildings after incidents, suggests Scott Nacheman, a member of the property loss consulting team at DeSimone Consulting Engineers. If a hurricane has occurred and disaster cleanup is necessary, owners and operators need to initially focus on restoration of the building envelope and utilities. "If you can't get the building closed in and drying, the damage to your building will grow exponentially over time," Nacheman reasons.
To get up and running quicker, he suggests three things. One, have a plan in place for pre-loss preparation to restore building envelope integrity. Two, have a system for restoring power generation and fuel for the systems. And, three, work with your insurance carrier to have an emergency restoration company available to perform dry down. Such discussions with an insurance broker or carrier should come ahead of disaster cleanup and center on pre-approval of certain vendors and having accounts set up with those vendors for a quick response. The Federal Emergency Management Agency also suggests the following tips for facility preparation. First, develop a preparedness program to help identify ways to protect facilities, physical assets, and electronic data. Two, create a communications plan to keep in contact with customers, suppliers, and employees during and after a hurricane. And, three, keep copies of priority documents such as building plans, insurance policies, and bank accounts in a waterproof container and store a second set of records at an off-site location.
Green Building
Multifamily Developers Embrace Green Building
Multi-Housing News (05/02/18) Friedman, Robyn A.
As developers identify the benefits of sustainability for both their bottom line and residents' quality of life, they also are increasingly embedding sustainable building materials and methods within projects. As of March 2018, more than 1.5 million multifamily residential units were participating in the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED program, and this number should continue to grow as new projects come online. Factors driving this trend include support for sustainable building, with the National Multifamily Housing Council's Paula Cino noting, “Green building features are something that residents, as well as jurisdictions, are asking for from the builders and developers in their community.” She also says developers are realizing "that there are some tangible advantages to green building, particularly when it comes to energy efficiency and water savings. That can translate into some real dollars that go back into the owner/operator's pocket for the life of that building."
Jonathan Rose's Lauren Zullo stresses that green building helps property owners reduce the costs of energy and water usage, thus improving net operating income, raising property values, and boosting the return on investment from green building. Developers of sustainable multifamily properties also are adding new technologies and methods to further cut costs and raise energy efficiency, such as Passive House standards, non-hazardous materials, and colored roofs. Wood construction also is gaining favor, for reasons that include “cost, versatility, ease of construction, [and] the fact that wood buildings meet the same safety and performance requirements as other materials,” says WoodWorks CEO Jennifer Cover.
Association News
ASAE Honors SHCM Certification Program
The Specialist in Housing Credit Management (SHCM) certification program has been named a 2018 Silver Power of A Award winner in the Power to Create a Competitive Workforce category by the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE).
The Power of A Awards are part of The Power of A program, an industry brand and awareness campaign that helps associations tell their story to key audiences including policymakers, the media, business leaders and their own members. Associations represent different industries and professions but they are all part of a collective association industry that makes extraordinary contributions to society here in the United States and throughout the world. ASAE is honoring 16 associations with a Power of A Gold Award this year, and 34 associations with a Power of A Silver Award.
Launched in 2005, SHCM was designed to ensure that managers of Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) properties have attained the knowledge, experience and competence required to excel professionally. The certification was designed by management professionals for management professionals working with the LIHTC program.
Shortly after the program’s launch, National Affordable Housing Management Association (NAHMA) partnered with two associations to develop industrywide support for and participation in the certification. The National Apartment Association Education Institute and LeadingAge joined NAHMA in administration of the program through a Special Advisory & Technical Committee comprised of members of each association.
To read more about the award, click on the link provided below.
Learn How to Improve Team Performance
Discover what it takes to build a cohesive team with the webinar NAHMA Presents Key People Skills for Property Management Staffers: Developing a Top-Performing Team. This is your chance to learn what it takes to make sure everyone is committed to doing their best to achieve a common goal through a live 90-minute, interactive webinar. The session takes place Tuesday, July 31, beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern, and is led by Brenda Harrington, founder of Adaptive Leadership Strategies LLC. Register for the training session through your local AHMA today.
Topics for the session include:
- The difference between work group and team
- Making sure everyone is heard
- House rules for team meetings
- Presenting an opposing opinion
- Gaining support for important decisions
This webinar is designed for property management staffers; corporate or headquarters staff, including regional and district managers; mid- and entry-level managers and supervisors; compliance specialists; and human resources, accounting and technical staff.
The webinar is brought to you by NAHMA and is hosted by Rocky AHMA. Contact information for your local AHMA can be found by visiting the AHMA Directory map at nahma.org and clicking on the AHMA nearest to your location.
Save the Date: LeadingAge Annual Meeting and Expo in Philadelphia, Oct. 28-31
Be part of the nation’s largest annual event for the not-for-profit aging services field. You are sure to find innovative solutions to your challenges, discover new ways to improve operations and quality, and go home better equipped to serve your residents and clients. We hope you will join us in Philly! To register, click the Web Link below.
Green Energy Certification Could Ideally Be Tied to Tax Credit Awards
Collecting data to determine what scope of energy efficiency work was effective is, according to Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) officials, the key to moving the needle on getting states to incentivize energy and water conservation in tax credit awards for affordable housing, and represents the most concise clear path to POAH’s goal of sustainable, healthy, affordable housing. To learn more, click on the Web Link below.
NCSHA Sends Letter to IRS, Treasury Concerning Income-Averaging Issues
The National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA) sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of the Treasury concerning the implementation of income averaging in LIHTC properties. The letter seeks state flexibility in establishing income-averaging guidelines and determining how to approach compliance monitoring, along with a few other implementation recommendations. To read the letter, click on the Web Link below.
NAHMA Releases New 2018 Affordable 100 List
The National Affordable Housing Management Association (NAHMA) announces its new 2018 Affordable 100—a list of the 100 largest affordable multifamily property management companies ranked by affordable unit counts—is available on its website, click Web Link below, as well as in the June issues of NAHMA News, Affordable Housing Finance magazine and Units magazine. The NAHMA website version expands the list to the top 120 largest multifamily property management companies. In addition, the online version presents two specialty lists: the 25 largest housing credit (LIHTC) property management companies and the 25 largest Rural Development program property management companies.
Become a Specialist in Housing Credit Management® (SHCM®) Company!
The three national associations sponsoring the Specialist in Housing Credit Management® (SHCM®) certification program invite your company to become a Specialist in Housing Credit Management® Company, a corporate designation created specifically to honor management companies that successfully maintain a significant portion of their properties and staff to the high standards of the SHCM certification program.
The SHCM program, developed especially for management companies involved with properties developed and operated under the Low-Income Tax Credit (LIHTC) program, is sponsored by the National Affordable Housing Management Association (NAHMA), the National Apartment Association Education Institute (NAAEI), and LeadingAge.
Earning the SHCM Company designation publicly demonstrates that a company is among the finest managers of LIHTC housing in the industry.
For more details on how to become a SHCM Company, click on the Web Link below.
Upcoming Events
NAHMA Fall Meeting
October 21-23, 2018
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LeadingAge Annual Meeting and Expo
October 28-31, 2018
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