NCSHA Blogs
FHFA Ups Cap on GSE Housing Credit Investment, Prohibits GSEs from Investing in Deals If Owners Do Not Waive Qualified Contract Option
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today issued an announcement that it will allow the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to invest up to $1 billion in the Housing Credit equity market in 2024, an increase from the $850 million it allowed each GSE to invest in 2023. Any Housing Credit investments the GSEs make above $500 million each year must be for developments FHFA identifies as having difficulty attracting investors, thus the increase is targeted to housing located in rural areas consistent with the GSEs’ Duty-to-Serve requirements, preservation, mixed-income properties, and supportive housing.
FHA Annual Report Highlights Agency’s Lending to Underserved Borrowers and Loss Mitigation Efforts
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) earlier today released its 2023 Annual Report to Congress. The report finds FHA continued to play a critical role in supporting home financing for first-time home buyers and other underserved borrowers in fiscal year (FY) 2023. Other highlights include FHA’s efforts to help homeowners impacted by Covid and the status of FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund (MMIF).
Federal Banking Regulators Publish Comprehensive CRA Overhaul
The three major federal banking regulators — the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency — earlier today approved a final rule that substantially reforms bank requirements under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations. The regulators argue that the rule, which they first proposed in May 2022, modernizes the CRA requirements to reflect market developments since the regulations were last overhauled in 1995 and to encourage more critical investment and lending to benefit low- and moderate-income households and communities.
HUD Delays Compliance Date for NSPIRE Protocols for Community Planning and Development Programs
The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced it is delaying until October 1, 2024, the compliance date for its National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate (NSPIRE) final rule as it applies to Community Planning and Development (CPD) programs. The NSPIRE final rule, published May 11, 2023, initially required compliance for CPD programs to begin October 1, 2023. Programs covered by the delay notice include the HOME Investment Partnerships, Housing Trust Fund, Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS, Emergency Solution Grants, and Continuum of Care programs.
GAO Releases Report on Housing Trust Fund
On August 8, the U.S. Government Accountability Office released a report entitled “Affordable Housing: Improvements Needed in HUD’s Oversight of the Housing Trust Fund Program.” The report identified several deficiencies in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s management of the Housing Trust Fund (HTF) program and included five recommendations to improve HTF oversight.
HUD Publishes Data on 2021 Housing Credit Tenant Characteristics
This week, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Policy Development and Research published demographic data on tenants living in Housing Credit properties in 2021. This data, collected annually from state Housing Credit allocating agencies as required by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, includes state-by-state details on tenant race, ethnicity, family composition, age, income, use of rental assistance, disability status, and monthly rent burden.
Administration Announces New, Highlights Recent Actions to Increase Housing Supply, Protect Tenants
On July 27, the Biden – Harris Administration released two fact sheets on steps it is taking to boost the supply of affordable housing and support renter protections. These announcements, which build on the administration’s May 2022 Housing Supply Action Plan, focus on reducing barriers to building housing, such as restrictive land-use and zoning rules; expanding financing for affordable, energy efficient, and resilient housing; and promoting commercial-to-residential conversion, particularly for affordable and zero emissions housing.
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Advances FY24 HUD Funding Bill
By a vote of 29-0 on Thursday, July 20, the Senate Appropriations Committee reported favorably Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Transportation and Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) funding legislation that...
House Appropriations Subcommittee Considers FY24 HUD Funding Bill
The House Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee considered Fiscal Year 2024 funding legislation on Wednesday, July 12, that would make drastic cuts to a number of Department of Housing and Urban Development programs, including a $1 billion cut to the HOME Investment Partnerships program, a two-thirds reduction from the FY23 enacted level.
