NCSHA Blogs
IRS Extends Housing Credit and Bond Deadlines, Provides Other Guidance on COVID-19
On July 1, the Internal Revenue Service published Notice 2020-53 providing temporary relief to owners and residents of Housing Credit and tax-exempt bond financed developments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The notice provides relief to agencies that administer the Housing Credit and tax-exempt bond programs and addresses nearly all of the issues raised in the letter NCSHA sent to IRS in March requesting COVID-19 relief.
IRS, Treasury Issue Proposed Rule Relaxing Compliance Monitoring Sample Sizes
In a massive victory for NCSHA, IRS and Treasury today published a proposed rule repealing the Housing Credit compliance monitoring sample size methodology that the Service and the department adopted in final regulations issued in February 2019. Those regulations, which NCSHA strongly opposed, would have gone into practical effect no later than January 1, 2021. Instead, the proposed rule IRS and Treasury released today reinstates previous policy in place from 2016 until IRS published the 2019 regulations.
GAO Report Finds Increased Housing Affordability, Quality Challenges
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has published the first in what will be a series of reports analyzing the housing market, including whether the existing housing stock meets the needs of the American people. This first report describes trends in the rental housing market between 2001 and 2017, looking at the share of the population that rents, renters’ demographic characteristics, the affordability of the housing stock to renters, and rental housing conditions.
FHFA Announces GSEs Will Extend Multifamily Forbearance Agreements, Tenant Protections
Today, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) will allow servicers of Enterprise multifamily loans to extend forbearance agreements for multifamily property owners for up to three additional months, for a total forbearance period of up to six months. This extension is available for owners of qualified properties with Enterprise-backed multifamily mortgages experiencing financial hardships due to the coronavirus National Emergency.
Senators Wyden and Cantwell Introduce Legislation Paralleling Housing Credit Provisions in House Infrastructure Bill
Today, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) introduced standalone Senate companion legislation to the Housing Credit provisions included in the Moving Forward Act (H.R. 2), the infrastructure legislation released in the House earlier this week. The bill, The Emergency Affordable Housing Act of 2020, does not have a bill number at this time; however, the bill text, a one-page summary, and a more detailed summary are all available.
CFPB Proposes to Remove DTI Limit and Implement Price Thresholds for QM Loans
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Monday released a proposed rule amending its Ability-to-Repay/Qualified Mortgage underwriting guidelines. The proposal rescinds the 43 percent debt-to-income ratio limit loans must meet to qualify as Qualified Mortgages and creates a new price-based threshold for Qualified Mortgage loans.
House Democrats’ Infrastructure Bill Includes Housing Credit and PAB Expansion, Program Changes; Increased Housing Program Funding; New Single-Family Tax Credit
House Democratic leaders recently released the details of their new $1.5 trillion infrastructure legislation, the Moving Forward Act (H.R. 2). The bill text, a section-by-section summary, and a fact sheet posted June 22 reveal the bill would invest substantially in roads, bridges, schools, broadband access, and affordable housing.
Mayors Press Congress to Enact 4 Percent Minimum Rate, Lower 50 Percent Test in the Next Coronavirus Relief Legislation
On June 1, 67 mayors representing communities across 28 states and the District of Columbia sent a letter to House and Senate leaders urging Congress to establish a minimum 4 percent rate for bond-financed properties and lower the “50 percent test” financed-by threshold that bond-financed Credit properties must meet to receive 4 percent Housing Credits in the next coronavirus relief legislation. Mayors from both parties signed the letter. The letter was coordinated by the ACTION Campaign, a coalition of more than 2,300 organizations and businesses across the nation co-chaired by NCSHA and Enterprise Community Partners.
Treasury Opens FY 2020 Funding Round of the Capital Magnet Fund
On May 28, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund began accepting applications for the FY 2020 funding round of the Capital Magnet Fund.
