NCSHA Blogs
FHFA Releases 2016 Housing Report
Late last week, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released its Annual Housing Report for 2016. The report examines Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s affordable housing activities for 2015.
Treasury Issue Brief: Housing Finance Reform Must Address Affordable Housing Access
Housing finance system reforms must preserve and expand support for affordable housing options, the U.S. Treasury Department argues in an issue brief released last week. The brief was written by Antonio Weiss, Counselor to the Secretary of Treasury, and Karen Dynan, the Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy.
NCSHA Recommends Further Improvements to State Fair Housing Assessment Tool
Today, NCSHA submitted comments to HUD on the second iteration of the proposed Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) Assessment Tool for States and Insular Areas, which HUD released for a 30-day comment period in late September. HUD initially published the proposed state assessment tool in March for a 60-day comment period, then revised the tool based on the comments it received, including those NCSHA provided in May.
FHA Implements New Occupancy Requirements for Condo Loans
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) yesterday released a Mortgage Letter (ML 2016-15) establishing new owner occupancy requirements that condominium projects must meet for mortgages on their single-family units to be eligible for FHA insurance. The new standards take effect immediately.
IRS Releases 2017 Inflation Adjustments for Housing Credits and Bonds
For calendar year 2017, the state Housing Credit ceiling will be the greater of $2.35 multiplied by the state’s population or $2,710,000. While the multiplier remained at the same level as in 2016, the minimum increased slightly from its 2016 level of $2,690,000.
HUD Proposes Energy Benchmarking Requirement for Multifamily Housing
HUD issued a notice in the Federal Register October 4 requesting public comments on a proposed requirement for owners of HUD-funded multifamily housing to implement energy benchmarking in their properties, consistent with the President’s Climate Action Plan and other Administration and HUD initiatives to improve energy efficiency in HUD-assisted properties.
MSRB Seeks Public Input on Strategic Goals; EMMA website
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) filed a regulatory notice last week seeking public comment on how it should focus it regulatory and educational efforts in the coming years. MSRB filed the notice to collect input on its biennial strategic planning process, which is set to begin in January. MSRB is also seeking input on how it can improve its Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA®) website.
Congress Passes Continuing Resolution Through December 9
On September 28 — just two days before the government would be forced to shut down for lack of funding — Congress approved a short-term continuing resolution (CR) to fund the federal government through December 9. The CR will fund all federal agencies at Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 levels with a 0.5 percent reduction to stay within the spending limits imposed by the budget agreement Congress reached last year, which applied to FY 2016 and FY 2017 spending.
Senator Wyden Formally Introduces Middle-Income Housing Tax Credit Legislation
On September 22, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced S. 3384, the Middle Income Housing Tax Credit Act of 2016 after circulating a discussion draft of the legislation earlier that day. The bill as introduced is identical to the discussion draft, which NCSHA described in our September 22 blog post. NCSHA has not taken a position on the legislation.
