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NCSHA Releases Updated Recommended Practices for Housing Credit Program Administration

Published on January 2, 2018

Last week, NCSHA issued the Task Force on Recommended Practices in Housing Credit Administrationā€™s (Task Force) final report, which significantly strengthens many of the organizationā€™s previous Housing Credit recommended practices and adds 13 important new practices. NCSHAā€™s Board of Directors approved the report at its December 2017 meeting. Over an 18-month period, the Task Force undertook a comprehensive revision of NCSHAā€™s previous recommended practices to respond to current program challenges and opportunities by updating and expanding both NCSHAā€™s Recommended Practices in Housing Credit Allocation and Underwriting and its Recommended Practices in Housing Credit Compliance Monitoring. The final report is a consolidation of these two sets of practices, thus covering the breadth of state Housing Credit program administration responsibilities. Washington State Housing Finance Commission Executive Director Kim Herman and Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority Executive Director Jake Sipe co-chaired the Task Force, which included 17 additional HFA executive directors representing large and small states with urban and rural areas in all geographic regions of the country. Collectively, these states allocate nearly 60 percent of Housing Credit authority annually. Nearly all Task Force meetings were open to all state HFA executive directors, including those who were not Task Force members, and their designated staff members, and many participated. In addition, NCSHA solicited input from organizations and businesses involved in the Housing Credit industry, including national advocacy associations and developer, syndicator, consultant, investor, and other stakeholder groups. NCSHA received 19 separate industry comment letters, including several signed by multiple groups. In total, 32 organizations and businesses commented on the proposed recommended practices. NCSHAā€™s first effort to develop Housing Credit recommended practices began in 1992. Since then, State HFAs, through NCSHA, have refined and added to those recommended practices numerous to ensure continued strong state program administration. NCSHA expects state Housing Credit allocating agencies to begin incorporating the new recommended practices into their Housing Credit administration in 2018. Contact NCSHAā€™s Jennifer Schwartz with questions about the recommended practices.WASHINGTON, DC ā€” The National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA) has published updated recommended practices for state Housing Finance Agency (HFA) administration of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (Housing Credit) program.

The new guidelines respond to current program challenges and opportunities by updating and expanding both NCSHA’s existing Recommended Practices in Housing Credit Allocation and Underwriting and Recommended Practices in Housing Credit Compliance Monitoring. The final report is a consolidation of these two sets of practices, covering the breadth of state program administration responsibilities. The report significantly strengthens a number of existing recommended practices and includes 13 important new practices.

A task force appointed by the NCSHA Board of Directors worked on this project over 18 months, collaborating with other HFA executive directors and their staff. NCSHA also sought comments from numerous organizations and businesses involved in the Housing Credit industry, including national advocacy associations and developer, syndicator, consultant, investor, and other stakeholder groups. In total, 32 organizations and businesses commented on the proposed recommended practices.

The NCSHA Board of Directors adopted the final report of the Task Force on Recommended Practices in Housing Credit Administration at its December 4 meeting in Washington, DC. A copy of the board-adopted recommended practices is available atĀ ncsha.org.

About the National Council of State Housing Agencies
NCSHA is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan association that advocates on behalf of HFAs before Congress and the Administration for affordable housing resources. NCSHA represents virtually every state HFA and the HFAs of the District of Columbia, New York City, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. NCSHA’s membership also includes more than 300 affordable housing industry partners. Learn more atĀ ncsha.org.

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NCSHA Recommended Practices in Housing Credit Administration

MEDIA CONTACT:
Lisa Bowman, Director of Marketing and Communications
202-624-7718 orĀ lbowman@ncsha.org