NCSHA Blogs
IRS Publishes Population Figures for Calculating Disaster Housing Credit Authority
This morning the Internal Revenue Service published Notice 2021-45 advising Housing Credit allocating agencies that qualified for additional Housing Credit authority under the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020 of the population residing in qualified disaster zones, which is necessary for determining the amount of disaster Housing Credit authority for which each qualified state is eligible.
House Approves FY 2022 Omnibus Bill with Funding for HUD and Rural Housing Programs
The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday passed an omnibus appropriations bill, H.R. 4502, that combines seven fiscal year (FY) 2022 appropriations bills and includes funding for HUD and U.S. Department of Agriculture rural housing programs. The bill passed on a party-line vote of 219-208, with all Democrats present voting aye and all Republicans present voting against.
New NLIHC Report Highlights Persistent Housing Affordability Challenges for Low-Wage Renters
On July 14, the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) released "Out of Reach 2021: The High Cost of Housing," its annual report documenting the gap between renters' wages and the cost of rental housing across the nation. NLIHC's 2021 report concludes that the profound economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 crisis had a significant impact on the lowest-wage households, exacerbating the disconnect between wage growth and rental cost increases.
House Appropriations Subcommittee Approves FY 2022 Bill Increasing HUD Program Funding Levels
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies last night passed its fiscal year 2022 appropriations bill, which would provide substantial increases for regular annual appropriations for HUD programs in FY 2022. Key program funding levels are listed below.
HUD Proposes to Reinstate 2013 Disparate Impact Rule
On June 25, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development issued a proposed rule to recodify the Discriminatory Effects Standard regulations (2013 Rule) — commonly referred to as the disparate impact rule or burden-shifting framework — that has been in place since 2013. Under the Trump Administration, in September 2020 HUD issued the final rule, titled “HUD’s Implementation of the Fair Housing Act’s Disparate Impact Standard” (2020 Rule), intended to replace the 2013 Rule. However, due to a preliminary injunction issued in a court case challenging the 2020 Rule prior to its effective date, the 2020 Rule never took effect; thus, the 2013 Rule remains in effect.
Treasury’s Revised Emergency Rental Assistance Guidance Addresses NCSHA Recommendations on Bundling Assistance, Housing Stability Services
On June 24, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released updated Frequently Asked Questions for the Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program addressing a number of issues, including recommendations NCSHA has made to more efficiently use ERA resources to help eligible low-income renters maintain stable housing and pay utilities. The guidance addresses both ERA 1, authorized by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, and ERA 2, authorized by the American Rescue Plan, and explains differences between those two components of the program.
New Harvard Housing Study Highlights Affordability Challenges Amidst Post-Pandemic Economic Recovery
On June 16, Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies released its 2021 State of the Nation’s Housing report. The report finds that, as the economy recovers from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, some households are taking advantage of historically low interest rates to purchase homes with savings built during the health crisis, while others have been locked out of opportunities to own as prices increase to meet demand. Moreover, renters and homeowners are grappling with billions of dollars in back rent owed, unpaid mortgages, and the growing risk of eviction and foreclosure.
HUD Interim Rule Reinstates Aspects of Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Requirements; Does Not Yet Require Specific Fair Housing Planning
Today, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published an interim final rule and request for comments repealing the Trump Administration’s Preserving Community and Neighborhood Choice regulation and reinstating aspects of the 2015 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule in effect under the Obama Administration. The 2021 AFFH interim final rule reinstates relevant definitions that had been rewritten under PCNC and the certifications that incorporate those definitions, including the requirement that HUD program participants certify “they take meaningful actions that, taken together, address significant disparities in housing needs and in access to opportunity, replacing segregated living patterns with truly integrated and balanced living patterns, transforming racially or ethnically concentrated areas of poverty into areas of opportunity, and fostering and maintaining compliance with civil rights and fair housing laws.” The provisions reinstated by the 2021 AFFH interim final rule include only those HUD believes have previously undergone sufficient notice and comment processes.
White House Announces Proposals to Reduce the Racial Wealth Gap
Earlier today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a set of proposals designed to help narrow the racial wealth gap and reinvest in distressed communities, focusing on expanding access to homeownership and small business ownership. The administration says it will launch an interagency effort to address inequity in home appraisals and publish next week in the Federal Register a proposed rule on countering housing practices with discriminatory effects (disparate impact) and an interim proposed rule on Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing. The administration plan also includes using the federal government’s purchasing power to grow federal contracting with small disadvantaged businesses by 50 percent.
Biden Releases FY 2022 Budget, Proposes Increased Investments in Housing
Today, the Biden Administration submitted to Congress the president’s budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2022. The budget request totals $6 trillion, the largest increase in federal spending in decades. The Biden Administration seeks $68.7 billion for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and $27.8 billion for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), an increase of $9 billion (15 percent) and $3.6 billion (16 percent) over the FY 2021 enacted levels, respectively.
