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NCSHA Blogs

Ed Golding to Replace Biniam Gebre as FHA Head

HUD announced yesterday that Biniam Gebre, the Acting Commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Acting Assistant Secretary for the Office of Housing, will leave his position with FHA on April 7. Ed Golding, who currently serves as a senior advisor in HUDā€™s Office of Policy and Development of Research and has been deeply involved in the Administrationā€™s housing finance reform policy development process, will replace Gebre as head of FHA.

FHFA Issues Final Rule on GSE Allocations to Housing Trust Fund

Yesterday, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released a final rule establishing certain requirements regarding Fannie Mae and Freddie Macā€™s contributions to the Housing Trust Fund and the Capital Magnet Fund (the Funds). Specifically, the rule would prohibit Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from trying to recoup their allocations to the Funds by passing along the costs to loan originators, and sets a framework by which FHFA will enforce this prohibition. The final rule is identical to an interim final rule FHFA proposed in December.

HUD Issues Proposed VAWA Rule

Earlier this week, HUD Secretary JuliƔn Castro announced HUD's proposed regulation implementing the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Reauthorization of 2013 (VAWA 2013).

HUD Secretary Castro Announces New Proposed Rule on Section 3 Program

Last week, HUD Secretary JuliĆ”n Castro unveiled a new proposed rule to amend the federal ā€œSection 3ā€ program, which requires that HUD-funded jobs and contracts, to the greatest extent possible, be directed to local low-income residents and the businesses that employ them. The program is designed to create incentives and opportunities for individuals and communities that receive HUD funding to become more self-sufficient.

House and Senate Budget Committees Approve FY 2016 Budget Plans

This week, both the House and the Senate Budget Committees reported their respective Budget Resolutions. The resolutions moved swiftly through the committees, having been released only days earlier by their Republican chairmen, Representative Tom Price (R-GA) and Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY). Both committee-passed resolutions are expected to be debated on the floor of their respective chambers the week of March 23-27.

State HFAs Awarded Over $13 Million in NFMC Funding

NeighborWorksĀ® America announced last week that it has awarded $44.8 million in funding to support counseling for struggling homeowners to help them avoid foreclosure through the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) program. Twenty-five state HFAs were selected to receive NFMC funds, as well as 18 HUD-approved Housing Counseling Intermediaries and 68 NeighborWorks affiliates. A list of all the grants awarded is available here.

Tiberi and Neal Introduce Minimum Credit Rate Legislation

On February 26, House Ways and Means Committee members Pat Tiberi (R-OH) and Richard Neal (D-MA) introduced H.R. 1142, which would permanently establish the 9 percent and 4 percent acquisition Housing Credit rate floors. The bill, which is essentially identical to legislation Tiberi and Neal introduced in the last Congress, already has bipartisan support. Of the 18 original cosponsors, including the billā€™s lead sponsors, nine are Republicans and nine are Democrats.

NCSHA Teams with Other Bond Supporters to Urge Finance Committee Working Group to Support Tax Exemption for Municipal Bonds

On February 26, NCSHA joined other members of the Municipal Bonds for America coalition in a letter to Community Development and Infrastructure Working Group co-chairmen, Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) and Senator Michael Bennett (D-CO), in support of the tax-exempt status of municipal bonds, including qualified private activity bonds.

The MacArthur Foundation and the Urban Land Institute Unveil Affordable Housing Resource Platform

The MacArthur Foundation and the Urban Land Institute (ULI) recently launched a new online resource designed to explore the links between quality affordable housing and tangible social benefits, including public health, educational performance, and economic stability. The digital platform is intended to provide a user-friendly resource portal combining interdisciplinary research papers, reports, news, and original stories in a way that informs and promotes action for affordable housing.

NCSHA Urges HUD to Develop, Pilot State Fair Housing Assessment Tool before Requiring States to Submit Fair Housing Assessments

This week, NCSHA responded to HUDā€™s re-opening of the public comment period on the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) proposed rule to garner additional comments on whether HUD should delay the first Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH) submission deadline for states and other targeted entities.