Dos & Don'ts, In the News, Keeping It Straight, Private Letter Rulings, Q & A

Dos & Don'ts, In the News, Keeping It Straight, Private Letter Rulings, Q & A

Verify Every Source of Household Income

June 30, 2017    

Make sure that you verify every source of income a household reports. A household isn’t qualified unless you have the verifications to prove it. So if you accept a household without verifying all its income, the owner won’t be able to claim tax credits for the household’s unit...

Treasury Department Releases Section 1602 Audits

May 31, 2017    

The Treasury Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently posted audits of the Section 1602 program for Rhode Island and Arkansas. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a stimulus package signed into law by President Obama in February 2009 in response to the Great...

NPR and Frontline Investigate LIHTC Program, Industry Responds

May 31, 2017    

On May 9, the television series Frontline aired an installment of a joint investigation with NPR on the affordable housing crisis. This particular episode, titled “Poverty, Politics and Profit,” took a look at the LIHTC program. After the airing, affordable housing industry...

Report Lists Cities with Biggest Shortage of LIHTC Apartments

May 31, 2017    

A recent report from MPF Research, the intelligence arm of RealPage, has found that Phoenix has the greatest mismatch between needy households and housing credits units. According to the data, Phoenix has just 6.08 housing credit units per 100 low-income households, ranking it the lowest out of...

HUD Releases Housing Credit Tenant Data Report

April 27, 2017    

HUD recently published “Understanding Whom the LIHTC Program Serves: Data on Tenants in LIHTC Units as of December 31, 2014.” The report provides demographic and economic data about LIHTC tenants, including race, ethnicity, family composition, age, income, use of rental assistance,...

HUD Issues 2017 Income Limits for HUD and Tax Credit Programs

April 27, 2017    

HUD recently announced the 2017 income limits for the MTSP housing programs effective April 14, 2017. This includes low-income housing tax credits and tax-exempt bond financing. HUD advises that the income limits are effective immediately for all HUD programs, whereas the IRS allows a transition...

NFHA Releases Annual Fair Housing Trends Report

April 27, 2017    

The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) recently released its annual report on fair housing trends. The report, entitled “The Case for Fair Housing: 2017 Fair Housing Trends Report,” includes the most recent data on reported instances of housing discrimination across the country....

Bill Introduced to Strengthen the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program

March 30, 2017    

Representative Pat Tiberi (R-OH-12) and Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard Neal (D-MA-1) recently introduced the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2017 (H.R. 1661). This is the companion legislation to S. 548, which Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Senate Finance...

Report Shows How Demand for Affordable Housing Explodes as Supply Constricts

March 30, 2017    

Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) recently released a report entitled “Meeting the Challenges of the Growing Affordable Housing Crisis.” The report details the exploding demand for affordable housing and the dramatic decrease in affordable units. It attributes the crisis to an increased...

Report Finds Room for Improvement in Promoting Access to Opportunity for Bay Area Developments

March 30, 2017    

The Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society at UC Berkeley recently released a study that comprehensively analyzes the administration of the LIHTC program in California by examining LIHTC developments in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Representative Ellison Introduces 'Common Sense Housing Investment Act'

February 27, 2017    

Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN) recently reintroduced legislation to end homelessness and housing poverty through tax reform. The bill calls for reducing the mortgage interest deduction to a flat 15 percent tax credit for the first $500,000 of debt. The legislation would gradually phase-out...

Report Shows Reduction in Segregation in Texas’ LIHTC Developments

February 27, 2017    

Texas Low Income Housing Information Service recently released a report titled “Fair Housing and Balanced Choices: Did Texas Reduce Government-Funded Segregation?” The report looked at the effect of a 2013 change in LIHTC award criteria on the location of LIHTC developments in the...