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According to the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), there’s an estimated 1.125 million supportive housing units needed nationwide. In a recent report entitled “Optimizing Qualified Allocation Plans for Supportive Housing 2018–2019,” CSH pointed out that each year states have the opportunity to support vulnerable individuals by prioritizing the development of supportive housing—safe, stable, affordable units with access to wraparound ...

Two weeks after senators sent a letter asking IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig to issue a notice clarifying that affordable housing projects for veterans that comply with the LIHTC General Public Use criteria are also eligible for Private Activity Bonds (PABs), the IRS released Revenue Procedure 2019-17.

The Treasury Department recently issued the second quarter update to its 2018-19 Priority Guidance Plan. The plan details tax guidance the government intends to focus its efforts on in the coming months. As in prior years, the IRS updates the plan periodically to reflect additional guidance that it intends to publish. With this update, additions include plans to provide guidance for the low-income housing tax credit average-income test and guidance on private-activity b...

The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) recently released growth projections of homeowner and renter households in a report entitled, “Tenure Projections of Homeowner and Renter Households for 2018-2038.” JCHS projects that the U.S. will add between 2.1 million and 6.2 million renter households by 2028, and between 5.9 million and 10.3 million by 2038.

HUD Secretary Ben Carson recently announced a significant expansion of a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) pilot program that streamlines FHA mortgage insurance applications for affordable housing developments that have equity from the sale of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTCs).

The Senate recently confirmed Michael Desmond to be chief counsel at the IRS. Desmond, a California tax lawyer who formerly worked at the Treasury Department and in the Tax Division of the Justice Department, was confirmed as IRS chief counsel in a bipartisan vote of 83-15.

Texas State Rep. Eric Johnson recently announced that he plans to file anti-corruption legislation that would halt the practice of soliciting letters from elected officials supporting or opposing housing developments being considered for federal tax credits. The announcement comes after state officials there have faced criminal charges for their involvement in such projects.

A U.S. District Court in Texas recently dismissed a lawsuit by Inclusive Communities Project Inc. against the U.S. Department of Treasury and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The Treasury Department oversees the LIHTC program, and the OCC oversees the banks that make a significant percent of LIHTC investments.              

HUD recently submitted to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) proposed changes to its 2013 Disparate Impact Rule. HUD’s disparate impact rule was enacted by HUD during the Obama administration and is used as a way to enforce the Fair Housing Act. Under HUD’s rule, lenders, landlords, and other housing providers can be held liable for discrimination against protected classes even if it was not t...

Prosperity Now, a national nonprofit dedicated to expanding economic opportunity for low-income families and communities in the United States, recently released a report called the “2019 Prosperity Now Scorecard.” The Scorecard ranks states on 52 outcome measures across five issue areas on the financial situation of all residents.