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The National Low Income Housing Coalition recently released its annual report, The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes. Its analysis found that there are only 37 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 extremely low-income renter households nationwide. These renter households also are more likely to be severely housing cost-burdened, spending more than half of their incomes on rent and utilities. According to the report, 7.8 million, or 71 percent, of the na...

Six senators recently sent a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig requesting that he 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 recently released 2019 population figures indicating that the 2019 LIHTC ceiling and tax-exempt private activity bond (PAB) cap for all states will increase. From 2018–2019, the U.S. population increased by 1,448,256 people to 327,167,434 in total, representing a 0.4 percent gain. U.S. territories lost more than 140,000 people, a 3.8 percent decrease. The FY 2018 omnibus appropriations bill provided a 12.5 percent increase in LIHTC allocations from 2018&nd...

HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing Programs recently published a Housing Notice and related Mortgagee Letter that expands the use of an LIHTC pilot program into New Construction and Substantial Rehabilitation loan products under Sections 221(d)(4) and 220.

More than a year after the Missouri Housing Development Commission voted to freeze the state’s LIHTC program, the Missouri State Senate recently signaled initial approval to bring it back with a few changes. Senate Bill 28 would set the state’s cap on spending to a 72.5 percent match of the funding from the federal LIHTC program. Prior to the program’s freeze, the state tax credits were issued at a matching rate with the federal funds.

Several 2020 presidential candidates have introduced housing proposals. Three of the top Democratic contenders in 2020, Senators Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, and Elizabeth Warren, have already introduced major proposals in the Senate that would reshape affordable housing in America.

CoreLogic, a financial services company providing financial and property information analytics, recently released its 2018 Natural Hazard report. The report examines the impact of last year’s natural disasters on residential and commercial real estate. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), there were 11 weather and climate disaster events with losses exceeding $1 billion in the U.S. alone.

Since the government has been reopened temporarily, developers and property owners have been anticipating IRS guidance on the new Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ) provisions included in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The QOZ incentive provision allows taxpayers who recognize a gain from the sale of an asset (including non-real estate assets such as stocks or securities) to defer the tax on the gain by reinvesting the proceeds from the sale within 180 days into a QOF formed ...

The Boston University Initiative on Cities recently announced the results of its 2018 Menino Survey of Mayors, a nationally representative survey of mayoral thoughts and challenges on today’s top issues. According to the survey, which is based on interviews with a representative sample of 110 mayors from 37 states, municipal leaders believe that insufficient living-wage jobs (32 percent) and high housing costs (27 percent) are the top two obstacles to achieving so...

The IRS Chief Counsel is appointed by the President of the United States, with the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate, and serves as the chief legal advisor to the IRS Commissioner on all matters pertaining to the interpretation, administration, and enforcement of the Internal Revenue Code, as well as all other legal matters. Under the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, the Chief Counsel reports to both the IRS Commissioner and the Treasury General Counsel.