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The former Miami-based Carlisle chief executive officer recently admitted to participating in a $30 million fraud scheme involving 10 low-income housing sites. Specifically, he pled guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit theft of government money, in connection with a scheme to steal government funds intended for the construction of low-income housing.
In response to a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) suggesting that a joint administration between the IRS and HUD would benefit the LIHTC program, LIHTC industry groups have opposed the GAO’s recommendations. The GAO report suggests that the IRS currently lacks appropriate resources to engage in more than minimal oversight of the program. It notes that, since 1986, the IRS has conducted seven audits of 56 state housing finance agencies (HFA) o...
Ten years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf Coast, Louisiana State University researchers have analyzed and documented the recovery effort for the state. Initial reports were recently released. Due to the unprecedented destruction of the 2005 storm season, recovery efforts traditionally supported by insurance and FEMA were supplemented by a unique set of programs funded through $13.4 billion of Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery fund...
When developers seek financial resources for affordable rental housing development, many combine funds generated through the LIHTC program offered by the IRS with housing block grant funds provided through the HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) program administered by HUD. For example, to establish affordable rents in many markets, a site’s rents may not adequately support sufficient conventional mortgage debt. The equity raised from the LIHTC may not be sufficie...
Recently, Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) released “State of the Nation’s Housing 2015,” which suggests that an expansion of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit is needed in order to respond to increasing pressures on the program.
Recently, the Senate Finance Committee led by Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) released reports from five bipartisan tax working groups. The groups were tasked earlier this year to examine and recommend changes to particular elements of the federal tax code.
On July 16, bipartisan bills were introduced in both the House and the Senate to provide tax relief to communities affected by natural disasters from 2012 to 2015. The legislation includes provisions to increase allocations of low-income housing tax credits and new market tax credits. The National Disaster Tax Relief Act would provide an increased LIHTC allocation equal to the higher of $8 per person in qualifying disaster areas or 50 percent of a state’s annual L...
A low-income housing tax credit’s value originally floated with interest rates, but the credit rate was temporarily fixed at 9 percent under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA), and this flat rate was again extended through Dec. 31, 2013 and 2014 under two additional legislative acts. The 9 percent minimum credit rate simplified the administration of the program and removed the financial uncertainty and risk associated with underwriting LIHTC-financed pro...
Recently, the J. Ronald Terwilliger Foundation for Housing America’s Families released The Silent Housing Crisis, a white paper documenting the significant housing challenges facing the country and making a call to action by the nation’s political leaders. The nonprofit organization seeks to bring housing policy issues to the forefront as the 2016 presidential race gets underway.
Faced with a shortage of affordable rental housing in Tennessee, the Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA) recently issued a new study on the state’s LIHTC program. THDA manages the program in Tennessee and allocates federal tax credits to qualifying projects according to state and federal priorities. The study looked at the 28-year history of the LIHTC program in Tennessee, its effectiveness, as well as areas of greatest opportunity in the near future.