Topic: In the News

The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA) recently has approved $19.5 million in low-income housing tax credit reservations for the development of 20 affordable housing communities in suburban and rural areas across the state. This is the second cycle of awards in Pennsylvania this year. In March, PHFA announced $16.1 million in LIHTC reservations for 17 projects in the state’s urban centers.

For the past few years, rural designation for Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs was determined using population data from the 2000 census. Beginning on Oct. 1 of this year, current law would require the USDA to start using the 2010 census. This means that approximately 900 communities considered rural using the 2000 census would no longer qualify using 2010 data unless legislation is passed to extend a “grandfathering” clause that allows previously qualified areas to retain their rural status.

The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies recently released its annual “State of the Nation’s Housing” report. The report is intended to provide a periodic assessment of the nation’s housing outlook and summarizes important trends in the economics and demographics of housing.

The National Council of State Housing Agencies recently released its 2011 Factbook, a comprehensive survey of Housing Finance Agency (HFA) program activity. The report found that the states allocated $978 million in low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs)—$749.7 million from their annual state ceiling and $228.3 million to bond-financed properties—in 2011.Overall, these housing credits will help produce 87,918 affordable rental homes around the country. Other findings include:

On May 15, the Center for Housing Policy released a report on state housing policies that help remediate child poverty, promote family and residential stability for children, and help families access communities of opportunity that offer good schools and other amenities that make them especially good places to raise children.

A bipartisan group of House members from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut recently introduced legislation to provide temporary tax relief for victims of Hurricane Sandy. The Hurricane Sandy Tax Relief Act of 2013 (H.R. 2137), modeled after a similar bill passed into law in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, is aimed at providing tax relief for victims of Hurricane Sandy in areas designated as Federal Disaster Areas by the president.

Recently, a bipartisan group of 32 U.S. representatives from states affected by Hurricane Sandy, including New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, sent House Speaker John Boehner a letter urging tax relief for victims of Super Storm Sandy.

HUD recently issued a final rule to formalize the national standard for determining whether a housing practice violates federal fair housing law as the result of discriminatory effect.

On Feb. 5, the Treasury Department released the second quarter update to the 2012-2013 Priority Guidance Plan. The Treasury Department’s Office of Tax Policy and the IRS use the Guidance Priority List each year to identify and prioritize the tax issues that should be addressed through regulations, revenue rulings, revenue procedures, notices, and other published administrative guidance.

Recently, the IRS suspended certain requirements for qualified residential rental projects financed with tax-exempt bonds that are providing emergency housing for victims of Hurricane Sandy. IRS Notice 2013-9 temporarily suspends income limitations and the non-transient use requirement for the property. The IRS says Notice 2013-9 complements Notice 2012-68, which provides relief from certain requirements for residential rental projects financed with low-income housing tax credits.