Some HUD Programs Cut in Final FY24 Spending Bill, But Vouchers Fully Funded

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Some Department of Housing and Urban Development programs will receive increased funding in FY24 under the final minibus appropriations bill released by congressional leaders on March 3. The bill is expected to pass before funding for several agencies, including HUD, runs out on March 8. Fiscal year 2024 began on October 1, 2023.

— HAC’s analysis of FY24 appropriations for USDA housing programs is available here. —

The bill raises funding levels for HUD’s tenant-based and project-based voucher programs, providing enough to renew all expiring vouchers and fund additional vouchers. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities had estimated the House and Senate bills’ figures for tenant-based Housing Choice Vouchers would end that support for 80,000-112,000 families. Instead, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the final bill will enable HUD to renew those vouchers and add 3,000 more.

Native American housing receives an increase from $1.02 million in FY23 to $1.344 million this year. Homeless assistance funding is higher as well. A few programs, like Community Development Block Grants and fair housing, receive the same funding as in FY23. Others, including HOME, SHOP, Sections 202 and 811, and healthy homes, will have lower funding this year than last. The new PRICE manufactured housing preservation program drops from $225 million in FY23 to $10 million in FY24, but it had seemed likely to get no funding at all.

This agreement on funding for FY24 – which started on October 1, 2023 – comes just one week before the President’s budget for FY25 will be released, kicking off the process of determining funding for next year.

HUD Program (dollars in millions) FY23 Final Approp. FY24 Admin. Budget FY24 House Bill
H.R. 4820		 FY24 Senate Bill
H.R. 4366 		FY24 Final
CDBG $3,300* $3,300 $3,300 $3,300 $3,300
HOME 1,500 1,800 500 1,500 1,250
PRICE Manuf. Hsg. Preserv. 225 0 20 0 10
Self-Help Homeownshp. (SHOP) 13.5 10 10 13.5 12
Veterans Home Rehab 1 4 1 0 0
Rural Cap’y Bldg (RCB) 6 5 7 6 6
Tenant-Based Rental Asstnce. 27,600 32,703 31,132 31,738 32,387
    VASH setaside 50 0 ** 30 15
    Tribal VASH 7.5 5 5 7.5 7.5
     Replacemts. for 521 RA – 20*** – – –
Project-Based Rental Asstnce. 13,938 15,904 15,820 15,790 15,610
Public Hsg. Capital Fund 3,200 3,225 3,235 3,200 3,410
Public Hsg. Operating Fund 5,109 5,133 5,128 5,530 5,501
Choice Neighbrhd. Initiative 350 185 0 150 75
Native Amer. Hsg. 1,020 1,053 1,344 1,082 1,344
Homeless Assistance Grants 3,633 3,749 3,729 3,908 4,051
Hsg. Opps. for Persons w/ AIDS 499 505 505 505 505
202 Hsg. for Elderly 1,075 1,023 913 1,075 913
811 Hsg. for Disabled 360 356 208 360 208
Fair Housing 86 90 85 86 86.4
Healthy Homes & Lead Haz. Cntl. 410 410 345 350 345
Housing Counseling 57.5 66 57.5 57.5 57.5

* This table does not show amounts for Community Projects/Congressionally Directed Spending (popularly known as “earmarks”), which were included in the CDBG account beginning in FY22.

** The bill does not specify an amount for HUD-VASH vouchers but the National Low Income Housing Coalition reports that the broader Tenant-Based Rental Assistance funding in the bill will cover those renewals.

*** This $20 million request is explained in HAC’s summary of the USDA rural housing budget proposal.

 

Senate Minibus Includes HUD and USDA

On November 1, 2024, the Senate passed a “minibus,“ H.R. 4366, that includes funding for USDA, Transportation-HUD, and Military Construction-VA.

Senate Funding Bill Supports Most HUD Programs

On July 21, 2023, the Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously approved a bill to fund HUD for fiscal year 2024. Like the House bill, the Senate’s version maintains aid for tenants. It holds many other programs at their FY23 funding levels, rejecting the House’s proposed cuts to HOME, Section 202 elderly housing, Section 811 housing for people with disabilities, and the Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP). It includes no funding, however, for the new Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative for Community Enhancement (PRICE) program for preservation of manufactured housing.

House FY24 Funding Bill Supports Tenants, Cuts HOME

The House Transportation-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee approved an FY24 spending bill on July 12 that would maintain funding for tenant vouchers, public housing, and Native American housing programs but would cut programs including HOME, Section 202 elderly housing, Section 811 housing for people with disabilities, and the Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP).

HOME would be most drastically impacted, with its funding cut by two-thirds, from $1.5 billion in FY23 to $500 million in FY24. SHOP would fall back to the $10 million funding level it had for several years before being increased to $13.5 million in FY23. The Choice Neighborhoods Program would be eliminated and the new Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative for Community Enhancement (PRICE) program for preservation of manufactured housing would be cut from $225 million in FY23 to $20 million in FY24.

The bill would rescind $564 million appropriated in past years for the Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes programs but not yet spent.

The bill also proposes to block HUD’s February 9, 2023, Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) proposed regulations and HUD’s ability to require specific changes to existing zoning laws under its June 10, 2021 AFFH interim final rule.

The Senate has not yet released its FY24 Transportation-HUD appropriations bill, but its version is likely to be substantially different from the House’s proposal.

HUD Budget Proposes to Shrink Small Programs, Expand Support for Others

March 13, 2023 — The administration’s budget for fiscal year 2024 requests funding increases in many HUD programs and calls for legislation expanding support to far more tenants and homebuyers. At the same time, however, the budget would cut some of HUD’s smallest programs, including two that are particularly important for rural residents: the Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP) and the Rural Capacity Building (RCB) program. Details are provided in the table below.

HAC presented a webinar on “Rural Housing in the Fiscal Year 2024 White House Budget” on Wednesday, March 15. Watch the recording and view the slides here.

Two Steps Back for Rural Places and Native Americans

SHOP and RCB both saw small increases from FY22 to FY23, but the administration’s budget would roll those back for FY24. SHOP grew from $12.5 million in FY22 to $13.5 million in FY23 and would get only $10 million under the budget request. RCB received $6 million for the current year, but the budget would reduce it to its FY23 level of $5 million.

The administration requests no funding for manufactured housing grants through the Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative for Community Enhancement (PRICE), which was created in the FY23 omnibus appropriations bill.

The pool of funding that covers most of HUD’s Native American housing efforts would be increased from $1.02 billion in FY23 to $1.053 billion. But the much smaller Section 184 loan guarantee program, which has $5.5 million in FY23, would be cut to less than one-fifth of that, $905,700. At the same time, the budget asks Congress to expand Section 184, making it available to all Tribal members regardless of where they purchase a home.

Support for Renters

The budget proposes to create new, substantial assistance for tenants through mandatory spending proposals. These efforts, which would not be funded through the annual appropriations process, would need to be approved separately by Congress. That is extremely unlikely to happen in the current political climate.

Proposed mandatory spending would include:

  • $9 billion to provide vouchers for all youth aging out of foster care annually;
  • $13 billion for the estimated 450,000 extremely low-income veteran families
  • $7.5 billion for new Project-Based Rental Assistance contracts for extremely low-income households;
  • $7.5 billion to modernize public housing; and
  • $3 billion for competitive grants to states and localities for eviction reduction efforts such as emergency rental assistance and access to legal counsel.

The budget also proposes to extend assistance to tenants through some existing programs:

  • $565 million for new incremental vouchers for 50,000 additional households, specifically including those who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness or fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence or similar violence; and
  • $300 million for capital investments in public housing.

The budget proposals for the Treasury Department would expand the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, as well as the New Markets Tax Credit.

Homeowner Aid and Removing Barriers

The administration’s budget calls for $10 billion in mandatory funding for a new First-Generation Down Payment Assistance program to help address racial and ethnic homeownership and wealth gaps. Homeowner assistance would also be supported by $100 million to states and territories through the existing HOME program. HOME’s funding would increase from $1.5 billion in FY23 to $1.8 billion in FY24.

The Community Development Block Grant program would again receive $3.3 billion, including $85 million to continue the “Yes In My Back Yard” or YIMBY program created in FY23 for removing regulatory barriers to housing production and preservation.

 

HUD Program(dollars in millions) FY22 Final Approp. FY23 Final Approp. FY24 Admin. Budget
CDBG $3,300* $3,300* $3,300
HOME 1,500 1,500 1,800
Self-Help Homeownshp. (SHOP) 12.5 13.5 10
Veterans Home Rehab 4 1 4
Tenant-Based Rental Asstnce. 27,370 27,600 32,703
    VASH setaside 50 50 0
    Tribal VASH 5 7.5 5
    Replacemts. for 521 RA – – 20**
Project-Based Rental Asstnce. 13,940 13,938 15,904
Public Hsg. Capital Fund 3,388 3,200 3,225
Public Hsg. Operating Fund 5,064 5,109 5,133
Choice Neighbrhd. Initiative 350 350 185
Native Amer. Hsg. 1,002 1,020 1,053
Homeless Assistance Grants 3,213 3,633 3,749
Hsg. Opps. for Persons w/ AIDS 450 499 505
202 Hsg. for Elderly 1,033 1,075 1,023
811 Hsg. for Disabled 352 360 356
Fair Housing 85 86 90
Healthy Homes & Lead Haz. Cntl. 415 410 410
Housing Counseling 57.5 57.5 66
Rural Capacity Bldg 5 6 5

* Substantial increases in CDBG funding for FY22 and FY23 was driven nearly entirely by the return, after a 10-year absence, of $1.5 billion for the Economic Development Initiative for the purpose of funding Community Projects/Congressionally Directed Spending (popularly known as “earmarks”). In FY23, just under $3 billion is added for earmarks. These figures are not included in the table.

** This $20 million request is explained in HAC’s summary of the USDA rural housing budget proposal.

HAC News: February 29, 2024

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Vol. 53, No. 5

TOP STORIES

Congressional leaders agree on FY24 USDA and HUD funding

On February 28, with funding for USDA, HUD, and some other federal agencies scheduled to end at midnight on March 1, congressional leaders announced they have reached agreements on several appropriations bills, including the bills covering USDA and HUD. Congress is expected to pass another continuing resolution extending funding for these agencies to March 8 and for the rest of the government to March 22. When the text of the bills, providing the funding levels for each program, are available, HAC will update our web pages on USDA and HUD funding.

USDA Equity Commission releases final report

USDA’s Equity Commission released its final report on February 22, strongly urging USDA to prioritize and invest in housing. It offers several recommendations related to housing and community facilities programs and to the operations of the Rural Development mission area. Shonterria Charleston, HAC’s Director of Training and Technical Assistance, served on the commission’s Rural Community Economic Development Subcommittee.

Senate confirms Gooden as RD Under Secretary

On February 26, the full Senate approved President Biden’s nomination of Basil Gooden as USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development. Gooden, who has been USDA RD’s Director of State Operations since 2021, has also served in the Virginia state government’s agriculture and housing offices and as RD’s State Director for Virginia.

RuralSTAT

Over 85% of Black rural Americans reside in the Southern region of the United States. Source: Housing Assistance Council tabulations of the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 Redistricting Data-P.L. 94-171. To learn more about race and ethnicity in rural America visit HAC’s Taking Stock report.

OPPORTUNITIES

HUD’s new manufactured housing program opens

The Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative for Community Enhancement (PRICE) supports efforts to maintain, protect, and stabilize manufactured housing and manufactured housing communities. Eligible applicants include nonprofits, local and state governments, Tribes and Tribally Designated Housing Entities, multi-jurisdictional entities, resident-controlled manufactured housing communities, cooperatives, CDFIs, and Native CDFIs. The application process includes publishing for public comment and holding at least one public hearing. The deadline is June 5. For more information, email PRICE@HUD.gov.

Section 202 funds offered to develop supportive housing for the elderly

Nonprofits are eligible for HUD Section 202 capital advance funds to develop supportive rental housing for very low-income people age 62 or older, as well as project rental assistance contracts. The program can also support the development of intergenerational housing for elderly caregivers raising children. Applications are due June 20. For more information, email 202CapitalAdvanceNOFO@hud.gov.

ConnectHomeUSA broadband program expands further, extends deadline

Continuum of Care and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS grantees are now eligible for HUD’s ConnectHomeUSA demonstration program, which is intended to accelerate broadband internet adoption and use in HUD-assisted housing. PHAs, Tribes, and owners or operators of HUD-aided rental housing remain eligible. The deadline for all applicants has been extended to April 12. For more information, contact Dina Lehmann-Kim, HUD, 202-402-2430.

ReConnect broadband program to open in March

The application period for USDA’s Rural eConnectivity (ReConnect) program will be open from March 22 through May 21. Nonprofits, for-profits, coops, and state, Tribal, territorial, or local governments are eligible for loans and grants for construction, improvement, or acquisition of facilities and equipment needed to provide broadband service. For more information, contact Laurel Leverrier, USDA, 202-720-9554.

REGULATIONS AND FEDERAL AGENCIES

Housing Trust Fund and Capital Magnet Fund amounts drop again

These resources, which provide affordable housing financing through states and CDFIs, respectively, receive funding based on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac business in the previous year. The Federal Housing Finance Administration announced on February 28 that, because the housing market slowed in 2023, the Housing Trust Fund will receive $196 million this year, compared to $354 million one year ago and $740 million in 2022. The Capital Magnet Fund will have $105 million this year, compared to $191 million in 2023 and $398 million in 2022.

USDA tenant data released

USDA has published annual data for tenants living in Section 515 rental or Section 514 farmworker housing. As of October 2023, the average income for all Section 515 households is $16,047. Almost 76% of Section 515 households receive Section 521 Rental Assistance; their average income is $13,696. As has been the case for many years, about two-thirds of the units are occupied by individuals who identify as elderly or disabled. Demographic and economic data for the portfolio are aggregated by state as well as at the national level.

HUD extends a HOTMA deadline for multifamily owners

Owners of HUD-assisted multifamily housing are required to update their Tenant Selection Plans and Enterprise Income Verification Policies and Procedures to comply with the income and asset requirements of the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act. Their deadline is now May 31 rather than March 31. For more information, email MFH_HOTMA@hud.gov.

GAO recommends tailored outreach strategies after rural disasters

The Small Business Administration’s Disaster Loan Program helps homeowners, renters, and nonprofits, as well as businesses, to recover after disasters. The Government Accountability Office reports in Small Business Administration: Targeted Outreach about Disaster Assistance Could Benefit Rural Communities that rural communities’ characteristics, such as telecommunications limitations or lack of capacity to support recovery activities, may make it harder for them to access resources. GAO recommends that SBA distinguish between rural and urban places in its outreach and marketing plan and incorporate actions to mitigate rural challenges in accessing the Disaster Loan Program.

EVENTS

HAC will offer FY25 budget webinar on March 13

Join HAC’s expert staff on Wednesday, March 13 at noon Eastern to learn about the housing portions of President Biden’s budget for FY25. The budget request, set for release on March 11, will launch the process of preparing funding bills for the year that begins on October 1, 2024. Webinar registration information will be posted here when available.

HUD to hold webinar on local government innovation

How Local Governments Innovate to Meet Community Housing Needs will be held on March 21, both in-person in Washington, DC and online. Panelists will discuss a range of innovative housing production models at both the city and state levels.

PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA

HUD examines impact of using national median income for places outside metro areas

Examining Increases in HUD Income Limits in Low-Income States, a HUD report requested by Congress, considers the effect of using the national median income for places outside metropolitan areas to determine eligibility for HUD rental programs. The study concludes that in states with low median incomes outside metro areas, using the national level would make more households eligible for aid. It notes, however, that that would simply mean program waitlists would grow longer because the programs are not able to serve more people.

Racial wealth inequality increasing

Racial and Ethnic Wealth Inequality in the Post-Pandemic Era, a blog post from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, reports that Black wealth is now less than it was at the beginning of 2019. By the third quarter of 2023, White wealth increased to $112.8 trillion, Hispanic wealth rose to $3.1 trillion, and Black wealth fell to $4.7 trillion. Real estate comprises 25% of Black wealth, 40% of Hispanic wealth, and 20% of white wealth.

Briefs suggest strategies and resources for equitable resilience

HUD has published a set of briefs offering strategies and resources on resilience strategies to be used in the immediate wake of a disaster. The briefs cover three themes: communicating early and often, identifying and assisting key populations, and reaching impacted residents.

Annual advocates’ guide released

The National Low Income Housing Coalition has published Advocates’ Guide 2024: A Primer on Federal Affordable Housing and Community Development Programs and Policies, a comprehensive resource about the programs and policies that make housing affordable to low-income people across America.

Substandard housing for immigrant dairy workers described

Dairy workers are excluded from many legal protections and often live in poor quality housing, ProPublica reports in Immigrant Dairy Workers Often Endure Substandard Housing Conditions. The Law Doesn’t Protect Them. The news organization has investigated conditions for undocumented immigrants on dairy farms in Wisconsin, finding their homes are often unsafe, unhealthy, and overcrowded. These conditions are reported in other states as well, the article says.

HAC

HAC is hiring – more new listings!

HAC job listings, each with application instructions, are available on our website.

Need capital for your affordable housing project?

HAC’s loan fund provides low interest rate loans to support single- and multifamily affordable housing projects for low-income rural residents throughout the U.S. and territories. Capital is available for all types of affordable and mixed-income housing projects, including preservation, new development, farmworker, senior and veteran housing. HAC loan funds can be used for pre-development, site acquisition, site development, construction/rehabilitation and permanent financing. Contact HAC’s loan fund staff at hacloanfund@ruralhome.org, 202-842-8600.

Please note: HAC is not able to offer loans to individuals or families. Borrowers must be nonprofit or for-profit organizations or government entities (including Tribes).

HAC’s office has moved

HAC’s new street address, effective on January 1, 2024, is 1828 L Street, N.W., Suite 505, Washington, DC 20036. Our phone number remains 202-842-8600.

Want to reprint a HAC News item?

Please credit the HAC News and provide a link to HAC’s website. Thank you!

 

Key Strategies and Resources for Equitable Resilience

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HUD Releases Collection of Briefs 

These strategies and resources will serve as an introductory packet of information for communities in the immediate wake of a disaster, to alert and inform them on important elements of post-disaster resilience strategies that research has shown are often overlooked or less understood at the outset.

The goal is to bring awareness to these topics early in the post-disaster recovery process, so funding and communication plans can incorporate them from the beginning, leading to better and more equitable resilience outcomes. The following briefs are meant to facilitate initial program design, with emphasis on informing and engaging leaders in early planning.

The briefs are broken down into three themes:

  • Communication early and often
  • Identifying and assisting key populations
  • Reaching impacted residents

To access the briefs, please visit HUD Exchange.

 

HAC News: February 15, 2024

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Vol. 53, No. 4

TOP STORIES

USDA and HUD funding now set to end March 1

The current continuing resolution, which holds most federal programs at FY23 funding levels, will end for some parts of the government, including USDA and HUD, on March 1, and for others on March 8. The funding totals available for individual agencies and programs for FY24, which began on October 1, 2023, are still being negotiated. Once again, Congress could enact individual appropriations bills, minibuses, an omnibus, another short-term continuing resolution, or a CR that covers the remainder of the fiscal year, or it could allow all or part of the federal government to close.

FY25 budget will be released March 11, HAC schedules webinar

On March 11, the Biden Administration will release its budget for FY25, beginning the process of preparing funding bills for the year that begins on October 1, 2024. HAC will post information about the budget request on March 11 and will hold its annual budget webinar on March 13. Webinar registration information will be posted here when available.

Banking groups sue to halt new Community Reinvestment Act rule

The American Bankers Association, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Texas Bankers Association, Independent Community Bankers of America, Independent Bankers Association of Texas, Amarillo Chamber of Commerce, and Longview Chamber of Commerce filed suit in federal court in Texas to vacate the recently released CRA rule. HAC’s preliminary analysis of the regulations noted some ways in which the CRA rule would likely benefit rural places. Some consumer-focused organizations have criticized the lawsuit.

RuralSTAT

In 2023 there were 89,200 shipments of new manufactured homes in the United States – a decline of 21% from 2022. Source: HAC Tabulations of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Manufactured Housing Survey data.

OPPORTUNITIES

Some USDA RD programs include community planning setasides

USDA Rural Development’s Strategic Economic and Community Development program is intended for projects that support multi-jurisdictional and multi-sectoral strategic community investment plans. Applicants may request the SECD setaside funds when applying for Community Facilities loans, grants, and guaranteed loans; Water and Waste Disposal guaranteed loans; Water and Waste loans and grants; and Rural Business Development Grants. The programs’ application deadlines vary. For more information, contact Gregory Batson, USDA, gregory.batson@usda.gov.

REGULATIONS AND FEDERAL AGENCIES

HAC requests input as HUD seeks information on Buy America housing construction materials

Saying it needs better information in order to apply Build America, Buy America Act requirements, HUD is asking for comments on the domestic availability of iron, steel, construction materials, and manufactured products commonly used in HUD-assisted housing programs and infrastructure projects. HAC would like to know whether rural affordable housing providers can obtain this information and what guidance from HUD and USDA would be useful. To help HAC develop its response, please contact Leslie Strauss by February 29. HUD will hold a webinar on February 22 about this request. Responses to HUD are due April 15. For more information, contact Faith Rogers, HUD, 202-402-7082, or email BuildAmericaBuyAmerica@hud.gov.

HUD revises HOTMA income and asset calculation notice

HUD explains that the revised version of its HOTMA Implementation Notice (Notice H 2023-10/PIH 2023-27) provides updates, clarifications, and corrections based on industry feedback.

Duty to Serve modifications approved

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has accepted Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s modifications to their 2022-2024 Duty to Serve Plans. Both Enterprises cut a variety of their loan purchase goals in rural areas, citing market conditions as justification. HAC opposed these cuts in recent comments on the proposed modifications. Both Enterprises added modest updates to their goals around Native American housing, and Fannie Mae also added a variety of new goals around manufactured housing. Freddie Mac removed its USDA Section 515 purchase goal from the Preservation section of its plan but maintained the same goal in its Rural section. The Underserved Mortgage Markets Coalition, an alliance of leading U.S. housing organizations including HAC, has released a blueprint for the Duty to Serve plans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac must develop for 2025-2027.

Agencies update equity plans

USDA and HUD were among the federal agencies that released updated equity plans on February 14. These revisions are based on plans first presented in April 2022.

Data changes to be proposed

The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey will retain current questions about disability while the agency continues to work on revised disability questions after receiving thousands of comments responding to an October proposal. This spring, Census will propose changes on other topics, including adding new questions on sewage disposal, and will again accept public comments.

Federal accelerator supports state housing and service strategies

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and HUD selected eight states (AZ, CA, HI, MD, MA, MN, NC, and WA) and the District of Columbia to participate in a new federal Housing and Services Partnership Accelerator. The states and DC will receive technical assistance and support to accelerate innovative strategies to provide housing-related activities and supports to persons with disabilities and/or older adults who are experiencing or are at risk of experiencing homelessness.

Advisory council encourages use of historic buildings for housing

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the federal agency that writes regulations for historic preservation reviews of federally funded projects including housing, has adopted a policy statement on housing and historic preservation. The document acknowledges the U.S. housing shortage and states, “It is the policy of the ACHP to encourage and accelerate rehabilitation of historic buildings for housing and to assist in harmonizing historic preservation and housing goals.” For more information, contact Druscilla Null, ACHP, 202-517-1487.

HUD changes Native Hawaiian block grant rental regulation

After issuing a proposed rule in January 2023, HUD has now adopted a final rule revising the rental housing assistance provisions of its Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant program. For more information, contact Claudine Allen, HUD, 808-457-4674.

PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA

Rural definitions shape housing research

In a new working paper, In Search of Rural: How Varying Definitions Shape Housing Research, Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies examines 11 distinct definitions of rural to see how estimates of the size of the rural housing market, as well as the demographic composition and the nature of its housing challenges, vary depending on the definition chosen. The paper includes HAC’s rural definition.

New study highlights economic disparities for Black residents in every U.S. geography

The State of Black Residents: The Relevance of Place to Racial Equity and Outcomes reports that it will take 300 years for Black residents to achieve parity with White residents at the current rate of progress. Rural areas, particularly distressed rural areas, are the geography that comes closest to parity, because outcomes there are poor for residents of all races. McKinsey Institute for Black Economic Mobility researchers state that addressing the affordable housing crisis is a primary solution to achieving progress that will yield parity.

Story offers an example of homelessness in rural Texas

By following the journey of a 17-year-old, a story in the Texas Tribune highlights the particular challenges homeless teens face in rural communities.

Native nations building broadband

Native Nations with Scarce Internet are Building Their Own Broadband Networks, published by Stateline, describes the work underway by some Tribes to provide fast internet access for their residents, using resources such as federal economic recovery funds. The article notes that finding workers can be one of the many challenges involved, partly because there is a shortage of housing for them.

Affordable housing can meet building performance standards to reduce greenhouse gases or energy use

Some state and local governments have adopted building standards that require buildings to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, or both. A new ACEEE report, Nobody Left Behind: Preliminary Review of Strategies to Support Affordable Housing Compliance with Building Performance Standards, identifies tactics that local governments, community-based organizations, energy utilities, and other stakeholders can use to support affordable housing properties and their residents during the design and implementation of these building performance standards.

HAC

HAC is hiring – many new listings!

HAC job listings, each with application instructions, are available on our website.

Need capital for your affordable housing project?

HAC’s loan fund provides low interest rate loans to support single- and multifamily affordable housing projects for low-income rural residents throughout the U.S. and territories. Capital is available for all types of affordable and mixed-income housing projects, including preservation, new development, farmworker, senior and veteran housing. HAC loan funds can be used for pre-development, site acquisition, site development, construction/rehabilitation and permanent financing. Contact HAC’s loan fund staff at hacloanfund@ruralhome.org, 202-842-8600.

Please note: HAC is not able to offer loans to individuals or families. Borrowers must be nonprofit or for-profit organizations or government entities (including Tribes).

HAC’s office has moved

HAC’s new street address, effective on January 1, 2024, is 1828 L Street, N.W., Suite 505, Washington, DC 20036. Our phone number remains 202-842-8600.

Want to reprint a HAC News item?

Please credit the HAC News and provide a link to HAC’s website. Thank you!

 

HAC News: February 1, 2024

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Vol. 53, No. 3

TOP STORIES

Appropriations take one step forward

Top legislators in the House and Senate have reportedly reached agreement on the 302(b) spending totals for the FY24 appropriations bills. They have not announced the amounts publicly, so it is not known how well last year’s bills fit within these caps. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities calculates that because of cost increases, largely caused by higher rents, 112,000 HUD Housing Choice Vouchers would not be renewed under the House’s bill, or 80,000 under the Senate’s. CBPP’s analysis includes breakdowns of the shortfall by state, by race and ethnicity, and by other demographic factors.

Tax bill passes House

On January 31 the House approved the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 (H.R. 7024), the tax bill that includes support for the Low Income Housing Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit. The bill now moves to the Senate.

Half of all U.S. renters are cost burdened

An all-time high of 22.4 million U.S. renter households paid more than 30% of income for housing in 2022, a 50% cost burden rate, according to America’s Rental Housing 2024, a yearly report from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. In rural areas, 40% of all renters and 72% of those with the lowest incomes were cost burdened. At the same time, the study points out, the numbers of affordable rental units are falling and a record high number of people are experiencing homelessness.

HAC releases major heirs’ property study

HAC, in partnership with Fannie Mae, developed an approach to estimate the prevalence of heirs’ properties throughout the United States. A Methodological Approach to Estimate Residential Heirs’ Property in the United States presents the first national approximation of heirs’ property specifically focused on residential parcels. Slightly over 500,000 properties were identified as potential heirs’ properties in 44 states and the District of Columbia, with nearly two thirds (64.6%) located in rural areas. The conservative estimated assessed value of these properties is $32.3 billion.

February is Black History Month

The 2024 theme for the month is African Americans and the Arts.

RuralSTAT

Cost burden rates are higher for rural renters than owners. In 2021, 23.4% of rural renters paid between 30% and 50% of their income for their housing, and an additional 21.5% paid more than 50% of income. Source: HAC tabulations of the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2021 American Community Survey.

OPPORTUNITIES

Innovative solutions to homelessness to be funded in some states

The Citi Foundation’s Global Innovation Challenge invites proposals from nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status either piloting or scaling a solution that directly impacts the lives of individuals, families, and communities at risk of or experiencing homelessness in a geographic area where Citi has a presence. In the U.S., work impacting California, Florida, Illinois, New York, or Washington, DC is eligible. Each award will be $500,000 for a two-year period. Register by February 13 and apply by February 29.

NEA offers funding to help strengthen arts and culture projects

Grants for Arts Projects funding from the National Endowment for the Arts is offered to organizations with programming that supports the arts, design, and community engagement. Projects can range in size and stage. Grants range from $10,000 to $100,000. Initial applications are due February 15; there will be another funding round with a July deadline. Information contacts vary.

REGULATIONS AND FEDERAL AGENCIES

FEMA aims to make Individual Assistance more equitable

An interim final rule amends the regulations governing FEMA’s Individual Assistance program to increase equity by simplifying processes, removing barriers to entry, and increasing eligibility for certain types of assistance under the program including home repairs, continued temporary housing assistance, utility and security deposit payments, lease and repair of multifamily rental housing, and more. This rule is effective for emergencies and major disasters declared on or after March 22, 2024. Comments are due July 22. For more information, contact Kristina McAlister, FEMA, 866-826-8751.

Disaster rebuilding programs to support energy efficiency

On January 30, FEMA announced that net-zero energy projects, including solar, heat pumps, and efficient appliances, will be eligible for its Public Assistance and Hazard Mitigation Grant Programs. These programs help state, Tribal, territorial, and local governments, as well as some types of nonprofits, to rebuild community infrastructure and mitigate future disaster losses. Financial assistance for unobligated projects for any federal disaster declared after August 16, 2022 can be used for these purposes. Also, FEMA’s 2023 Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities funding announcement, which closes February 29, offers incentives for use of net-zero and clean energy approaches. For more information, work with a point of contact for your FEMA region or email FEMA-IRA-Implementation@fema.dhs.gov or fema-climate@fema.dhs.gov.

USDA issues guidance on tenant preferences

When funds such as Low-Income Housing Tax Credits are used to revitalize a Section 515 or 514/516 property, owners may be required to set aside a number of units with a preference for a certain population. New USDA RD guidance explains the agency’s conditions for accepting such a set-aside or preference. For more information contact Deb Reed, USDA, 712-254-4365.

HUD updates list of excluded income

Updating a notice published in 2014, HUD lists sources of income specifically excluded by federal statutes from consideration as income for purposes of determining eligibility or benefits in a HUD program. It adds new exclusions and removes ones that are now codified in HUD regulations.

EVENTS

Webinar to cover heirs’ property and its consequences

Untangling Heirs’ Property: Navigating the Impact on Homeownership and Wealth Equity will be offered on February 28 by Rural LISC, featuring experts from HAC and elsewhere. Speakers will provide insight into the intricate nature of heirs’ property, its impact on homeownership, the broader consequences for wealth accumulation, and potential solutions to apply in your community. This is the latest installment of “Raising the Roof,” a webinar series dedicated to sharing innovations, trends, and best practices in rural housing.

PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA

Report describes “brutal cost” of Native communities’ lack of financial services

“Native people are all but severed from the financial infrastructure upon which this country runs,” reports the National Community Reinvestment Coalition in Redlining the Reservation: The Brutal Cost of Financial Services Inaccessibility in Native Communities. The study analyzed census tracts that overlap tribal territories in Arizona and New Mexico, home to about 300,000 of the 5 million Americans living on Tribal lands nationwide. It found that traditional mortgage lending is failing there, half of all home purchase loans on Tribal lands are used to purchase manufactured homes, Tribal lands receive less than one cent for each dollar loaned to small businesses in Arizona and New Mexico, and Tribal areas have higher quantified financial need than other rural areas. It recommends loan capital be routed through Native CDFIs. One of the report’s authors, Dave Castillo, is CEO of Native Community Capital and a member of HAC’s board of directors. NCRC will hold a webinar about the report on February 20.

Manufactured housing could offer first-time homeownership

A new report from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, A Review of Barriers to Greater Use of Manufactured Housing for Entry-Level Homeownership, cites factors including negative perceptions of the quality of manufactured housing, market conditions, zoning and land use regulations, and access to mortgage financing. The authors suggest multipronged solutions are needed.

Repetitive flooding increasing, local data available

Losing Ground: Severe Repetitive Flooding in the United States, an updated data dashboard and analysis from the Natural Resources Defense Council, focuses on the challenges posed by increasing and repeated flooding. Low-income communities and communities of color bear the brunt of flooding impacts and have the least access to the necessary resources and support, NRDC reports. It recommends comprehensive reform of the National Flood Insurance Program, as well as mitigating flood risk for repeatedly flooded properties by, for example, elevating the buildings or helping the residents relocate. The dashboard shows the number of these properties in each state and NFIP participating community, as well as trends over time including how many of these properties were mitigated and how many dropped insurance without mitigation.

HAC

HAC is hiring

Need capital for your affordable housing project?

HAC’s loan fund provides low interest rate loans to support single- and multifamily affordable housing projects for low-income rural residents throughout the U.S. and territories. Capital is available for all types of affordable and mixed-income housing projects, including preservation, new development, farmworker, senior and veteran housing. HAC loan funds can be used for pre-development, site acquisition, site development, construction/rehabilitation and permanent financing. Contact HAC’s loan fund staff at hacloanfund@ruralhome.org, 202-842-8600.

Please note: HAC is not able to offer loans to individuals or families. Borrowers must be nonprofit or for-profit organizations or government entities (including tribes).

HAC’s office has moved

HAC’s new street address, effective on January 1, 2024, is 1828 L Street, N.W., Suite 505, Washington, DC 20036. Our phone number remains 202-842-8600.

Want to reprint a HAC News item?

Please credit the HAC News and provide a link to HAC’s website. Thank you!

Reflections from long-time board members

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For over fifty years, the Housing Assistance Council has empowered rural communities with the resources they need to overcome their greatest housing challenges. That entire time, HAC’s Board of Directors has guided our approach and kept us true to our mission. Our board members have always represented the communities we work with across the country. The expertise they bring has proven invaluable time and time again.

At the National Rural Housing Conference in October 2023, we honored two long-time board members by presenting them with Rural Housing Service Awards as thanks for their combined 66 years of service to HAC. As they transitioned off the board, we asked Maria Luisa Mercado and Gideon Anders to reflect on the past, present, and future of HAC.

Maria Luisa Mercado, Lone Star Legal Aid

Galveston, Texas

Thirty-six years ago, when she was working as an assistant attorney general for consumer protection in Lubbock, Maria Luisa got a call from a colleague who said she’d be an ideal board member at HAC. For Maria Luisa, who grew up as a farmworker, “serving on a housing board, especially one with a rural focus, was really exciting.”

Housing is the core of what HAC does, but she explains that the real goal has always been to serve people and communities. After all, she says “if you can stabilize someone’s housing, you can change their life.” Staying true to this mission has been the core of HAC’s success, she argues. Over the last three decades, Maria Luisa has visited many of the communities with which HAC works, and the impact of our work is always clear. “You can concretely see the results: changing the life of someone,” she notes.

Looking to the future, Maria Luisa believes the defining challenge of the next few decades will be developing novel ways of encouraging the development of new affordable housing groups. As we expand the communities that we serve and develop new partners, building their capacity to make the most of the resources available to them will be crucial. She imagines a future in which HAC has expanded from a focus on housing to include community development and building the capacity of local communities and governments to access state and federal resources.

HAC has always been at the forefront of efforts to support rural communities’ housing and to bring attention to overlooked rural places. “It matters because rural America,” says Maria Luisa “if no one pays attention, is isolated from services.” And those services, like housing investment, are what any community needs to thrive. After more than five decades of serving rural America, Maria Luisa is proud to say that “HAC is still standing.”

Gideon Anders, Retired (formerly National Housing Law Project)

Oakland, California

Gideon Anders was hired by HAC in 1972—fewer than 8 months after we were founded. As Gideon explains, the HAC of 1972 was still figuring out how to operate: “we did a lot of things by the seat of our pants.” Quickly, though, we established the processes that HAC continues to build on to this day. “Our work is much more effective and reaches out to more organizations” than it once did, Gideon notes.

For the entirety of his time with HAC—both as a staff member and in his 30 years as a board member—something that hasn’t changed is that “there’s no one else providing the assistance that HAC is.” For example, we were one of the first organizations to offer predevelopment lending in rural communities, and our research—especially our flagship publication Taking Stock—fills a void in data and analysis about rural housing.

HAC is still providing resources to rural communities that few others do. To Gideon, HAC’s focus on the preservation of multifamily rental homes in the USDA’s Section 515 program is a key example of the “critical services which no one else is providing on the scale HAC is.” In 2022, for example, HAC closed a $7.8 million loan to Northwest Coastal Housing so they could purchase and preserve Golden Eagle II, a 33-unit USDA Section 515 property. Without our financing, the original property owner would have prepaid his USDA mortgage, making his tenants ineligible for the rental assistance they’d received for decades. But, thanks to this loan, Golden Eagle is staying in the program and the tenants will retain their affordability protections for decades.

Looking to the future, Gideon imagines a HAC that is bringing together organizations of all kinds to collectively make the argument that housing is central to individual and national prosperity. Our homes touch every other part of our lives, which is why Gideon wants to see these coalitions include community service providers of all stripes, including those focused on health. After all, when it comes to the impact on someone’s health, Gideon believes “quality housing comes next to healthcare.”

A lot has changed at HAC over the last 50 years. However, Gideon notes that, “fundamentally, the services HAC was providing in 1971 are still what we’re doing today. But the scope has grown tremendously.”

 

HAC News: January 18, 2024

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Vol. 53, No. 2

TOP STORIES

Federal funding expected through February

It seems likely that Congress will pass, and President Biden will sign, another continuing resolution setting two new deadlines for government funding. Agencies that are currently funded until January 19, including USDA and HUD, will continue to receive FY23 levels of support through March 1. The rest of the government will be funded through March 8 instead of February 2.

House and Senate leaders have agreed on the total dollar amounts to be appropriated, with total non-defense discretionary funding – the category that includes housing – to be cut less than 1% from FY23 levels. They have not yet determined how to divide it among federal agencies, so it is not clear whether the bills proposed last year for USDA and HUD will fit these caps or how funding for specific programs will be impacted.

Tax bill agreement supports LIHTC but omits rural boost

A bipartisan tax bill, announced on January 16, includes changes to increase the availability of Low Income Housing Tax Credits, but does not incorporate all the provisions of the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act (S. 1557 and H.R. 3238). One notable AHCIA provision that is not included in the new bill, but is supported in HAC’s 2024 Rural Housing Policy Priorities, would designate rural and Tribal places as Difficult Development Areas, giving their LIHTC properties a basis boost and enabling them to attract more resources. The bill also temporarily extends the Child Tax Credit, which helped decrease U.S. poverty when it was expanded during the coronavirus pandemic.

HAC sets 2024 policy priorities

The overarching themes of HAC’s 2024 policy priorities include the need for technical assistance and building the capacity of local affordable housing and community development organizations; expanding access to credit and finance; preserving rural rental housing; improving the quality, availability, and affordability of housing to buy and rent in rural places; and preserving, increasing, and tailoring resources for federal affordable housing programs serving rural populations.

RuralSTAT

USDA obligated 7,218 home purchase loans through its Section 502 direct loan product in FY23 – a 13% increase from FY22 levels. Source: HAC tabulations of USDA 205F and 205H reports.

OPPORTUNITIES

Indian housing funds available

Tribes and Tribally Designated Housing Entities that have ever been allocated HUD Indian housing formula funding are eligible to apply for competitive Indian Housing Block Grant funds. The deadline is March 19. For more information, email IHBGCompetitiveProgram@hud.gov.

Appalachian Gateway Communities Initiative seeks to leverage community assets for improvement

In partnership with the Appalachian Regional Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Conservation Fund will select teams from Appalachian communities near publicly owned lands for the AGCI. The program leads the community teams through developing collaborative projects. After completing a training program, teams can apply for seed grant funding to help implement their action plans. Letters of interest are due January 24 and applications are due February 6. For more information, contact Susan Elks, the Conservation Fund, 610-563-1516.

REGULATIONS AND FEDERAL AGENCIES

HAC reports on USDA housing activity in FY23

HAC’s annual review of USDA housing obligations and historical trends shows that in FY23 the department obligated roughly 65,500 loans, loan guarantees, and grants totaling about $10.6 billion, and over $1.5 billion in Section 521 Rental Assistance to approximately 228,000 rural renters.

New cap on HUD income limit increases proposed

Every year, HUD adjusts the income limits that determine eligibility for housing aid. Since FY10, the annual increase has been capped at the higher of 5% or twice the percentage change in national median family income. HUD now proposes to cap the annual income limit increase at 10% and to continue not adjusting the limits for inflation. Comments are due February 8. For more information, contact Adam Bibler, HUD, 202-402-6057.

HUD proposes revisions for CDBG, ICDBG, and Section 108

Comments are due March 11 on changes intended to make it easier to use the Community Development Block Grant and the related Section 108 loan guarantee program as well as the Indian CDBG program. HUD’s proposal also would revise provisions related to Consolidated Plan and citizen participation requirements and would institute quarterly reporting. Comments are due March 11. Information contacts vary by program.

Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee nominations sought

HUD will accept nominations for committee membership through March 11. For more information, contact Teresa B. Payne, HUD, 202–402–2698.

USDA suggests changes to smoke alarm requirements

USDA, which already requires smoke alarms in its multifamily housing, is proposing to modify its Section 515 and 514/516 regulations to align with new statutory requirements for hardwired or 10-year non-rechargeable, sealed, tamper-resistant, battery-powered smoke alarm devices. Comments are due March 8. For more information, contact Barbara Chism, USDA, 202-690–1436.

Affordable Connectivity Program begins to wind down

The 2021 the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act revised and funded the Affordable Connectivity Program, which covers part of the monthly cost for internet service to low-income households. Since the program is not included in the Federal Communications Commission’s annual appropriations and has not received supplemental funding, it is expected to run out of money in April 2024. The FCC has begun winding down the program. It will stop processing new applications after February 7. Participants should receive notices from their internet providers explaining the support will end soon. For more information, consumers can visit www.fcc.gov/acp or call the ACP Support Center at 877-384-2575. A telecom news site reports that ACP’s end could also undermine the financial feasibility of the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment rural connectivity program.

Poverty guidelines get annual inflation adjustment

The national poverty guidelines, used as eligibility criteria for various federal programs, have been updated by the Department of Health and Human Services based on the 4.1% increase in the Consumer Price Index between calendar years 2022 and 2023. The poverty threshold for a four-person household in the 48 contiguous states and D.C. is now $31,200. The figures for Alaska and Hawaii are higher.

EVENTS

Webinar will cover rural fair housing planning

HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity will hold an online “office hour” session January 30 providing tips on conducting a fair housing planning for rural and small metropolitan jurisdictions. Questions and answers will be included. This webinar is part of a series of monthly fair housing planning office hours.

PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA

New federal funds and programs offer significant resources to rural America, with some barriers

The Brookings Institution analyzed programs that received billions of dollars in pandemic-era economic stimulus legislation for infrastructure, clean energy, climate resilience, and more. The resulting report, What’s In It For Rural? Analyzing the Opportunities for Rural America in IIJA, CHIPS, and IRA, says that over $464 billion, or about 45% of the combined appropriations, present significant opportunities for rural America. Researchers identified 66 new rural-significant programs, and about 2% of the total funding is exclusively for rural places. At the same time, the report says, the number of programs and their designs can create barriers to access for rural communities with limited capacity. The report offers recommendations to maximize the programs’ rural benefits. A webinar on the study will be held January 31.

Rural employment hits pre-pandemic levels

A Daily Yonder analysis of November 2023 employment data found that employment levels for counties both in and outside metropolitan areas grew at about the same rate from mid-2020 to early 2022. Metro areas reached pre-pandemic employment in January 2022 and have continued to creep higher since then, but places outside metro areas have seen inconsistent job growth over the past two years. Counties depending on mining and natural resource extraction had the lowest recovery rate.

People with disabilities face continuing housing crisis

Priced Out: The Housing Crisis for People with Disabilities, a web resource produced by the Technical Assistance Collaborative and the Consortium for Constituents with Disabilities, was updated at the end of 2023 with the latest data on housing affordability for people with disabilities who rely on Supplemental Security Income. TAC reports that the 4.1 million people with disabilities ages 18 to 64 who receive SSI still cannot afford an apartment in any housing market in the U.S. without rental assistance, which is often unavailable. Data are provided for metro areas, states, and places outside metro areas aggregated by state.

Inadequate housing impacts the racial wealth gap

A new report from the Urban Institute, Implications of Housing Conditions for Racial Wealth and Health Disparities, highlights that inadequate housing conditions impact housing value for Black homeowners, contributing to the racial wealth gap often attributed to differing homeownership rates. Recommended policy changes to address these issues include support for renovation assistance.

Article examines population loss and ways to reverse it

The Long Decline: How Depopulation Hurts Alabama’s Rural Communities is the first in a series of Alabama Reflector articles describing demographic decline in the state’s rural Black Belt region. The story details the factors driving the decline and the efforts being made to change these trends.

HAC

HAC’s office has moved

HAC’s new street address, effective on January 1, 2024, is 1828 L Street, N.W., Suite 505, Washington, DC 20036. Our phone number remains 202-842-8600.

HAC is hiring

Need capital for your affordable housing project?

HAC’s loan fund provides low interest rate loans to support single- and multifamily affordable housing projects for low-income rural residents throughout the U.S. and territories. Capital is available for all types of affordable and mixed-income housing projects, including preservation, new development, farmworker, senior and veteran housing. HAC loan funds can be used for pre-development, site acquisition, site development, construction/rehabilitation and permanent financing. Contact HAC’s loan fund staff at hacloanfund@ruralhome.org, 202-842-8600.

Please note: HAC is not able to offer loans to individuals or families. Borrowers must be nonprofit or for-profit organizations or government entities (including tribes).

Want to reprint a HAC News item?

Please credit the HAC News and provide a link to HAC’s website. Thank you!

 

 

HAC News: January 4, 2024

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Vol. 53, No. 1

TOP STORIES

Next appropriations crisis deadline is January 19

When the Senate and House reconvene on January 8 and 9, they will face two upcoming deadlines for fiscal year 2024 funding. The continuing resolution that is currently in effect split the 12 federal appropriations bills into two groups. Four of them – USDA, Transportation-HUD, Energy, and Veterans – expire on January 19, while the rest end on February 2. The Senate has passed funding measures for both USDA and HUD, each of them considerably different from its House counterpart. The House failed to pass its USDA bill and has not yet voted on HUD.

Congress could enact individual appropriations bills, minibuses, an omnibus, another short-term continuing resolution, or a CR that covers the remainder of the fiscal year, or it could allow all or part of the federal government to close. The Fiscal Responsibility Act, the debt ceiling compromise negotiated in spring 2023 that includes reductions in federal spending, requires funding cuts if full-year appropriations bills are not enacted by April 30, but the dollar amounts cannot be calculated yet, as explained in an OMB memo to heads of federal agencies.

January is National Poverty Awareness Month

The Census Bureau reports that the official poverty rate in 2022 was 11.5%, with 37.9 million people in poverty. Using the Supplemental Poverty Measure, which accounts for assistance and expenses that are not included in the official poverty measure, the 2022 poverty rate was 12.4%. The SPM child poverty rate more than doubled from 5.2% in 2021 to 12.4% in 2022.

RuralSTAT

Rural poverty rates, for all races and ethnicities, exceed those of their suburban or urban counterparts. One out of every three Black or Native rural Americans lives in poverty. These poverty levels are more than twice as high as the national poverty rate of 12.6%. Rural Hispanics, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders, persons of two or more races, and those who identify as other races all have poverty rates at 20% or higher. Source: HAC tabulations of the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2017-2021 American Community Survey. To learn more about poverty and other economic conditions in rural America visit HAC’s Taking Stock report.  

OPPORTUNITIES

HAC invites proposals for Affordable Housing for Rural Veterans grants

HAC’s Affordable Housing for Rural Veterans Initiative supports local nonprofit housing development organizations that meet or help meet the affordable housing needs of veterans with low incomes in rural places. Grants typically range up to $30,000 per organization and must support bricks-and-mortar projects that assist low-income, elderly, and/or disabled veterans with critical home repair, make accessibility modifications, support homeless veterans, help veterans become homeowners, and/or secure affordable rental housing. The AHRV Initiative is funded through the generous support of The Home Depot Foundation. Applications are due by 4:00 pm Eastern on Monday, January 22. For more information, contact HAC staff, ahrv@ruralhome.org. No phone calls please. Program staff will be available to answer questions during a webinar on January 10.

HUD launches Energy and Water Benchmarking

HUD’s new Energy and Water Benchmarking Service is available for properties participating in its project-based rental assistance programs. Property owners will receive data on energy and water consumption at their properties, as well as technical assistance and training. HUD intends the data to help identify opportunities for energy efficiency improvements and assess rehabilitation efforts that may be eligible for grant or loan funding under HUD’s Green and Resilient Retrofit Program or other sources of funding. HUD’s contractor, Leidos, will be contacting property owners to discuss the program. Owners may also contact HUD at mfbenchmarking@hud.gov to participate.

Resilience funding for government agencies available

FEMA’s Safeguarding Tomorrow through Ongoing Risk Mitigation (STORM) Revolving Loan Fund Program will make grants to state, territorial, and Tribal governments to capitalize revolving loan funds that will help local governments reduce risks from disasters, natural hazards, and other related environmental harm. Applications are due April 30. For more information, contact FEMA staff, FEMA-STORMRLF@fema.dhs.gov.

ConnectHomeUSA broadband program expanding

HUD hopes to add urban, rural, and Tribal communities to CHUSA, which provides technical assistance and information to help PHAs and Tribes improve broadband connectivity and use in HUD-assisted housing. Applications are due February 15. HUD will hold a webinar for applicants on January 11. For more information, email ConnectHome@hud.gov.

USDA hiring Climate Change Fellows

Forty Climate Change Fellows with a range of skills are needed to help with applications from farmers, ranchers, and rural small businesses seeking funding for clean energy projects under the Rural Energy for America Program. Three of the fellows will work remotely, reporting to USDA RD’s national office; 36 will be based in offices around the country and one in Puerto Rico. Initial appointments may be for up to two years, with extensions possible. USDA’s search is part of a broader American Climate Corps effort involving several government agencies, which will hold listening sessions and accept written comments through January 31.

AARP award to honor nonprofit founders

The AARP® Purpose Prize® will honor people age 50-plus who founded nonprofit organizations at age 40 or older and are still active. Awardees’ organizations will receive $50,000 as well as a year of supports and resources to help broaden their impact. Applications are due February 29.

REGULATIONS AND FEDERAL AGENCIES

Compliance dates extended for HOTMA income calculation rule

HUD’s Community Planning and Development office has extended the date for its programs to comply with the final rule on tenant income and assets under the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016 (HOTMA). CPD’s notice sets January 1, 2025 as the compliance date for the HOME, HOME-ARP, Housing Trust Fund, HOPWA, CDBG, Emergency Solution Grants, and Continuum of Care programs, as well as CPD programs funded through competitive processes. PIH Notice 2023-27 makes the same change for PHAs, and PIH Notice 2023-34 extends the deadline for the Indian Housing Block Grant program.

USDA RD announces new appointments

Sarah Dietch has been named Rural Development Chief of Staff. She has served most recently at the U.S. Peace Corps, and previously held senior roles at USDA RD and other federal agencies. Betsy Dirksen Londrigan, who has been RD’s State Director for Illinois since January 2022, will become the Rural Business-Cooperative Service Administrator when Dr. Karama Neal leaves the position in mid-January. Their appointments and others were announced in late December.

Treasury seeks input on financial inclusion strategy

The Treasury Department requests comments by February 20 to help develop a national strategy to broaden access to financial services among underserved communities and improve their ability to use financial tools and services. For more information, contact Natalia Li, Treasury, 202-622-1388.

HUD issues Buy America guidance for public housing

PIH Notice 2024-01 explains application of the Buy America requirements for PHAs. It does not apply to Tribes or Tribal entities.

Summer Meals for Children planning underway

States, Tribes, and territories can opt in to the Summer Meals for Children program offered by USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service. In addition to the traditional congregate summer meals program, some program operators now have the option to provide “grab and go” or home-delivered meals. A list of participating states and links to more information are posted here. Videos on the program are available in English (USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack) and Spanish (Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small).

PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA

Guides help older adults evaluate housing choices

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has published four free guides for older homeowners making decisions about their homes: “Leaving Your Home to Children or Heirs,” “Making Housing Decisions after Losing a Spouse or Partner,” “Making Housing Decisions when your Health Changes,” and “Using Home Equity to Meet Financial Needs.”

Renewables work well with resident-owned cooperatives

Grist reports on the benefits of resident-owned cooperatives in building climate resiliency. The article, titled How Mobile Home Co-Ops Provide Housing Security – and Climate Resilience, explains that owners are able to upgrade infrastructure quickly, while the co-op provides a community and shared knowledge and resources to invest in climate-friendly projects that reduce utility costs.

Residents fight to save historic Black communities

An Associated Press article and video highlight residents struggling to preserve the remaining historic Black communities, defined as settlements founded by formerly enslaved people. Approximately 1,800 Black historic settlements once existed in the U.S., but now fewer than 30 incorporated historic Black towns remain. Residents of Daufuskie Island, South Carolina; Eatonville, Florida; and other historic Black communities fight against zoning ordinances, home devaluations, and private developers to preserve their homes, communities, and cultures.

Advocates hope to include farmworkers’ rights and protections in the next Farm Bill

Farmworker groups and other organizations are working to include farmworker protections, such as safer working conditions, higher minimum wages, and overtime pay, in the next Farm Bill, according to a Modern Farmer article. Advocates hope their cause will be helped by the additional time provided when the current Farm Bill was extended through September 30, 2024. Since labor rights are outside the USDA’s jurisdiction, historically farmworker rights – along with housing provisions – have been excluded from the Farm Bill since its inception in 1933. To describe what farmworker advocacy can achieve, the article cites New York state’s recent Farm Laborers Fair Labor Practices Act, which grants labor rights such as collective bargaining and overtime pay to farmworkers.

Toolkit shows how energy efficiency can reach underserved residents, including rural

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy offers a toolkit titled Adapting Energy Efficiency Programs to Reach Underserved Residents. It highlights strategies that utilities and third-party program administrators can use to expand energy-efficiency program participation among all underserved households, with specific guidance on reaching income-eligible households, renters and residents of multifamily buildings, and rural communities. Strategies are rated by feasibility and by impact.

HAC

HAC’s office has moved

HAC’s new street address, effective on January 1, 2024, is 1828 L Street, N.W., Suite 505, Washington, DC 20036. Our phone number remains 202-842-8600.

HAC is hiring

Need capital for your affordable housing project?

HAC’s loan fund provides low interest rate loans to support single- and multifamily affordable housing projects for low-income rural residents throughout the U.S. and territories. Capital is available for all types of affordable and mixed-income housing projects, including preservation, new development, farmworker, senior and veteran housing. HAC loan funds can be used for pre-development, site acquisition, site development, construction/rehabilitation and permanent financing. Contact HAC’s loan fund staff at hacloanfund@ruralhome.org, 202-842-8600.

Please note: HAC is not able to offer loans to individuals or families. Borrowers must be nonprofit or for-profit organizations or government entities (including tribes).

Want to reprint a HAC News item?

Please credit the HAC News and provide a link to HAC’s website. Thank you!

 

HAC News: December 19, 2023

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Vol. 52, No. 25

TOP STORIES

RHS Reform Act introduced in House

On December 14, Reps. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) and Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.) introduced H.R. 6785, the Rural Housing Service Reform Act, a companion bill to S. 2790, introduced in September by Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Mike Rounds (R-N.D.).

Homelessness rises nationwide and in rural places

HUD data from January 2023 show the largest number of people in the U.S. experiencing homelessness since reporting began in 2007. The tally increased 12% nationwide from 2022 to 2023, according to the 2023 Annual Homeless Assessment Report: Part 1: Point-in-Time Estimates. HUD suggests major drivers of this growth were changes in the rental housing market and the winding down of pandemic protections and programs, noting a particularly sharp rise in the number of people who became homeless for the first time. Eighteen percent of all individuals experiencing homelessness in 2023 were in largely rural Continuums of Care. For individuals, these CoCs saw a 7.4% increase in sheltered homelessness and 17.8% growth in unsheltered homelessness from the previous year. The pattern was somewhat different for families with children in largely rural CoCs, with a 7.4% drop in unsheltered families and a 7.5% increase in sheltered families. Overall, more than a third of all people in families experiencing unsheltered homelessness were in largely rural CoCs.

President tells federal agencies to support Tribal sovereignty and self-determination

An executive order issued by President Biden on December 6 affirms support for “the next era of Tribal self-determination” by designing and administering federal funding and support programs for Tribal Nations in a manner that better recognizes and supports Tribal sovereignty and self-determination. OMB and the White House Council on Native American Affairs will coordinate collection of information on funding needs, and federal agencies are directed to improve program administration.

Cross-sector group encourages FHFA to use updated energy codes

Nearly 80 consumer, energy, housing, health, manufacturing, and environmental organizations, including HAC, sent a letter on November 30 asking the Federal Housing Finance Agency to require that all new homes with mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac meet updated energy codes. HAC policy director Jonathan Harwitz also coauthored a recent opinion piece in Multi-Housing News urging FHFA to adopt these standards. The letter to FHFA notes that updating energy codes would lower home costs, increase disaster resilience, improve health outcomes, reduce emissions, and reduce default risks. It also points out that action by FHFA would create consistent energy requirements for nearly all federally backed mortgage financing. HUD and USDA are moving towards adoption of these codes for some of the housing they finance, and HAC submitted a comment letter in August, signed by over 80 organizations from around the country, supporting their actions.

Happy holidays from HAC!

The board and staff of the Housing Assistance Council wish peace, prosperity, and affordable housing to all!

HAC will be closed from December 23 through January 1.

RuralSTAT

The median household income in the United States in 2021 was $70,784 while the rural median household income was below $59,000. A higher proportion of low-paying jobs in rural areas, combined with older age dynamics and lower educational attainment levels, are substantial factors in this income gap. Source: HAC tabulations of the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2017-2021 American Community Survey.

OPPORTUNITIES

HAC invites proposals for Affordable Housing for Rural Veterans grants

HAC’s Affordable Housing for Rural Veterans Initiative supports local nonprofit housing development organizations that meet or help meet the affordable housing needs of veterans with low incomes in rural places. Grants typically range up to $30,000 per organization and must support bricks-and-mortar projects that assist low-income, elderly, and/or disabled veterans with critical home repair, make accessibility modifications, support homeless veterans, help veterans become homeowners, and/or secure affordable rental housing. The AHRV Initiative is funded through the generous support of The Home Depot Foundation. Applications are due by 4:00 pm Eastern on Monday, January 22. For more information, contact HAC staff, ahrv@ruralhome.org. No phone calls please. Program staff will be available to answer questions during a webinar on January 10; check online for registration details.

Service coordinator funding available from HUD

Applications are due March 11 for the Service Coordinators in Multifamily Housing program, which supports service coordinator positions for elderly individuals and non-elderly persons with disabilities living in properties assisted through the Section 202, project-based Section 8, or Section 221(d)(3) below-market interest rate programs. For more information, contact Oluwayemisi Oni, HUD, ServiceCoordinatorNOFO@hud.gov.

HUD extends a Green and Resilient Retrofit Program deadline

The application deadline for wave 3 of the GRRP Elements cohort is now March 28 rather than January 4. Elements funding can be used to add efficiency and resilience investments to rehabilitation projects that are in their final planning stages. For more information, email GRRP@hud.gov or join weekly office hours on Wednesdays (except for December 27).

Deadline extended for farm lending discrimination assistance

USDA will accept applications through January 13 for the Discrimination Financial Assistance Program, which offers financial assistance for farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners who experienced discrimination in USDA farm lending programs prior to January 2021.

USDA reopens broadband funding availability, requires applicants to resubmit

The Rural Utilities Service has revised the definition of eligible service areas in the funding notice for its Community Connect Grant program. Those who applied under the notice published on March 20, 2023 must reapply. Applications are due February 20. Nonprofits, for-profits, and state, local, and Tribal governments are eligible. For more information, contact Randall Millhiser, USDA, 202-578-6926.

REGULATIONS AND FEDERAL AGENCIES

Senate committee supports Gooden for Under Secretary, RD names Denton to multifamily post

By a 23-0 vote on December 6, the Senate Agriculture Committee recommended the Senate approve Basil Gooden as USDA’s Under Secretary for Rural Development.

Angilla Denton, who has worked for Rural Development since 2002 and is currently RD’s Chief Risk Officer, has been selected to serve as the Rural Housing Service Deputy Administrator for Multi-Family Housing, effective December 31, 2023.

Pilot program will apply to Section 502 direct loans and community land trusts

USDA has launched a two-year pilot program to test alternative eligibility criteria for community land trust organizations. Community land trust sites are already eligible for Section 502 direct mortgages, but USDA’s notice explains that the community representation requirements are prohibitive for some affordable housing providers also acting as CLTs. The new pilot will test two waivers related to community representation. Affordable housing providers can apply to USDA RD state offices to participate. For more information, contact Jeremy Anderson, USDA, 202-302-3092.

Waivers for some Native programs in future disaster areas announced

Waivers and flexibilities from HUD requirements for the Indian Housing Block Grant, Indian Community Development Block Grant, and Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant will apply for grantees in areas covered by presidentially declared disasters during calendar years 2024 and 2025. Grantees may also request a waiver or flexibility of a HUD requirement not listed in this notice. These provisions do not apply to Covid-relief related programs because HUD has issued separate waivers and alternative requirements that apply to those programs. For more information, contact Hilary Atkin, HUD, 202-402-3427.

HUD explains small rural PHA assessments

Notice PIH 2023-33 describes how HUD will implement assessments of public housing properties run by small rural PHAs. It explains the definition of “small rural,” how the list of such PHAs will be updated, the assessment process, financial data submissions, and more. For more information, contact Lara Philbert, HUD, 202-475-8930.

VA seeks comment on minimum property requirements

The Department of Veterans Affairs is considering changing the minimum property requirements for VA-guaranteed and direct loans. It requests public input regarding improvements, including whether VA should consider aligning its approach with other industry-wide property standards already in existence. Comments are due February 9. For more information, contact Stephanie Li, VA, 202-632-8862.

Federal agencies call for housing providers to help fight the overdose epidemic

HUD, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a joint statement urging public health departments and housing providers to make overdose reversal medications readily available at assisted housing facilities.

EVENTS

Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day is December 21

National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day takes place annually on December 21, the longest night of the year. The National Coalition for the Homeless, the National Consumer Advisory Board, and the National Health Care for the Homeless Council offer an organizing manual to help communities hold memorial events or take other steps to remember people experiencing homelessness who have died in the past year. They are also collecting the names of those being honored.

National Alliance to End Homelessness launches course on providing trauma-informed care

The new online course, Providing Trauma-Informed Care in Homeless Response, covers the causes and effects of trauma and how to integrate this care into homeless response.

PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA

U.S. not ready to provide housing and care for elders in coming decade

Housing America’s Older Adults 2023, a new report from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, highlights housing statistics and conditions for the country’s growing older adult population, ages 65 and older. An all-time high of 11.2 million older adult households are housing cost burdened. Rural communities have higher concentrations of older adults, 40% of whom have annual incomes under $30,000. Racial homeownership and income gaps persist in the older adult population. Black and Hispanic older adults have less income and home equity than white seniors.

Housing shortages lead to healthcare worker shortages

Housing Shortages Are Making Recruitment and Retention Even More Challenging for Some Rural Healthcare Providers, an article on the Rural Health Information Hub, reports that towns without available rental and homeownership housing cannot find or keep much-needed workers in fields like health and education. The article relies on information from HAC, among others, about the shortfall.

Research identifies flood-prone “Climate Abandonment Areas”

The First Street Foundation has designated Climate Abandonment Areas in the contiguous United States, locations where population loss from 2000 to 2020 can be directly attributed to climate change related flood risk. First Street found that 113 million people live in areas where flood risk has already been impacting housing choice. The most extreme cases, Climate Abandonment Areas, saw a cumulative net loss of over 3.2 million in population in the last two decades, directly attributed to flooding. The report, Integrating Climate Change Induced Flood Risk into Future Population Projections, published in Nature-Communications, projects that over the next 30 years, the current Climate Abandonment Areas will continue to lose population while other flood risk places will begin losing residents and then will become Climate Abandonment Areas.

HAC

HAC’s office is moving

After 43 years in our current D.C. location, HAC is moving. Our new street address, effective on January 1, 2024, will be 1828 L Street, N.W., Suite 505, Washington, DC 20036. Our phone number will remain 202-842-8600.

HAC is hiring

Need capital for your affordable housing project?

HAC’s loan fund provides low interest rate loans to support single- and multifamily affordable housing projects for low-income rural residents throughout the U.S. and territories. Capital is available for all types of affordable and mixed-income housing projects, including preservation, new development, farmworker, senior and veteran housing. HAC loan funds can be used for pre-development, site acquisition, site development, construction/rehabilitation and permanent financing. Contact HAC’s loan fund staff at hacloanfund@ruralhome.org, 202-842-8600.

Please note: HAC is not able to offer loans to individuals or families. Borrowers must be nonprofit or for-profit organizations or government entities (including tribes).

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Disaster Updates and Resources from HUD and FEMA

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New CDBG-DR Notice Published

HUD has published the Allocations for Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) and Implementation of the CDBG-DR Consolidated Waivers and Alternative Requirements Notice.

In November 2023, HUD allocated $142 million in CDBG-DR funds appropriated by the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2023 for major disasters occurring in 2022 and 2023.

This Allocation Announcement Notice (AAN) identifies grant requirements for these funds, including requirements in HUD’s CDBG-DR Consolidated Notice (“Consolidated Notice”) found in Appendix B, and a limited number of amendments to the Consolidated Notice that apply to CDBG-DR grants for disasters occurring in 2022 and 2023.

The Consolidated Notice, as amended by this AAN, includes:

  • Waivers and alternative requirements
  • Relevant regulatory requirements
  • Grant award process
  • Criteria for action plan approval
  • Eligible disaster recovery activities

Please note that grantees who have been allocated funds for disasters occurring in 2022 and 2023 must follow the Duplication of Benefits (DOB) requirements located in section IV.A. of this notice and IV.A. of the Consolidated Notice.

Please read the entire notice for more information.

Please visit HUD’s Website for CDBG-DR, and CDBG Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) resources, tools, and training. Also search the Disaster Recovery Tools and Templates Library for additional information.

New Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Emergency Declarations

Please review the disaster declaration for the availability of individual assistance.

FEMA’s Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP)

FEMA National Preparedness Report Released: FEMA released the 2023 National Preparedness Report, highlighting the state of the nation’s preparedness at all levels of government while examining the risks the nation faces and the capabilities available to address them.

More Emergency and Disaster Preparedness Training Materials

Please visit HUD’s website for emergency and disaster preparedness group education materials. These are available to HUD certified housing counselors to customize as part of their group education for HUD clients.

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50 Years for Rural America

Over 50 years HAC has worked in every U.S. state and the territories. Learn more about what our work means for rural communities.

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Housing Assistance Council   |  1828 L Street. N.W., Suite 505, Washington, D.C. 20036
(202) 842-8600  |  (202) 347-3441  |  hac@ruralhome.org

HAC is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.