HAC News Formats. pdf

April 27, 2018
Vol. 47, No. 9

HUD proposes to raise rents and allow work requirements • Joel Baxley named RHS Administrator • Pilot program to fund housing changes for low-income veterans with disabilities • Webinars on rural multifamily loan guarantees offered by HAC and USDA • HUD offers Section 811 vouchers, encourages PHAs/IHAs to partner with supportive services • Department of Justice launches initiative to combat sexual harassment in housing • Unnumbered Letter lists set-asides and state allocations for USDA single-family direct programs • Annual data on USDA-assisted tenants released • Section 515 funds available for properties affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria • Deadline for state Opportunity Zones designations passes, early designations analyzed • RD accepts comments on program delivery, shares best practices for rural economic development • CFPB requests comments on handling of consumer complaints • GAO suggests changes in federal agency collaborations for elderly housing and health • Save the date for the 2018 HAC Rural Housing Conference • Need capital for your affordable housing project?

HAC News Formats. pdf

April 27, 2018
Vol. 47, No. 9

HUD proposes to raise rents and allow work requirements.
The Department’s “Making Affordable Housing Work Act of 2018” would require elderly and disabled tenants in HUD-assisted properties to pay at least $50 per month rent, and others to pay a minimum amount (currently $150) calculated based on the federal minimum wage. It would eliminate income deductions for expenses like child care and would allow HUD to create alternative rent structures. PHAs or owners of properties with project-based aid would be permitted to impose work requirements. The House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance has posted a draft of a similar bill.

Joel Baxley named RHS Administrator.
Joel Baxley, one of the authors of the 2016 Comprehensive Property Assessment of USDA’s multifamily housing portfolio, has been selected as Administrator of the Rural Housing Service.

Pilot program to fund housing changes for low-income veterans with disabilities.
HUD’s Veterans Housing Rehabilitation and Modification pilot will make grants to nonprofits that provide nationwide or statewide aid to veterans or low-income people, to be used to modify veterans’ homes or to provide other nonprofits or public agencies with technical assistance and training. Applications are due June 25. For more information, contact Sylvia Purvis, HUD, 877-787-2526.

Webinars on rural multifamily loan guarantees offered by HAC and USDA.
The first of two webinars on the Section 538 Guaranteed Rural Rental Housing program will be offered May 30, providing an overview of the guarantee program, which can be used for new construction, refinance, and acquisition with rehabilitation of multifamily properties. Webinar registration is free. For more information, contact Shonterria Charleston, HAC.

HUD offers Section 811 vouchers, encourages PHAs/IHAs to partner with supportive services.
PHAs/IHAs can apply by June 18 for mainstream housing choice vouchers to assist non-elderly persons with disabilities. Partnerships are encouraged with agencies that help individuals live independently. For more information, email mainstreamvouchers@hud.gov.

Department of Justice launches initiative to combat sexual harassment in housing.
DOJ’s effort includes an interagency task force with HUD. An outreach toolkit and public awareness resources including flyers in several languages are available online. Those who believe they may have been victims of sexual harassment in housing can call DOJ at 844-380-6178, email DOJ, or call HUD, 800-669-9777.

Unnumbered Letter lists set-asides and state allocations for USDA single-family direct programs.
A UL dated April 17, 2018 explains how the single-family direct loan and grant programs’ funding for FY18 will be allocated. It includes lists of persistent poverty, underserved, and REAP counties. For more information, contact an RD state office.

Annual data on USDA-assisted tenants released.
USDA RD’s 2017 Multi-Family Housing Annual Fair Housing Occupancy Report shows that from September 2016 to September 2017, the portfolio lost 246 Section 515 properties and 32 Section 514/516 properties, a total of 5,053 units. More than 91% of households have very low incomes. The average income for all Section 515 tenants is $12,776 and for all Section 515 tenants with Section 521 Rental Assistance is $10,658. Eighty-one percent of tenant households receive some rental subsidy, with about 68% in both the 515 and 514/516 programs receiving Section 521 RA. Among 515 tenants, 63.7% are elderly or disabled.

Section 515 funds available for properties affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria.
Disaster funds appropriated for hurricane relief include almost $71 million for Section 515 rental properties that were not required to carry National Flood Insurance and were affected by last year’s hurricanes in Florida, Puerto Rico, and Texas. Applications are due May 31, 2019 (not 2018). RD will send letters to property owners. For more information, contact an RD state office.

Deadline for state Opportunity Zones designations passes, early designations analyzed.
State nominations of low-income census tracts to participate in the new Opportunity Zones program were due on April 20. The Treasury Department has announced some Zone designations and will announce the remainder by June 18. An Enterprise Community Partners analysis shows that 27% of the designated tracts are in rural places with populations under 2,500 and just over 2% are at least partly in tribal areas. The Brookings Institution reports that most states designated deeply impoverished places, although 22% of designated tracts are in areas with poverty rates under 20% and another 19% are in places that may already be gentrifying.

RD accepts comments on program delivery, shares best practices for rural economic development.
USDA’s Rural Development Innovation Center has launched a new webpage. Visitors can submit comments on ways USDA can improve RD program delivery, sign up for Innovation Center updates, and read about best practices and RD programs.

CFPB requests comments on handling of consumer complaints.
Comments are due July 16 on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s handling of consumer complaints and consumer inquiries. For more information, contact Darian Dorsey, CFPB, 202-435-7268.

GAO suggests changes in federal agency collaborations for elderly housing and health.
The Government Accountability Office compared collaborative efforts between HUD and the Department of Health and Human Services with best practices, finding some congruencies and some discrepancies. In Older Adult Housing: Future Collaborations on Housing and Health Services Should Include Relevant Agencies and Define Outcomes, GAO recommended that USDA should be included in the efforts, and that participating agencies should identify common outcomes desired from their collaboration.

SAVE THE DATE FOR THE 2018 HAC RURAL HOUSING CONFERENCE!
The conference will be held December 4-7 at the Capital Hilton in Washington, DC. The HAC News will announce when conference registration opens and when the hotel room block is available for reservations.

NEED CAPITAL FOR YOUR AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECT?
HAC’s loan funds provide 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, farmworker, senior, and veteran housing. HAC loan funds can be used for pre-development, site acquisition, site development, and construction/rehabilitation. 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).