TOP STORIES

Senate votes against considering tax bill

On August 1 the Senate failed to pass a procedural measure that would have advanced the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act. The bill, H.R. 7024, passed the House in January. It includes provisions that would strengthen the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and expand the Child Tax Credit.

FEMA limits disaster spending to immediate needs

Because of a funding shortfall, FEMA implemented “Immediate Needs Funding” guidance on August 7. To maximize funds available for response and recovery, the agency will obligate funds only for essential needs. It will continue to accept applications for other funding but will not make those obligations until additional appropriations are available. Disaster Relief Fund State of Play: In Brief, published by the Congressional Research Service on August 13, examines FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund and why it relies on supplemental appropriations.

Consumer protections apply to contracts for deed, CFPB confirms

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on August 13 released a consumer advisory, an advisory opinion, and a research report on contract for deed home purchases, a form of financing that requires a buyer to make all payments before receiving the deed to their home. Contracts for deed may lead to full homeownership, CFPB says, but the agency’s report identifies several ways in which these contracts can harm consumers, particularly low-income and BIPOC people. The advisory opinion affirms that federal home lending rules and laws cover contracts for deed and provide key consumer protections. The consumer advisory explains the potential problems and provides suggestions for homeowners needing assistance with contracts for deed.

RuralSTAT

USDA’s Economic Research Service has developed a new concept of enduring poverty to refer to places with poverty rates of 20% or higher for 40 years or longer. Of the 346 counties that were persistently poor from 1990 to 2019, 304 had enduring poverty from 1960 to 2019. Source: USDA Economic Research Service, The Poverty Area Measures Data Product.

OPPORTUNITIES

Funds available for removing barriers to affordable housing

Round 2 of HUD’s Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing) competition has opened, with an October 15 deadline. State and local governments, metropolitan planning organizations, and multijurisdictional entities are eligible to apply for grants to identify and remove barriers to affordable housing production and preservation such as outdated zoning, land use policies, or regulations; inefficient procedures; gaps in available resources for development; and challenges to preserving existing housing stock such as increasing threats from natural hazards, redevelopment pressures, or expiration of affordability requirements.

HUD offers CDBG Section 108 “Legacy Challenge”

Jurisdictions that receive CDBG grants can borrow up to five times their CDBG allocation using a Section 108 loan guarantee. Under a new Legacy Challenge, HUD offers flexibilities, waivers, and resources to develop a housing fund or invest in a transformational project. A webinar for potential applicants will be held August 29. Expressions of interest are due November 1.

REGULATIONS AND FEDERAL AGENCIES

Federal agencies launch national heat strategy

A National Heat Strategy for 2024-2030 was released August 14 by  the interagency National Integrated Heat Health Information System, which includes USDA, HUD, and more than 20 other agencies. The strategy aims to promote proactive coordination related to heat planning, response, and resilience. HUD’s press release and a HUD web page on extreme heat focus on housing-related impacts and resources.

HUD-VASH voucher program revised

A new HUD notice provides updated policies and procedures for the administration of tenant-based and project-based Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers under the HUD-VA Supportive Housing program. The notice includes new waivers and program flexibilities as well as additional general guidance, and it also incorporates updated policy based on further implementation of the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016.

FY25 Fair Market Rents posted

HUD has released the Fair Market Rents that will be used in fiscal year 2025 – which begins October 1, 2024 – for the Housing Choice Voucher Program and other programs. October 1 is also the deadline for public comments and for public housing agencies to request reevaluations of FMRs.

HUD asks how to expand Choice Neighborhoods program’s reach

HUD requests comments on opportunities and barriers to applying for and subsequently managing Choice Neighborhoods Planning and Implementation Grants. The department expresses particular interest in expanding the program’s reach to communities of all sizes, including large urban areas, mid-sized cities, small towns, rural areas, and tribal jurisdictions. Comments are due October 11.

More flexible servicing options now available for Section 502 guaranteed lenders

A final rule is intended to benefit borrowers and lenders and reduce the program risk of the Section 502 guaranteed loan portfolio. It gives lenders more flexibility in their servicing options for non-performing loans and offers a revised Mortgage Recovery Advance process.

FEMA allows more time to apply for Hazard Mitigation Grants

A new final rule extends the time period for applicants to request funds from FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program and allows FEMA to reopen application periods under some circumstances. HMGP funding goes to state, local, Tribal, and territorial governments (nonprofits are eligible to be subrecipients) to include mitigation measures for future disasters while recovering from a disaster. Applicants will now have 15 months from the date of a disaster declaration, rather than the previous 12 months, to apply for HMGP support.

HUD may extend manufactured housing code to multi-unit buildings

HUD hopes to amend its manufactured housing regulations to allow the Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards (better known as the HUD Code) to cover duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes, according to an August 13 fact sheet from the White House. The document does not provide details on this future regulation.

EVENTS

HAC to offer Section 502 direct loan packaging course in Alabama

HAC will hold an in-person USDA Section 502 Direct Certified Loan Packaging Course in Montgomery, AL on September 24-26. This three-day advanced course prepares participants to become certified Section 502 loan packagers. It is designed for those experienced in using Section 502. A laptop is required for the class for each participant. Following the course, participants are encouraged to take the online certification exam. The registration fee is $750. For more information, contact HAC, registration@ruralhome.org, 202-842-8600.

PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA

Study identifies challenges in addressing farmworkers’ vulnerability to disasters

Farmworkers are vulnerable to disasters and not well served by disaster recovery programs, but existing public health tools cannot clearly identify their locations and needs, researchers from the University of Florida found after Hurricane Idalia. The social vulnerability indicators currently in use do not include factors such as legal status that make farmworkers particularly challenging to serve. The Social Vulnerability of Farmworker Communities in North Central Florida: Challenges and Opportunities for Mapping Vulnerable Populations, published by the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado Boulder, reports on social vulnerability indicators developed by collecting qualitative data as well as quantitative, and on the empirical and ethical challenges of mapping populations that are often targeted by public authorities. The study is also examined in “‘A Matter of Life and Death’: How Disaster Response Endangers US Farmworkers,” an article published by Grist and the Daily Yonder.

Low-income renters face choices between housing, food, and energy costs

An analysis of the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey results by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies shows that in the first half of 2024, well over half (59%) of renters with incomes below $25,000 had difficulty meeting all their expenses. The data, reported in a blog post titled Renters Struggle with Competing Costs of Food, Energy, and Housing, shows the difficulty renters face in balancing the costs of necessities. The figures are not broken down by rural, urban, suburban, or metropolitan geography.

2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health released

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that 19.1% of people 12 years of age or older in the U.S. (54.2 million people) needed substance use treatment in the past year, but only 4.5% of people (12.8 million) received needed treatment. The survey measures use of various drugs and alcohol, substance use disorders, treatment, recovery, and other key indicators.

HAC

HAC comments on proposed Duty to Serve plans for 2025-2027

HAC has submitted comments to the Federal Housing Finance Agency regarding Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s proposed plans for 2025-2027 activities to meet their Duty to Serve three historically underserved markets: rural housing, affordable housing preservation, and manufactured housing. HAC’s comments, which are available on our website, covered many different topics and applauded many of the proposed goals while arguing that, broadly, the plans are not ambitious enough when compared to rural needs. HAC recommends permitting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to make targeted equity investments in CDFIs, maintaining the preservation of Section 515 multifamily properties as a core Duty to Serve goal, and increasing the proposed goals related to heirs’ property, colonias, Native American housing finance, and manufactured housing, as well as adding goals specifically for farmworker communities.

HAC is hiring

HAC job listings and application links are available on our website.

• Training Implementation Specialist
• Accountant
• Program Manager, Center for Rural Multifamily Housing Preservation

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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