HAC News pdf

June 11, 2018
Vol. 47, No. 12

Senate Committee advances 2019 HUD funding • House votes to rescind funds, including USDA Rental Assistance • ROSS Service Coordinator funds available • HUD offers Tribal Healthy Homes grants • USDA and NCDFIs partner to increase Native homeownership • CFPB dismisses members of three advisory boards • UN report critiques US approach to poverty • Answers to some common housing questions posted • Guide helps select USDA refinancing for homeowners • June is National Homeownership Month • HAC seeks workshop proposals • Save the date for the 2018 HAC Rural Housing Conference! • Nominate local and national leaders for HAC awards • Need capital for your affordable housing project?

HAC News pdf

June 11, 2018
Vol. 47, No. 12

Senate Committee advances 2019 HUD funding.
A 2019 HUD appropriations bill was approved by a Senate subcommittee on June 5 and by the full Appropriations Committee on June 7. The bill keeps many programs at FY18 levels, with increases for vouchers, Section 8, and public housing, and a decrease in Section 811 housing for people with disabilities. It includes new funds for homeless youth and survivors of domestic violence. It provides FY19 funding for U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness but does not reauthorize USICH. [tdborder][/tdborder]

* Includes amounts added by an Administration addendum to its budget request.

House votes to rescind funds, including USDA Rental Assistance.
The House rescission bill, H.R. 3, passed on June 7. Currently, the Senate has no plans to vote on its companion bill, S. 2979. Both bills would rescind funding previously appropriated, including $40 million from Section 521 Rental Assistance, as requested by President Trump.

ROSS Service Coordinator funds available.
Applications are due July 30 for grants to hire Service Coordinators to operate Resident Opportunity and Self-Sufficiency Programs for PHAs, nonprofits, tribes, and TDHEs are eligible. For more information, contact HUD staff.

HUD offers Tribal Healthy Homes grants.
American Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments and tribal organizations can apply by July 18 for the Healthy Homes Production Grant Program for Tribal Housing. These $500,000-$1,000,000 grants, being offered for the first time since 2012, assist recipients to identify and remediate housing-related health and safety hazards. For more information, contact Michelle Miller, HUD.

USDA and NCDFIs partner to increase Native homeownership.
Under a new pilot program, USDA will loan $800,000 in Section 502 direct funds to each of two Native CDFIs, Mazaska Owecaso Otipi Financial and Four Bands Community Fund. They will relend the funds to homebuyers for mortgages on tribal lands in North and South Dakota. For more information, contact USDA Rural Development’s South Dakota state office.

CFPB dismisses members of three advisory boards.
On June 6 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau dismissed all members of its Consumer Advisory Board, Community Bank Advisory Council, and Credit Union Advisory Council. It announced it will increase other types of outreach and will reconstitute the advisory groups with new, smaller memberships. Reportedly the current members cannot reapply. This was done following a request in February for public comments about its external engagements.

UN report critiques US approach to poverty.
The United Nations has released the Report of the Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights on his Mission to the United States of America, which will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council on June 21. The Special Rapporteur, Australian human rights attorney Philip Alston, visited the U.S., including rural Lowndes County, AL, in December 2017. His report describes “a dramatic contrast between the immense wealth of the few and the squalor and deprivation in which vast numbers of Americans exist. For almost five decades the overall policy response has been neglectful at best, but the policies pursued over the past year seem deliberately designed to remove basic protections from the poorest, punish those who are not in employment and make even basic health care into a privilege to be earned rather than a right of citizenship.”

Answers to some common housing questions posted.
Every three months, housing publication Shelterforce offers a one-page response to a question that readers may be trying to answer. Recent questions include, “Why don’t people who get rental assistance get a job?,” “Can supporting community development improve outcomes for the health sector?,” and “Do rent regulations make the housing crisis worse?”

Guide helps select USDA refinancing for homeowners.
A new brief guide is intended to help lenders or others select appropriate USDA refinancing for current borrowers using the Section 502 direct or guaranteed programs. It also lists all items required in a complete loan application for each type of mortgage. For more information, contact an RD state office.

June is National Homeownership Month.
HUD’s theme for the month is “Find Your Place.”

HAC SEEKS WORKSHOP PROPOSALS.
HAC is trying something new for the 2018 Rural Housing Conference. We are looking to our constituents and partners for proposals for workshop sessions that engage participants and facilitate an active exchange of approaches and ideas to improve housing conditions for the rural poor. Check the online call for proposals and submit online by July 11. For more information, contact Mike Feinberg, 202-842-8600, or Kelly Cooney, 678- 649-3831.

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.

NOMINATE LOCAL AND NATIONAL LEADERS FOR HAC AWARDS..
HAC is now accepting nominations for its 2018 Cochran/Collings National Service and Skip Jason Community Service Leadership Awards. Nominations are due Friday July 13. The awards will be presented at the 2018 HAC Rural Housing Conference in December. Past awardees are listed on HAC’s site. Complete the online nomination form. For more information, contact Lilla Sutton, HAC, 202-842-8600.

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).