The Fiscal Year 2023 President’s Budget included a request to decouple USDA Section 521 Rental Assistance from Section 515 Multifamily Loans to facilitate the rehabilitation and preservation of the multifamily portfolio. To explore the potential impacts, Congress directed USDA to conduct a series of stakeholder meetings and provide a report on how decoupling would be implemented. HAC submitted comments in support of decoupling, with a focus on the topics below.

• Making Long Term Affordability Parameters the Top Priority
• Considering A Pilot Concept When Implementing Decoupling
• Clarifying the Annual Rent Increase Process for Decoupled RA Units
• Establishing A Plan for Units Without Rental Assistance in Decoupled Properties
• Maintaining Support for the Entire Suite of Preservation Programs, Even If Decoupling Becomes an Option
• Establishing A Plan for Prepayments, Since the Bulk of Units Are Lost to Prepayments
• Improving Data Transparency At RHS

Read HAC’s full comments.

HAC Decoupling Comments 2023