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HAC News: July 12, 2019

July 12, 2019/in HAC News Broadband

News Formats. pdf

July 12, 2019
Vol. 48, No. 14

Rural rental preservation bill passes House committee unanimously • HUD’s mixed-status families proposal receives comments and analysis • USDA offers funds for farmworker housing and issues new guidance on renting to H-2A workers • Funding available to provide housing and services for victims of human trafficking • Census to proceed without citizenship question • Legality of ERS/NIFA relocation challenged • Deadlines extended for mortgage data comments • Affordable rental housing significantly further out of reach now than in 1989 • RuralSTAT • OMB publishes 2019 Compliance Supplement for federal audits • Unsheltered and Uncounted: Rural America’s Hidden Homeless • Americans in the Most Financially Distressed Zip Codes are Trapped in a ‘Really Troubling’ Catch-22 • The Education Deserts of Rural America • 2019 Kids Count Data Book • Rural America Faces Housing Shortage. How One Town is Addressing It • Rural Electrification 2.0: The Transition to a Clean Energy Economy • HAC is hiring! • HAC and Fannie Mae to hold webinars on colonias in New Mexico and Arizona • HAC offers Section 502 packaging training for nonprofits, August 6-8 in Michigan • Need capital for your affordable housing project?

HAC News Formats. pdf

July 12, 2019
Vol. 48, No. 14

Rural rental preservation bill passes House committee unanimously.

The Strategy and Investment in Rural Housing Preservation Act, H.R. 3620, was approved by the House Financial Services Committee in a 57-0 vote on July 11. Introduced by Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO) and Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), the bill would authorize the MPR and preservation technical assistance programs, authorize vouchers for tenants after a mortgage matures or is foreclosed (in addition to after prepayment), allow decoupling of Rental Assistance as a last resort, require USDA to develop a preservation plan, and establish a stakeholders’ committee to advise USDA.

HUD’s mixed-status families proposal receives comments and analysis.

HUD received nearly 29,000 comments on its proposed rule that would require landlords to evict tenants whose immigration status makes them ineligible for aid, even if other members of the family are eligible. HAC provided comments opposing the regulation. Analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that 95% of those who would be impacted by the rule are people of color, including 85% who are Latinx, 56% female, and 53% children. Another proposed change that would require tenants to verify their citizenship or immigration status would impact 9 million citizens currently receiving HUD rental assistance, 72% of them people of color, 39% children and 17% seniors. The Center for Migration Studies estimates up to 11.5 million people could lose eligibility for housing assistance under the proposal.

USDA offers funds for farmworker housing and issues new guidance on renting to H-2A workers.

Nonprofits, tribes and government entities are eligible to submit pre-applications for Section 514 loans and Section 516 grants to develop off-farm housing for farmworkers. The deadline is August 30. USDA has also published an Unnumbered Letter dated May 30, 2019 that replaces a July 5, 2018 UL and provides information about allowing farmworkers with H-2A visas to live in Section 514/516 housing. The new UL includes more details than the 2018 version. For more information, contact a USDA RD state office.

Funding available to provide housing and services for victims of human trafficking.

HUD and the Department of Justice will make grants to nonprofits, for-profits, local or state governments and tribes to provide safe housing and specialized services to assist victims of human trafficking. Applications are due October 30. For more information, contact Sherri L. Boyd, HUD.

Census to proceed without citizenship question.

On June 11, President Trump issued an Executive Order instructing federal agencies to provide the Commerce Department any data they have that might help determine numbers of citizens and non-citizens. The order says the Supreme Court’s recent decision questioning the Administration’s rationale for including a citizenship question on the 2020 Census left “no practical mechanism” for making the question part of the census. It also states that obtaining accurate data on total numbers of citizens and non-citizens “has nothing to do with enforcing immigration laws against particular individuals” and records will continue to be confidential.

Legality of ERS/NIFA relocation challenged.

Politico reports that NBL Associates, the landlord that leases Washington, DC space to USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, filed a formal complaint (subscription required) on June 28 with the Government Accountability Office. NBL charges that USDA’s search for new space for NIFA and the Economic Research Service violates federal procurement law. It argues the process should begin again and should include the DC area. USDA has not changed its plans to move employees to temporary office space in Kansas City beginning by August 1, but it did change its deadline to August 7 rather than July 7 for bids from building owners in the Kansas City area.

Deadlines extended for mortgage data comments.

In May, CFPB requested comments on two proposals that could limit available Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data. The deadline for input on data points that are currently collected was July 8 but has been changed to October 15. The bureau also announced it will reopen the comment period on some aspects of a proposed rule to exempt lenders that originate small numbers of mortgages, but the official document has not yet appeared in the Federal Register.

Affordable rental housing significantly further out of reach now than in 1989.

Out of Reach 2019 marks the 30^th anniversary of this National Low Income Housing Coalition report. In the late 1980s housing assistance reached only one in three eligible households, but today that figure is fewer than one in four. The report’s interactive site provides data for every county, state, and metro area.

RuralSTAT.

More than 3.5 million rural workers are employed in the manufacturing sector. Manufacturing comprises 14% of rural jobs compared to 10% nationally. To learn more about industry and employment in your community visit HAC’s Rural Data Portal.

OMB publishes 2019 Compliance Supplement for federal audits.

The annual supplement to OMB’s Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to audits of entities that use any of a lengthy list of federal housing programs.

Recent publications and media of interest

Unsheltered and Uncounted: Rural America’s Hidden Homeless, a National Public Radio story, examines the growing problem of rural homelessness, where challenges in getting accurate counts still persist. Additionally, according to organizations working with the rural homeless in Kentucky, people are now less likely to be doubling up in crowded houses and more likely to sleep outdoors or in cars.
Americans in the Most Financially Distressed Zip Codes are Trapped in a ‘Really Troubling’ Catch-22 reports on an Economic Innovation Group analysis that found the most distressed zip codes are concentrated in the Southeast, rural West, and urban centers in the Northeast and Midwest, places that have the country’s most persistent pockets of really entrenched poverty. Rural areas are projected to never fully recover from the Great Recession and a lack of job opportunities continues to make rural areas less appealing places to live, the article says.
The Education Deserts of Rural America notes that the high-school education gap between urban and rural students has decreased but the college-completion gap has widened. (The author uses Economic Research Service data.) Rural students often have to travel greater distances than their urban peers to attend college, limited broadband access eliminates online education as an option, and many states have disinvested in public higher education.
2019 Kids Count Data Book is the 30^th edition of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s compilation of figures. The foundation reports that 11 of the 16 areas of child well-being it tracks have improved since 1990, though housing cost burden rates increased. Racial and ethnic disparities persist. Data are provided for the U.S. and each state.
Rural America Faces Housing Shortage. How One Town is Addressing It looks at how a town in Nebraska and other rural communities are addressing the need for more affordable housing, especially workforce housing. The piece quotes HAC CEO David Lipsetz and references HAC’s research on the looming rural rental housing crisis.
Rural Electrification 2.0: The Transition to a Clean Energy Economy reports that while many rural areas in the United States provide the infrastructure for clean energy, the power generated is not used locally. Rural electric cooperatives derive two-thirds of their energy from fossil fuels. The report authors argue that the decreasing cost of producing wind- and solar-powered energy makes the transition to renewable resources more affordable and makes economic sense in the long run.

HAC is hiring!

Housing Specialist: based primarily in the Southwest or Western U.S. to provide direct technical assistance, coaching and training to nonprofits, government agencies and others.

Portfolio Manager: based in DC to manage a portfolio of loans made to entities engaged in affordable housing activities in rural communities.

Both positions come with competitive salaries, generous benefits and the opportunity to work in a fun and mission-focused environment.

HAC and Fannie Mae to hold webinars on colonias in New Mexico and Arizona.

HAC, in partnership with Fannie Mae, will hold webinars in July and August presenting data and research on Colonias Investment Areas, a geographic concept developed to target mortgage finance and resource investment in colonia communities along the southwest U.S. border. A webinar on July 17 will focus on New Mexico, and one on August 7 will focus on Arizona. For more information, contact HAC staff, 404-892-4824.

HAC offers Section 502 packaging training for nonprofits, August 6-8 in Michigan.

This three-day advanced course trains experienced participants to assist potential borrowers and work with RD staff, other nonprofits and regional intermediaries to deliver successful Section 502 loan packages. The training will be held in East Lansing, MI on August 6-8. For more information, contact HAC staff, 404-892-4824.

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).

HAC News: May 31, 2019

May 31, 2019/in HAC News

News Formats. pdf

May 31, 2019
Vol. 48, No. 11

Rural Housing Service administrator named • Section 533 Housing Preservation Grants available • House subcommittees approve USDA and HUD spending bills for FY20 • Disaster bill passes Senate but not House • Section 504 repair pilot announced • USDA will propose rule on housing for mixed-status families • HUD drafting change to rule on gender identity protection • RuralSTAT • Recent publications and media of interest • HAC Section 502 packaging training for nonprofits in Nashville set for June 19-20 • Need capital for your affordable housing project?

HAC News Formats. pdf

May 31, 2019
Vol. 48, No.11

Rural Housing Service administrator named.

Bruce Lammers has been appointed RHS administrator and began work on May 28. His career has been in banking with an emphasis on government-guaranteed lending.

Section 533 Housing Preservation Grants available.

State and local governments, nonprofits, federally recognized Indian Tribes, and consortia of eligible entities are eligible for these grants, which can be used to repair and rehab homes for low- and very low-income owners or rental units available to low- and very low-income tenants. Apply by July 8 to an RD state office or at grants.gov. For more information, contact Bonnie Edwards-Jackson, RD, 202-690-0759.

House subcommittees approve USDA and HUD spending bills for FY20.

FY20 funding bills for both USDA and HUD passed separate House appropriations subcommittees in May 23 and next will be considered by the full Appropriations Committee. No spending measures have been introduced in the Senate so far. Both House bills provide level funding or increases for housing programs, rejecting the Administration’s budget requests. USDA Rural Development would see increases in the Section 523 self-help program and rental housing preservation resources including Section 515, MPR and Section 542 vouchers, although technical assistance funding for preservation is not included. USDA’s funding bill would also prevent USDA’s planned move of ERS and NIFA out of the Washington, DC area.

Disaster bill passes Senate but not House.

The Senate passed the repeatedly delayed disaster relief bill, H.R. 2157, on May 23, after President Trump agreed to sign it into law. The House was not able to pass the bill, however, and Congress is now on recess until June 3.

Section 504 repair pilot announced.

In an attempt to increase use of the Section 504 repair loan program by low- and very low-income homeowners, USDA is waiving some regulatory requirements in 20 states and Puerto Rico for fiscal years 2019 and 2020. The pilot also raises the dollar limits in those places from $20,000 for loans and $7,500 for grants to $40,000 for loans and $10,000 for grants. For more information, contact an RD state office.

USDA will propose rule on housing for mixed-status families.

USDA is drafting a regulation on housing aid for families with mixed immigration statuses. The agency’s summary says it will “harmonize” its requirements with HUD’s. HUD recently proposed to evict people who are ineligible for HUD housing assistance because of their immigration status, rather than continuing to allow them to live in units with eligible family members and receive pro-rated aid. USDA hopes to publish its rule for public comment in August.

HUD drafting change to rule on gender identity protection.

HUD is preparing a change in regulations that would allow HUD-funded homeless shelters to treat transgender people as belonging to the sex they were assigned at birth rather than the sex with which they identify, eliminating a 2016 rule that requires recognition of individuals’ gender identities. HUD estimates that the revised rule will be published for public comment in September. The House’s HUD appropriations bill includes language that would block this change.

RuralSTAT. In 2010, 79.3% of U.S. households completed Census forms, resulting in a national non-response rate of 20.7%. Census response rates were not evenly distributed across the country and varied greatly by location. See the Census 2020 estimated response rate for your community using the Census Bureau’s ROAM tool. Over the next year HAC will provide updates and resources to help improve Census response in your community.

Recent publications and media of interest

Community Based Advocates Toolkit: A Resource Guide for Professionals Helping Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Stalking and Dating Violence Survivors explains the housing rights of survivors and offers sample demand letters that advocates and survivors can use. The toolkit was developed by the National Alliance for Safe Housing and the National Housing Law Project.
Contract-for-deed Settlements Spreading Across Rural Missouri reports on a Phelps County Focus and Salem News investigation into a land purchase arrangement in Missouri and 16 other states that allows those with poor credit scores or lacking resources to put down small amounts of money to live on a lot and pay monthly installments toward formally obtaining a property deed. However, those signing these contract-for-deed agreements can lose the land for non-payment or violating covenants in their contracts. Many of the lots do not have access to electricity, running water, or paved roads. Contracts for deed were responsible for the development of many colonias in Texas, known for their inadequate infrastructure and utilities.
Ending Child Poverty Now updates a 2015 Children’s Defense Fund publication and identifies nine policy improvements that could be enacted immediately, including expanding housing vouchers. Investing an additional 1.4% of the federal budget could cut child poverty at least 57%, CDF says.
The Impacts of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Redemptions on County-Level Employment, published by ERS, reports that use of USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly Food Stamps) increased employment in nonmetro counties before and during the recession. After the recession, from 2011 through 2014, the impact was not statistically significant.
Insult to Injury: Natural Disasters and Residents’ Financial Health, by the Urban Institute, reveals that natural disasters that do not receive federal aid – typically less severe disasters – cause the greatest decreases in area residents’ credit scores. The negative impacts on financial health sometimes increase over time. Persons and communities hardest hit are often those who are more likely to be struggling before the disaster.
Life in Rural America—Part II is a report based on a survey conducted for NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The original Life in Rural America report was published last fall. Findings in Part II include 40% of rural Americans struggling with routine medical bills, food and housing costs. And 49% say they could not afford an unexpected $1,000 expense. A U.S. News & World Report story on the survey highlights the housing elements of the poll results and references HAC’s research on the looming crisis in affordable rental housing.

HAC Section 502 packaging training for nonprofits in Nashville set for June 19-20.

This three-day advanced course trains experienced participants to assist potential borrowers and work with RD staff, other nonprofits, and regional intermediaries to deliver successful Section 502 loan packages. The training will be held June 19-20. For more information, contact HAC staff, 404-892-4824.

Need capital for your affordable housing project?

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 News: May 21, 2019

May 20, 2019/in HAC News

News Formats. pdf

May 21, 2019
Vol. 48, No. 10

Competitive Indian Housing Block Grant funds available • HUD proposes to evict mixed-status families • Comments invited on changing inflation measurement for poverty limits • Mortgage data comment deadlines set • USDA announces top sites for ERS and NIFA relocations, agency staffs vote on unionizing • Congressional updates • Recent publications and media of interest • HAC Section 502 packaging training for nonprofits in Nashville set for June 19-20 • Need capital for your affordable housing project?

HAC News Formats. pdf

May 21, 2019
Vol. 48, No.10

Competitive Indian Housing Block Grant funds available.
Tribes and tribally designated housing authorities can apply by August 8 for IHBG funds. HUD will give priority to new construction, rehabilitation work, and infrastructure projects that will enable future construction or rehab of housing. For more information, contact HUD staff.

HUD proposes to evict mixed-status families.
A proposed regulation would require public housing authorities and private landlords with HUD-assisted tenants to check tenants’ immigration status and to evict those who are not eligible for HUD aid. (Eligibility is not determined solely by citizenship or undocumented status. Some non-citizens who are legally in the U.S. are eligible and others are ineligible.) Currently, when ineligible immigrants have family members such as citizen children who are eligible, the dollar amount of the assistance is pro-rated and all members of the mixed-status family are allowed to live in the unit. HUD’s analysis of the proposed change estimates that 25,000 families, including 55,000 children who are eligible for HUD assistance, would have to separate, move or be evicted. Comments are due July 9. Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX) has introduced H.R. 2763, which would block the rule. Keep-Families-Together.org also provides an opposing perspective. HUD’s contact for information is John Gibbs, 202-402-4445.

Comments invited on changing inflation measurement for poverty limits.
OMB is considering changing the inflation calculation that is used to adjust the Official Poverty Measure every year. It seeks public comments for consideration by a working group it has assembled to make a recommendation. The poverty guidelines that determine eligibility for a number of housing programs are calculated based on the Official Poverty Measure, so a change in the OPM would lead to a change in eligibility. Comments are due June 25. For more information, contact Bob Sivinski, OMB, 202-395-1205.

Mortgage data comment deadlines set.
Comments are due June 12 on a rule change proposed by the CFPB that would exempt small-volume lenders from Home Mortgage Disclosure Act reporting requirements. Comments are due July 8 on HMDA data points required by a 2015 CFPB rule. For more information, contact CFPB’s Office of Regulations, 202-435-7700, or submit a question online.

USDA announces top sites for ERS and NIFA relocations, agency staffs vote on unionizing.
USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue announced the finalists for relocation of the Economic Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The proposal to move the agencies has generated opposition from concerned parties in the field, members of Congress and former USDA officials. On May 9, ERS employees voted 138-4 to join the American Federation of Government Employees, and a union vote at NIFA is scheduled for June 11.

Congressional updates

A HUD oversight hearing was held by the House Financial Services Committee on May 21. Secretary Ben Carson’s written testimony was posted in advance.
Several appropriations bills for FY20 have been developed and passed by the House Appropriations Committee, but work has not yet begun on a USDA spending measure. The Transportation-HUD subcommittee will take up the T-HUD spending bill on May 23. The Senate Appropriations Committee has not considered any FY20 bills. Party leaders and the White House are scheduled to begin discussions May 21 on lifting the spending caps imposed by the 2011 Budget Control Act.
A disaster assistance bill, H.R. 2157, passed the House on May 10. The Senate may vote on its version of the long-delayed bill the week of May 20.
Short-term reauthorization for the National Flood Insurance Programpassed the House on May 14. The program is scheduled to expire May 31. The bill, H.R. 2578, reauthorizes it through September 30.

Recent publications and media of interest

USDA Rural Development Housing Funding Activity: FY 2018 Year-End Report, HAC’s annual compilation of data on USDA rural housing spending, reports that 131,487 loans, loan guarantees and grants totaling about $18.4 billion were obligated in FY18. Under the Section 521 Rental Assistance and Section 542 voucher programs, about $1.37 billion assisted 274,867 tenant households. All funding in the Section 502 direct loan program was obligated, with almost 33% of the funds going to very low-income households. The report includes tables and maps showing obligation data by program and by state, as well as data by fiscal year for each of the programs since program inception.
As Americans Spread Out, Immigration Plays a Crucial Role in Local Population Growth, published by the Brookings Institution, covers the importance of immigration in U.S. population increases. For the past two years growth rates have declined in large metro areas, while nonmetro areas have gained population.
Most of America’s Rural Areas are Doomed to Decline,a recent analysis by an Iowa State University economist, provides a gloomy economic outlook for many rural areas. Data indicates that most “smaller urban areas and rural counties are not growing and will not grow.” This is due, the author writes, to outmigration of people of prime working age and loss of skilled workforce.
A Small Bank Tackles Rural Housing Affordabilityis an episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast featuring Christie Obenauer, president of the family-owned Union State Bank in Hazen, ND. In the 19-minute conversation Obenauer discusses how her bank addressed a housing crunch brought on by a fracking boom in a neighboring county, approaches for financing housing deals, using manufactured housing to build quickly, and succession planning for small rural organizations.
This Map Shows How Much More Expensive It Is to Own a Home than to Rent in Every U.S. Stateis a CNBC analysis of American Community Survey data. The difference varies from $1,100 per month in New Jersey to $300 in Arkansas.

HAC Section 502 packaging training for nonprofits in Nashville set for June 19-20.
This three-day advanced course trains experienced participants to assist potential borrowers and work with RD staff, other nonprofits, and regional intermediaries to deliver successful Section 502 loan packages. The training will be held June 19-20. For more information, contact HAC staff, 404-892-4824.

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).

Tag Archive for: mixed-status families

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