NH&RA News

By Caitlin Jones
November 16, 2009 5 min read

Tax Credit Advisor, November 2009:

NH&RA to Make 2009 Vision Awards to Boston Pacesetters

The National Housing & Rehabilitation Association (NH&RA) will present its 2009 Affordable Housing Vision Award to two Bostonians for outstanding accomplishments and leadership in the field of affordable housing, at a November 2 ceremony in Boston during the NH&RA Fall Developers Forum.

Receiving the award will be David Smith, CEO of CAS Financial Advisory Services, and Lisa Alberghini, President of Planning Office for Urban Affairs, the housing arm of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. (For profiles of the two recipients, see p. 20.)

NH&RA Announces Finalists for 2009 Timmy Awards

Twenty-three outstanding historic rehabilitation projects have been named as finalists by NH&RA for the 2009 J. Timothy Anderson Awards. The winner in each of eight categories will be announced at a November 3 ceremony during the NH&RA Fall Developers Forum in Boston. (For profiles of the 2009 Timmy Award finalists, see pp. 25-30.)

The J. Timothy Awards for Excellence in Historic Rehabilitation is sponsored by NH&RA and co-sponsored by the National Trust Community Investment Corporation.

NH&RA advances the cause of historic preservation through its Historic Preservation Development Council. NH&RA, in fact, has endorsed a new historic tax credit bill recently introduced in the U.S. House and Senate (see p. 2 for article on bill).

Crucial Energy Retrofitting Legislation to Be Introduced

U.S. Representative Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Ohio), a member of the House Financial Services Committee, is soon expected to introduce a bill to provide creative ways to fund green energy retrofits to affordable rental housing properties, including those assisted, subsidized, or insured by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

NH&RA’s Council for Energy Friendly Affordable Housing (CEFAH) has been instrumental in shaping the contents of the legislation. The measure reflects key policy priorities contained in a CEFAH document entitled, White Paper on Federal Energy Policy Recommendations for HUD and the Congress.

At press time the forthcoming bill is expected to: permit loans against residual receipt account funds to cover the costs of retrofitting; create a new “green dividend” that would be paid to owners who upgrade the existing energy systems in their properties; study potential federal exemptions from building codes to allow for distributive energy generation and water efficiency measures; and require owners of HUD-assisted properties to report to HUD regularly regarding utility consumptions.

CEFAH is a working group of active owners and managers in affordable housing. For details, go to http://www.housingonline.com/CouncilForEnergyFriendlyAffordableHousing.aspx, or contact Thom Amdur of NH&RA, [email protected], 202-939-1753.

NH&RA Surveys Developers on TCAP, Exchange Projects

NH&RA’s Developers Council has surveyed its member organizations and companies on their experiences to date with the federal Tax Credit Assistance Program (TCAP) and credit exchange program. Both programs provide federal dollars through state housing credit agencies to plug funding gaps in stalled low-income housing tax credit projects so that they can move forward.

The responses collected as of October 15 indicated that the respondents are working on or have closed more than 100 transactions assisted with TCAP or exchange funds, containing 7,500 affordable housing units. The projects, located in more than 20 states and 80% of which are new construction, range in size from 20 to more than 200 units with the average at 66 units.

As part of the survey, NH&RA collected feedback and data, and identified a number of themes and issues. For instance, timing seemed to be the biggest issue/concern cited by respondents with closing TCAP/exchange transactions. The complete analysis is available to NH&RA Members on www.housingonline.com. Contact Thom Amdur at 202-939-1753 or [email protected] for additional details.

NCAHMA Submits Comments, Develops Model

The National Council of Affordable Housing Market Analysts (NCAHMA), a council within NH&RA, recently submitted comments on the proposed 2010 low-income housing tax credit qualified allocation plans of several states, including that of the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority, Washington State Housing Finance Commission, and Louisiana Housing Finance Agency. NCAHMA has been urging state agencies that have not already done so to incorporate NCAHMA’s standards for affordable housing market analysts and for market studies for affordable housing projects in their LIHTC programs. NCAHMA has also developed a model comment letter on this topic.

NCAHMA will be holding its Affordable Housing Underwriting Forum and Annual Meeting on November 9-10 in Chicago.

(For details on NCAHMA and on its Annual Meeting, go to http://www.housingonline.com.)

Committee Submits Comments on NMTC

NH&RA’s New Markets Steering Committee recently submitted comments to the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund on the allocation application used for the federal new markets tax credit (NMTC) program. The Committee’s letter commented on numerous areas, including the program’s related party test and various economic thresholds. The CDFI Fund has solicited comments in preparation for a 2010 NMTC funding round. NH&RA also has signed on to an industry letter urging Congress to support pending bills (H.R. 2628, S. 1583) that would extend the NMTC program.

NH&RA Urges Senators to Support Bill

NH&RA recently wrote to U.S. Sens. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), the chairman and a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee, urging them and the Senate to support and pass legislation to modify FHA multifamily mortgage limits, similar to changes proposed by a bill (H.R. 3527) recently approved by the House of Representatives. The House bill would increase FHA multifamily loan limits for elevator buildings by up to 50% of the limits for non-elevator buildings, and increase loan limits for extremely high-cost areas.

Breaking Ground

Jennifer Leimaile Ho, Minnesota Housing Commissioner and Incoming Chair of National Council of State Housing Agencies

Pamela Martineau • December 1, 2024 10 min read

Earlier this fall, Jennifer Leimaile Ho was elected chair of the National Council of State Housing Agencies’ (NCSHA) 2025 Board of Directors. Ho is the Commissioner of Minnesota Housing, having been appointed by Governor Tim Walz in January 2019 and reappointed in 2023.

“Business as Usual”

Leaders in Equity Express Optimism Despite an Uncertain Future

Abram Mamet • December 1, 2024 9 min read

Any outside observer may assume some unease amongst the low-income housing industry. Buffeted on the one hand by residual stressors from the COVID-19 pandemic and on the other by the uncertain prospects of an incoming federal administration keen on cutting spending and shrinking government programs, the affordable housing landscape is experiencing an inflection point.

NCSHA Recognizes Stand-Out Affordable Housing Programs and Initiatives

Pamela Martineau • December 1, 2024 7 min read

This fall, the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA) recognized 17 programs offered by state housing finance agencies across the nation that creatively developed tools to tackle their communities’ affordable housing challenges.