Tax Credit Advisor Article Archives

Call it an exodus, call it a coincidence or call it a meme, but Americans are heading to the cities in the largest numbers since the Industrial Revolution changed a rural society into an urban society at the end of the 19th century. This latest great migration is from the center of the country towards all the edges. And it’s not surprising since the cities are beautiful. A month ago, I traveled from my home in beautiful Washington to Boston, Pittsburgh, Charleston and Atlanta and each of them was beautiful in its own quirky way.

During Bernie Husser’s two-year term as chair of the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association (NH&RA), which ends at the annual meeting in March, the organization has launched its Preservation Through Energy Efficiency initiative, fought for affordable housing in Congress and watched over the launch of a new federal program to recapitalize public housing. Husser has been in the business of affordable housing for more than two decades.

Even as tax reform looms on the horizon, the LIHTC is under a different mortal threat, one from an unlikely source – the Obama Administration and its judicially questionable but so-far politically effective blunderbuss known as disparate impact. If not struck down in a case just argued in the Supreme Court, then we might as well kiss goodbye states’ autonomy to set their own QAPs and to make binding awards, and say sayanora to the LIHTC production pipeline as we know it.

You might be thinking, “Why is NH&RA hosting a symposium on public housing revitalization now?” And maybe even, “Why should I care?” After all, most of our readers are LIHTC developers and owners of HUD-assisted properties, not housing authority staff. Furthermore the days when HOPE VI was funded annually at $600 million+ are way back in the rearview mirror. Yes, we may be forced to do more with less, but the need is great, the opportunities are numerous, new resources are available (I think you’ve heard me mention RAD before in this column) and perhaps most importantly, it is going to require the creative acumen of the private sector to solve the growing number of challenges housing authorities face.

There is common consensus now that the pursuit of energy efficiency is not only the right and civic thing to do, but can offer substantial savings to those paying the bills, be they owners or tenants. But to be most effective, there has to be some way of quantifying and calculating that efficiency.

In 2011, the CDFI published New Markets Tax Credit, Compliance and Monitoring Frequently Asked Questions, designed to help NMTC users understand the rules governing the program. It was updated this past December, and here we outline the most relevant revisions and changes.

When the term “historic Texas building” is mentioned, almost everyone conjures up the same image: the Alamo Mission in San Antonio, with its heroic evocations of Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie and Colonel William Travis. But Texas’ rich history has generated many lesser-known structures well worth preserving. And in 2013, the state legislature went a long way toward promoting their creative and functional re-use, through the passage of House Bill 500: the Texas Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit.

An estimated 70 percent of multi-family, affordable housing (MFAH) in western Pennsylvania is more than 30 years old—and most of these units are wasting as much as half the energy they use.

On any given morning, the manager of any rental apartment or housing complex can expect to be barraged with a diverse array of questions, comments and complaints from tenants. They may range from no heat or cooling or hot water, to dripping faucets, noise, cooking odors or smoke from next-door, burned-out light bulbs in the hallway, lost keys, balky appliances, perceived rudeness from a staff member or someone else’s car in an assigned parking space. Each manager has his or her own roster of recurring “favorites”.

Young singles have plenty of personal, economic, and social mobility; they have minimal cash assets (and possibly maximal student-loan liabilities); they want to live somewhere close to work and pay as little cash for it as they can. Their needs beautifully complement what the elderly homeowners have, and what they have is what the elderly need.

This December, work finished on a renovation that’s likely to cut the total energy used at a home for very low-income seniors by more than a third.

A young mother working full-time takes classes leading to a degree in emergency response management. With this degree will come a new career and improved life for her family. Before leaving the building, she buys fresh produce and groceries, and at the bus stop on the public plaza near the main entrance, chats with neighbors.