A. J. Johnson Author Archives

Tax Credit Advisor March 2009: After years of lobbying by advocates led by the Michigan Historic Preservation Network (MHPN), Michigan has significantly improved its 25% state historic tax credit. The changes made by the legislation signed 1/9/09 (SB 973, HB 6496) include to increase by as much as 400% the amount of the state credit when combined with the 20% federal historic rehabilitation tax credit.

By Elizabeth L. Moreland, NCP-E, SCS, HCCP, SHCM, FHC

Tax Credit Advisor, March 2009: Proper compliance is essential for the success of every low-income housing tax credit property. Increasingly, the individuals whose job is to ensure, review, or oversee tax credit compliance – property managers, corporate supervisors, etc. – have one or more compliance professional designations. What are these different designations? How do they differ? Which are most appropriate for a particular individual? Here, compliance expert/trainer Elizabeth L. Moreland provides a road map and guidance through the alphabet soup of multiple designation programs.

Tax Credit Advisor, March 2009: (Patrick Nash, based in Chicago, is Managing Director of Housing Investments for JPMorgan Capital Corporation, an investor in low-income housing tax credits. He is also president for 2009 of the Affordable Housing Investors Council. In excerpts from an early February interview, Nash spoke about AHIC, his firm’s activities, and the housing credit market.)

Tax Credit Advisor, March 2009: Just about every neighborhood has a corner school. But when the neighborhood is revitalized, is the school improved as well?

Tax Credit Advisor, March 2009: Florida developer Debra Koehler is using her past experience in building affordable apartments and renovating office towers to undertake a housing preservation niche – the rehabilitation and preservation of urban high-rise apartment buildings as affordable housing.

Tax Credit Advisor, March 2009: A New York housing agency has announced the creation of a new equity fund to jumpstart equity investment in low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) projects in Upstate New York.

Tax Credit Advisor, March 2009: A new national organization has developed an agenda of proposed federal legislative and policy changes to promote increased energy efficiency in affordable multifamily rental housing projects, and to reward investment for such activities.

Tax Credit Advisor, March 2009: Affordable housing professionals are both happy and sad about the newly enacted economic stimulus bill. They’re pleased with provisions that will provide billions of dollars in new funds for stalled low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) projects, and billions more for improvements to public and assisted housing projects. But they’re dismayed that the final bill left out other vital tax proposals designed to address today’s severe shortage of housing credit equity.

Tax Credit Advisor, March 2009: State allocating agencies in the Southeast U.S. are experiencing differing impacts from changed market conditions as they carry out their 2009 low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) application cycles.

Tax Credit Advisor, March 2009: The new economic stimulus act contains billions of new dollars for affordable rental housing that should be channeled to developers in the near future, including for stalled low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) projects.

Tax Credit Advisor, February 2009: On 1/22/09, the U.S. Senate confirmed Shaun Donovan as the new Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Former Iowa governor Thomas Vilsack was confirmed on 1/20/09 as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers federal rural housing programs.

Tax Credit Advisor, February 2009:The USDA’s Rural Housing Service has solicited proposals from lenders for new Section 538 guaranteed loans for rural affordable rental housing projects, subject to the availability of appropriations. About $129 million was appropriated for the program in the last fiscal year (FY 2008).