Caitlin Jones Author Archives

Tax Credit Advisor April, 2006: Tax-credit developers are realizing that using variable-rate debt can yield big savings, particularly during the construction period. But they are also learning that these loans demand very careful handling when extended over the entire compliance period.

Tax Credit Advisor March, 2006: In a significant program change that could help preserve many aging rural affordable apartments, the Rural Housing Service (RHS) is permitting owners who have funded properties with Section 515 loans to rehabilitate those properties using Section 538 loans.

Tax Credit Advisor March, 2006: Recently implemented federal audit guidelines for public companies could sharply increase the cost of auditing properties funded with Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTCs).

Tax Credit Advisor March, 2006: Fannie Mae, currently the largest single investor in Low Income Housing Tax Credits, plans to begin selling selected LIHTC investments in 2006 as well as making additional purchases, according to Ed Neill, vice president for Multifamily Affordable Housing.

Tax Credit Advisor March, 2006: The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund has added $600 million in New Markets Tax Credits (NMTCs) to its current allocation round, acting quickly after Congress passed legislation at the end of 2005 to authorize $1 billion in new NMTCs to help rebuild communities devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Tax Credit Advisor March, 2006: For developers, large mixed-use projects pose special challenges. These challenges become even more daunting when the projects involve an adaptive reuse funded with Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits (HRTCs).

Tax Credit Advisor March, 2006: While the Federal Home Loan Bank System’s Affordable Housing Program (AHP) has been used with some success in combination with the Section 42 Program, it has not been a well-known or often-used adjunct to tax credit developments. However, a recent proposed rule of the Federal Housing Finance Board published in the Federal Register on December 28, 2005 would make the program more user-friendly for tax-credit developers.

Tax Credit Advisor February, 2006: Investor resistance has taken the steam out of tax-credit equity price increases, according to syndicators interviewed in late January. Some syndicators said this was evidence that a peak has at last been reached in prices after more than a year of sharp increases. Others disagreed.

Tax Credit Advisor February, 2006: New Markets Tax Credit proponents have high hopes that when Congress passes tax reconciliation legislation, it will include a provision that would extend the NMTC program through 2008.

Tax Credit Advisor February, 2006: For rehabilitation projects involving more than one certified historic structure where the structures are judged by the Secretary to have been functionally related historically to serve an overall purpose, such as a mill complex or a residence and carriage house, rehabilitation certification will be issued on the merits of the overall project rather than for each structure or individual component.

Tax Credit Advisor February, 2006: The National Park Service had recent welcome news for the Corky McMillin Companies, as the developer works to complete its part of the Liberty Station project, the redevelopment of a huge former naval boot camp in San Diego, Calif. The NPS has agreed to allow McMillin, which is leasing one part of the Liberty Station property, to separately apply for historic tax credits.

Tax Credit Advisor February, 2006: As every tax credit developer and manager knows, there is no shortage of complex rules for the program, any one of which can threaten the credits of a property when incorrectly applied. But two issues have been recurring problems in 2005 and deserve special attention as we move into the New Year. They involve the incorrect inclusion of common area in eligible basis and failure to include mandatory charges to residents in gross rent.