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HAC Releases Policy Note on Maturing USDA Section 515 Loans

~ Eric Oberdorfer ~ Leave a comment

On August 29, the Housing Assistance Council (HAC) published a Rural Policy Note on maturing USDA Rural Rental Housing Loans (Section 515). The policy note analyzed data on USDA’s multifamily loan portfolio as of the end of March 2016. The policy notes that once USDA Section 515 loans are paid in full, owners are under no obligation to maintain the properties as affordable housing. USDA’s Rural Housing program may soon see a significant decline in affordable rental units and properties as numerous existing Section 515 loans reach their maturity in the coming decades.

According to the policy note, “an average of 74 properties (1,788 units) per year will leave the program over the next 12 years (2016 – 2027). In 2028, the number properties exiting the program is expected to increase significantly with an average loss of 556 properties (16,364 units) per year through 2032. For the following eight years after 2032, the numbers of properties exiting the program increases for an average loss of roughly 22,600 units per year, peaking in 2040.”

According to HAC, as of March 2016, “there were about 13,830 Section 515 properties with over 416,000 rental units … [and n]early two-thirds of the households in these properties receive USDA Rental Assistance. The average tenant household has an income of about $13,600.” The loss of these units will have significant impacts to rural affordable housing.

NAHRO’s position on adequately funding all USDA Rural Development programs can be found here (members only).

 

September is Attendance Awareness Month

~ Georgi Banna ~ Leave a comment

As schools get into full swing this month, September is Attendance Awareness Month. For schools to work as centers of learning, it is important for students to be in class. Attendance Works focuses on the importance of student attendance and tracking student attendance data. PHAs and community development organizations can be an important partner with families and schools to insure increased school attendance and therefore improved educational outcomes for the children living in affordable housing..

As part of Attendance Awareness Month, Attendance Works is hosting a webinar on using attendance data.

Thursday, September 8, 2016: Ensuring an Equal Opportunity to Learn: Leveraging Chronic Absence Data for Strategic Action, 11-12:30 pm (PT) / 2-3:30 pm (ET). Register now.

In June 2016, the U.S. Office for Civil Rights released its first national count of students who were chronically absent. The data showed a staggering 6.5 million students were chronically absent, which means that they missed so much school that their ability to read well and gain fundamental skills and knowledge for college and career was hampered. In the 500 most heavily impacted districts, over 30% of students were chronically absent.

Join experts Hedy Chang, Executive Director of Attendance Works and Dr. Robert Balfanz, Director of the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University as they release a major national study analyzing the data and more importantly, showing how leaders at the local, state and national levels can take strategic action to monitor and address chronic absence in order to ensure an equal opportunity to learn and succeed.

 The webinar will provide suggestions and tips on to become engaged in attendance awareness month activities such as displaying an attendance poster at housing sites, establishing or expanding programmatic interventions such as a mentoring program, etc.

More information on Attendance Awareness Month and Attendance Works can be found at: http://awareness.attendanceworks.org/.

Register Now for HUD’s MTW Research Advisory Committee In-Person Meeting

~ Eric Oberdorfer ~ Leave a comment

HUD is hosting the MTW Expansion Research Advisory Committee for their 2 day, in-person meeting on Thursday and Friday, September 1 and 2. The in-person meeting will be held on Thursday, September 1, 2016 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and Friday, September 2, 2016 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (EDT) at HUD Headquarters, 451 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20410. The meeting is open to the public and is accessible to individuals with disabilities.

The public is invited to attend both days of the meeting in-person or by phone. Registration will be open from August 22 – August 26. Register here.

The agenda for the meetings can found here.

HUD Makes $33 Million Available for the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program

~ Jenny Hsu ~ Leave a comment

Yesterday, HUD published the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), opening up a competition to award $33 million to up to 10 communities (including 4 rural) across the nation. Awardees of the competition will use the federal resources to design and implement a coordinated community approach to ending youth homelessness.

YHDP applications must be submitted by a community’s  Continuum of Care (CoC) Collaborative Applicant and must be co-developed with a wide spectrum of community partners, including a youth advisory board (required), a state or local child welfare agency (required), youth homelessness housing and service providers, local school districts, workforce development organizations, law enforcement, judges, corrections and more.

YHDP applications are due by Wednesday, November 30, 2016. Additional information on the demonstration program can be found on HUD Exchange.

HUD-VASH Second Round Funding Announced

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

Yesterday, HUD and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced a second round of HUD-VASH funding. HUD-VASH combines vouchers from HUD with case management and clinical services provided by VA. Since 2008, more than 79,000 vouchers have been awarded. This round of funding provides 108 vouchers and $871,056 worth of funding.

A list of PHAs that have been awarded HUD-VASH vouchers can be found at HUD’s press release here.

NAHRO Submits Comment Letter on PHA Executive Compensation Data Collection

~ Eric Oberdorfer ~ Leave a comment

On Aug 19, NAHRO submitted comments to HUD regarding their 30-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection on Executive Compensation Information and HUD Form 52725. The letter states that although NAHRO understands HUD’s statutory requirement to collect information on executive compensation, we remain concerned about the usefulness and relevance of this data collection and its implications regarding the value and merit of operating a PHA, an increasingly difficult and understaffed job. HUD Form 52725 erases meaningful differences among executive roles at varying PHAs, and assumes organizational and governance structures of PHAs are the same across the country.

In this time of budget cuts and ever-increasing regulatory and funding uncertainty, NAHRO is particularly disappointed that the Department continues to devote its oversight resources to efforts such as this that have little or no value rather than focusing on pursuing meaningful regulatory reform that will streamline the delivery of housing and services to low-income Americans.

NAHRO’s letter is available here (members only).

President Issues Disaster Declaration for Southeastern Louisiana

~ Eric Oberdorfer ~ Leave a comment

President Obama has issued a disaster declaration for 20 parishes affected by the historic flooding in southeastern Louisiana. This qualifies individuals and local governments for assistance that can help clean-up and rebuild. Furthermore, the President’s declaration allows HUD to offer relief and other assistance to families living in affected areas.For more information on this assistance, please see HUD’s press release here.

As this is a presidentially declared natural disaster, housing authorities in the region will not be eligible to use emergency capital funds to address any damages resulting from the floods. Rather, emergency funding will be made available through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Please visit www.disasterassistance.gov to apply for assistance.

NAHRO is keeping those affected by this disaster in our thoughts. For those of you in the affected area, please stay safe.

HUD Posts Revised New Administrative Fee Formula Webcast

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

HUD has posted a webcast on the Revised New Administrative Fee Formula. We have updated our previous post on Administrative Fee Formula links to reflect this.

Watch the webcast about the revised new administrative fee formula here.

HUD Publishes Housing Trust Fund Income Limits and Guidance on Environmental Provisions

~ Jenny Hsu ~ Leave a comment

In May 2016, HUD announced the first-ever National Housing Trust Fund (HTF) allocations to states, amounting to nearly $174 million in available funds for FY 2016. HUD recently published the HTF Income Limits for FY 2016, which are calculated using the following methodologies:

  • The formula that HUD uses for calculating the income limits for the Section 8 program, in accordance with Section 3(b)(2) of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937, as amended. These limits are based on HUD estimates of median family income, with adjustments based on family size.
  • The Federal Poverty Line as determined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human services, published annually in the Federal Register.

In years in which the total amount available for allocations is below $1 billion (as is the case for FY 2016), the income limit reports will only display the limit for extremely low income families or families with incomes at or below the poverty line (whichever is greater) and will not include the very low income limit. The HTF FY 2016  Rent Limits are also available online, both limits became effective on July 1, 2016.

Additionally, HUD has made available new guidance entitled, “Requirements for Housing Trust Fund Environmental Provisions.” This notice describes the Environmental Provisions for new construction and rehabilitation that are required for HTF projects under the Property Standards at 24 CFR § 93.301(f)(1) and (2).

HUD Releases Renewable Energy Toolkit

~ Eric Oberdorfer ~ Leave a comment

HUD recently released their Renewable Energy Toolkit to help recipients of HUD Community Planning and Development (CPD) grants to integrate renewable energies into their affordable housing programs. These include groups receiving HOME, CDBG, HOPWA, or ESG dollars. The toolkit walks users through 4 phases of incorporating renewable energy in their affordable housing developments: feasibility analyses, prioritizing and soliciting renewable energy projects, project evaluation and selection, and implementation. HUD hopes to encourage grantees to integrate renewable energy into more affordable housing developments as it helps to maintain affordability through reduced energy costs, which can facilitate improved operations and maintenance.