The IRS Chief Counsel is appointed by the President of the United States, with the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate, and serves as the chief legal advisor to the IRS Commissioner on all matters pertaining to the interpretation, administration, and enforcement of the Internal Revenue Code,...
President Donald Trump recently announced that he would nominate Mark Calabria, chief economist to Vice President Mike Pence, to be the new director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) for a term of five years. Prior to his current position in the administration, Mr. Calabria was...
A recent report from Zillow Research titled, “Homelessness Rises More Quickly Where Rent Exceeds a Third of Income,” looked at the relationship between rent affordability and homelessness. The report found that communities where the median rent is more than 32 percent of the median...
The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University released a study highlighting housing needs as the U.S. population ages. More than half of the nation’s householders are at least 50 years of age, and more than one-quarter are at least 65 years of age. Between 2011 and 2016, the...
The IRS recently announced an increase in the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) and private-activity bond caps for 2019. Revenue Procedure 2018-57 sets the 2019 amounts used to calculate each state’s LIHTC ceiling at the greater of $2.76 multiplied by the state population, or $3,166,...
The Treasury Department and IRS recently released their third quarter update to their 2018–2019 Priority Guidance Plan, detailing tax guidance the government intends to focus its efforts on in the coming months. The update identifies projects needed to implement tax changes made by the...
State and local source-of-income nondiscrimination laws prohibit landlords from discriminating against potential renters who receive income from sources such as alimony, disability benefits, and Housing Choice Vouchers (HCVs). Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) recently introduced...
Wells Fargo has dismissed two Charlotte, N.C.-based executives in its community lending and investment division in relation to a federal investigation into the bank’s negotiation and procurement of LIHTCs. The two executives had been previously suspended by Wells Fargo in connection with...
The 2018 omnibus spending bill passed earlier this year authorized the “income-averaging” option for minimum set-aside elections in the LIHTC program. The option replaces the 60 percent area median income (AMI) maximum eligible income for LIHTC sites with 80 percent for units where...
A recent analysis by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) compared changes in the rental supply at various rent levels with changes in the number of renter households at various income levels. The analysis found that a growing number of low-income renters are competing for a...
The Internal Revenue Service has provided temporary relief from certain requirements of the Internal Revenue Code to allow owners and operators of low-income housing projects located anywhere in the United States and its territories to provide temporary emergency housing to individuals who are...
Representative James E. Clyburn (D-SC) recently introduced the “Housing Opportunity, Mobility and Equity (HOME) Act of 2018” (H.R. 7050), the House version of the Senate legislation (S.3342) proposed by Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ).
