Feature Articles

Feature Articles



How to Reduce Fire and Injury Risks from Lithium-Ion Batteries

February 23, 2023    

Give residents safety tips for charging and maintaining e-bikes.

 

IRS Boosts Business Standard Mileage Rates for 2023

February 23, 2023    

The IRS recently issued Notice 23-03, which contains the 2023 standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical, or moving purposes.

Last year, the IRS made a rare midyear mileage rate adjustment in June as a way to...

How to Handle Residents’ CDs When Calculating Income

February 23, 2023    

You probably know that each time you certify or recertify a household at your site, you need to determine the cash value of the household’s assets and the income those assets are expected to generate over the next year. It may be the case that increasingly more applicants and households...

HUD Moves to Implement New VAWA Requirements

January 31, 2023    

HUD recently requested public comment on plans to implement the key changes the VAWA Reauthorization Act of 2022 (VAWA 2022) made to the Violence Against Women Act of 1994. Since the 2013 amendments, VAWA has applied to the LIHTC program. However, neither the Treasury Department nor the IRS has...

How the SECURE 2.0 Act Impacts Retirement Account Withdrawals

January 31, 2023    

Personal retirement accounts can be tricky to navigate when completing income certifications. They can be considered assets or income depending on if the resident has access to the retirement account funds and if distributions are regular and periodic or sporadic. Generally, when the regular...

HUD Publishes Fact Sheet on Assistance Animals and Fair Housing

January 31, 2023    

HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity recently published a fact sheet to educate housing providers and persons with disabilities who seek reasonable accommodations related to assistance animals. The fact sheet can be found at...

How to Make Sure Next Available Units Are Technically “Available”

January 2, 2023    

In the LIHTC program, if the income of tenants of a low-income unit in the building increases above the limit allowed, the next available unit (NAU) of comparable or smaller size in the building will be rented to tenants having a qualifying income. This is the NAU rule and it applies whenever a...

5 Tips for Dealing Correctly with Different Unit Types

January 2, 2023    

When complying with the tax credit law, you must follow different rules depending on which of the five types of tax credit units you’re dealing with. But tax credit managers often get confused about which rules apply to which type of unit, or even about how each unit type differs. If this...

Keep Household Information Confidential to Avoid Liability, Protect Residents

November 30, 2022    

From time to time, your site may get phone calls, letters, or other inquiries for information about residents. The request can seem innocent, or it may seem official. And some requests will be. But granting even innocent requests can cause trouble. Sites are responsible for ensuring the privacy...

How to Avoid Mold-Related Injuries, Noncompliance Findings

November 30, 2022    

Mold at your site can cause you big problems. The problems can range from remediation costs to loss of rent, and, perhaps most critically, long-term health effects. Mold-related health effects cause households to sue owners and managers claiming that they were injured by the presence of mold in...

IRS Publishes Final Average-Income Regulations

October 31, 2022    

The IRS recently published a final rule to implement Congress’s 2018 authorization of a third set-aside option for LIHTC sites. Under the LIHTC program, all tax credit owners must formally notify the IRS of their minimum set-aside election for their building or site when they file IRS Form...

IRS Extends Placed-in-Service and Other COVID Relief Deadlines

October 31, 2022    

In an announcement made in early October, the Biden administration announced key progress on implementing its Housing Supply Action Plan. The plan aims to create and preserve hundreds of thousands of affordable housing units in the next three years and help close the country’s critical...