IRS Publishes MRB Purchase Price Limits and Safe Harbors for 2016
On April 15, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Revenue Procedure 2016‐25, which establishes
the nationwide average purchase price limits and average area purchase price safe harbors for the
Mortgage Revenue Bond (MRB) and Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC) programs.
The Revenue Procedure sets the national average purchase price at $266,400, an increase of just over
four percent from last year's limit of $255,300. HFAs and other MRB and MCC issuers must use the
national purchase price figure when computing the housing cost/income ratio, which provides for an
upward adjustment to the percentage limitation in high housing cost areas.
The average area purchase price safe harbors are based on the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA)
program loan limits for each metropolitan statistical area (MSA) as of December 9, 2015. If FHA adjusts
the loan limit for an MSA, housing bond issuers can calculate a new safe harbor by dividing the new limit
by .9545.
The new nationwide average purchase price limits and the average area purchase price safe harbors
take effect for all loans and MCCs originated as of May 22. An exception is allowed for those loans and
certificates which the HFA commits to finance before June 14 and that are financed by bond sales that
occur before May 15.
The Revenue Procedure will be published in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2016‐19 on May 2.
Representative Kuster Introduces Bill to Preserve Rental Assistance for Certain USDA Section 515
Properties
Last week, Representative Ann McLane Kuster (D‐NH) introduced the Rural Housing Preservation Act of
2016, H.R. 4908, which seeks to provide relief to rural multifamily developments financed under the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) Section 515 Rural Rental Housing Loan Program that will lose rental
assistance in the future due to pre‐paid or maturing mortgages.
Existing USDA rental assistance contracts on multifamily developments financed with Section 515 loans
terminate when the loans are fully paid. There are 11,576 properties in the Section 515 program that
will have their rental assistance expire over the next ten years due to mortgages fully maturing or
owners pre‐paying those mortgages, affecting over 215,000 units and 344,000 individuals. Using data
provided by USDA, NCSHA has prepared a summary chart showing how many mortgages USDA expects
to mature over the next four years in each state.
Since 2004, USDA appropriations bills have included provisions to make residents of properties with pre‐
paid mortgages eligible for USDA Section 542 housing vouchers. However, residents in maturing
mortgage properties are not eligible for Section 542 vouchers under these provisions. H.R. 4908 would
authorize USDA to provide vouchers to eligible residents in properties with pre‐paid and maturing
mortgages and would also:
• Enhance the value of housing vouchers to better provide assistance to recipients in higher cost areas;
• Allow USDA to renew rental assistance contracts on Section 515 properties regardless of whether the
properties have outstanding USDA mortgages or whether the mortgages mature or are pre‐paid; and
• Make permanent the Multi‐Family Preservation and Revitalization Restructuring Program (MPR),
which acquires and renovates Section 515 properties.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D‐NH) has introduced a companion bill, the Rural Housing Preservation Act of
2016, S. 2783, in the Senate.
Senate Banking Committee Chair Asks GAO and CBO to Examine GSEs
Yesterday, Senate Banking Committee Chair Richard Shelby (R‐AL) requested that both the Government
Accountability Office (GAO) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) compose reports on matters
relating to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and the government‐sponsored enterprises
(GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In a press release announcing the requests, Shelby suggests that
the reports will help Congress adequately oversee FHFA and the GSEs and, "ensure that Congress takes
steps to protect American taxpayers from risk."
In a letter to Gene L. Doldaro, who administers GAO as Comptroller General of the United States, Shelby
expresses concerns that recent FHFA actions, including authorizing the GSEs to offer principal reduction
to a limited set of borrowers and reinstating the GSEs' annual contributions to the Housing Trust Fund,
risk increasing the GSEs' role in the housing market. "Overall," Shelby argues, "these FHFA actions raise
questions about the goals of the conservatorship and whether its ultimate purpose has changed."
Shelby asks GAO to examine and report on how these recent policy decisions could impact the GSEs'
market presence, the ability for competitors to enter the secondary housing market, and the risk that
the GSEs may have to receive federal assistance in the future.
Shelby also requests that GAO assess and report on several topics related to the housing market to,
"enable Members of Congress to better understand the effects and consequences" of various housing
finance reform proposals. These topics include: the varying capital standards that are applied to
different types of mortgage loans; the use of geo‐coding in underwriting and loan‐level disclosures; how
adopting residual income tests and risk‐sharing arrangements would impact the Federal Housing
Administration's single‐family programs; and how federal housing policy and programs can better
encourage Americans to build home equity.
In his letter to CBO Director Keith Hall, Shelby cites FHFA Director Mel Watt's recent speech warning
that, because the GSEs are currently prohibited from building up capital, they may soon require
assistance from the federal government. Shelby requests that CBO produce a report outlining the
federal government's financial obligations to the GSEs and how they might be impacted if the GSEs were
allowed to retain more capital. The report will also address how an increase in the capitalization of the
GSEs would impact the mortgage finance market.
Shelby asks that CBO complete its report by July, and that GAO try its best to finish its work, which
Shelby anticipates will include multiple reports, by November 1.
Senate Approves Measure to Consider Energy Efficiency in FHA Mortgage Underwriting Process
The Senate passed an amendment yesterday that would allow lenders to account for a home's energy
efficiency and expected monthly utility bill savings when determining borrowers' eligibility for Federal
Housing Administration (FHA) insured single‐family loans.
The amendment, sponsored by Senators Johnny Isakson (R‐GA) and Michael Bennet (D‐CO), would
require FHA to create new guidelines that enable lenders issuing FHA‐insured loans to take into account
expected energy savings from monthly utility bills when calculating borrowers' debt‐to‐income and loan‐
to‐value ratios. In floor statements, Isakson and Bennet emphasized that the initiative would be
voluntary. Under it, mortgage applicants could request an energy audit to determine the energy
efficiency of a home and the expected savings on monthly utility bills compared to other homes in the
area. The bill also directs FHA to establish an advisory group consisting of representatives from the
housing and energy efficiency sectors to help it develop and administer the new energy efficiency
guidelines.
The Senate adopted the amendment on a bipartisan vote of 66‐31, including it in the comprehensive
energy bill the Senate ultimately passed this morning—the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015, S.
2012. The bill now advances to the House. House leaders have not yet indicated whether the House will
consider the bill.
FHA has previously taken steps to integrate the cost savings from energy‐efficient homes into its
underwriting process. Last year it announced a partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
through which borrowers using FHA's Energy Efficient Home program may qualify for higher loan
amounts if their homes receive high ratings using DOE's Home Energy Score. NCSHA previously
summarized this initiative on its blog.
Senators Cantwell and Schumer Press for Expanded Housing Credit Authority at New York City
Senators Maria Cantwell (D‐WA) and Charles Schumer (D‐NY) were joined by New York City Housing
Development Corporation President Gary Rodney, New York State Homes and Community Renewal
Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer James Rubin, and other New York Housing Credit stakeholders
for a rally today in support of expanding the Housing Credit at a New York City Credit‐financed
supportive housing development for young people aging out of foster care.
The event highlighted the need for more affordable rental housing and Senator Cantwell's forthcoming
legislation that would increase Housing Credit authority by 50 percent and include other proposals to
strengthen the program. NCSHA is working closely with Senator Cantwell's office as they develop the
legislation. The ACTION Campaign, which NCSHA co‐chairs with Enterprise Community Partners, is
organizing nationwide grassroots support for this effort.
In her press release, Senator Cantwell stated, "Like Washington State, New York and our nation as a
whole face serious challenges when it comes to affordable housing and homelessness. The Low Income
Housing Tax Credit is a critical tool that communities across the nation can use to address these issues."
Senator Schumer spoke to the importance of housing to the economy saying, "Access to affordable
housing is essential for the health of our families and the economic strength of our communities and
that's why expanding the federal low‐income housing tax credit is so important. The key to New York's
continued growth and economic strength is directly tied to the need to expand our pool of affordable
housing for young people, for new families and for others—and the federal government, via this tax
credit, needs to be a full partner in that effort."
Senator Cantwell announced her intention to introduce this legislation last month in Seattle. For more
information on this initiative, contact NCSHA's Jennifer Schwartz.
Treasury Announces Allocation of $1 Billion in Hardest Hit Funding
The U.S. Treasury Department announced today its final allocation of new funding for the Hardest Hit
Fund program (HHF). Thirteen HFAs participating in HHF will receive a combined $1 billion in additional
funding to support homeowner assistance and neighborhood stabilization programs. Treasury also
released a FAQs document on the new funding allocations.
The funding announced today is the second phase of Treasury's process to allocate the additional $2
billion in funding Congress authorized for HHF in the Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY 2016.
Treasury divvyed up the first $1 billion of the new funding among 18 eligible HFAs based on each state's
population and the amount of its initial HHF allocation that it has already obligated. Treasury
determined the second phase of allocations through a competitive process in which applying HFAs were
required to demonstrate: (i) their need for additional funding; (ii) a clear and reasonable plan of action
for meeting the goals of their HHF funded programs; and (iii) their ability to utilize all funding (existing
and requested amounts) by December 31, 2020. As Congress directed, eligibility for the new funds was
restricted to the 19 states Treasury previously selected for participation in HHF.
Those HFAs receiving these additional HHF funds (Phase I or II allocations) have until December 31, 2020
to use them. The new HHF funding is also subject to "use or lose" provisions that require HFAs that have
not allocated a certain percentage of their Phase 1 and Phase 2 HHF allocations by certain dates to send
a percentage of their allocations back to Treasury. Treasury will redistribute any returned funds to other
HFAs participating in the program.
Through the end 2015, HFAs had disbursed $4.7 billion in HHF funding to provide assistance to nearly
250,000 homeowners and to help remove around 7,000 properties in blighted neighborhoods.
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FHFA Announces Limited Principal Reduction Plan for Underwater Fannie and Freddie Borrowers
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced yesterday a new program under which Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac will forgive certain borrowers' outstanding mortgage principal to help them stay
in their homes. The new Principal Reduction Modification program marks the first time that FHFA has
allowed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to offer struggling borrowers principal reductions.
The scope of the program is limited. To be eligible, a borrower must occupy the home as a principal
residence, have been at least 90 days delinquent on their mortgage payments as of March 1, have a
remaining mortgage principal balance of $250,000 or less, and have a total outstanding mortgage
balance that is at least 115 percent above the current value of their home. FHFA estimates that 33,000
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac borrowers will be eligible for assistance through this initiative. In a fact
sheet describing the program, FHFA argues that the program's narrowly tailored eligibility standards will
allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to help struggling borrowers without putting the firms at risk of
substantial financial losses.
All Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan servicers will be required to identify those borrowers with
mortgages in their portfolios that are eligible for the Principal Reduction Modification program and
contact them by October 15. Those borrowers who wish to participate will at first have their loans
adjusted in a manner consistent with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's Streamlined Refinance program.
This means that their mortgage interest rate will be lowered to the current market level, the term of
their mortgage will be extended up to 40 years, and a portion of their outstanding mortgage principal
(equal to the lesser of the amount needed to lower the outstanding mortgage balance to 115 percent of
the home's current value or 30 percent of the borrower's unpaid principal balance) will be put into
forbearance. The principal in forbearance will be forgiven outright if the borrower is able to make the
first three payments on their modified loan in a timely matter.
Borrowers who may be eligible for principal reduction but have not yet been contacted by their servicer
will be allowed to have their loans modified through the Streamlined Refinance program. If the
borrower is later determined to be eligible for the Principal Reduction program, their principal
forbearance will be then be forgiven. If the borrower is not eligible, they will be allowed to continue in
the Streamlined Refinance program.
FHFA also released a comprehensive analysis of the new Principal Reduction Modification program and a
Frequently Asked Questions guide for interested borrowers.
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FHFA also announced yesterday that it was making several changes to its requirements governing Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac's non‐performing loan (NPLs) sales. The changes are designed to ensure that
those investors who purchase the NPLs make an effort to help the borrowers whose loans they
purchased avoid foreclosure and to promote neighborhood stability. Specifically, NPL buyers will now be
required to evaluate certain underwater borrowers to see if they would be eligible for loan
modifications that include principal reduction. Buyers would also be prohibited from unilaterally
releasing liens they purchase on abandoned homes. FHFA released a fact sheet explaining the new
guidelines in more detail.
House Financial Services Committee Advances Bill to Subject CFPB Funding to Congressional Review
The House Financial Services Committee on April 13 voted to favorably report the Taking Account of
Bureaucrats' Spending Act of 2015, H.R. 1486, which would authorize Congress to set annual funding
levels for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The bill, introduced by Committee member
Andy Barr (R‐KY), passed on a party line vote of 33‐20.
Under current law, CFPB receives funding for its annual operations from the Federal Reserve. CFPB's
supporters argue that providing the agency with an independent source of funding ensures that it will
receive adequate funding every year and shield it from undue political influence.
In his opening statement, Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R‐TX) called the CFPB a "rogue agency" that is not
accountable to the American public or Congress. He also predicted that Democrats would be much more
open to congressional oversight of the CFPB's budget if a Republican were to be elected president in
November and nominate the next CFPB director. Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D‐CA) used her
opening statement to argue that Republicans were using the bill as part of a larger plan to defund and
ultimately eliminate the CFPB. She lamented the idea of bringing the agency, which she said is working
properly, into the appropriations process where Congress has generally failed to pass a budget in recent
years.
It is not known at this time whether the full House of Representatives will consider H.R. 1486.
During the same markup, the Committee also advanced legislation introduced by Committee member
Lynn Westmoreland (R‐GA) that would eliminate the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's (FDIC)
Orderly Liquidation Authority, which allows FDIC to temporarily take over failing large financial
institutors and wind them down.
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Why Fannie and Freddie Cannot Be Recapitalized
Building capital with earnings would take decades
How much capital would Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac need if operated as private companies?
The question is likely to remain a theoretical one for the foreseeable future. The chances of the
companies being released from conservatorship is extremely low. A far more probable outcome is that
the companies eventually get wound down and replaced by a new system, perhaps along the line of the
National Mortgage Reinsurance Corporation recently outlined in a paper by Jim Parrott, Lew Ranieri,
Gene Sperling, Mark Zandi and Barrry Zigas.
Yet it is a question worth considering, if only to highlight just how high the hurdle to privatizing the
companies would be.
Tim Howard, the former chief financial officer of Fannie, recently authored a proposal that would keep
Fannie and Freddie in place with a risk‐based capital requirement of 2%.
“I recommend that they require Fannie and Freddie to hold sufficient capital to survive a 25 percent
nationwide decline in home prices over five years. Even though such a price decline did happen between
2006 and 2011, both major factors that precipitated it—very risky mortgage types like no‐
documentation loans or interest‐only ARMs with teaser rates now prohibited by the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the dominance of a financing method, private‐label securitization, that
placed few limits on the risks of the mortgages it accepted—will be absent in the future, making the
chance of a repeat of the previous episode vanishingly small.
Fannie’s prior experience suggests how it would have to capitalize against a future 25 percent home
price decline. With the loans it had in 2008, and using its guaranty fees (but none of its portfolio or other
income) to help absorb credit losses, Fannie would have needed less than 2 percent capital to survive
the previous crisis.”
The faults in Mr. Howard’s approach are two‐fold:
1. it relies on an out‐dated and discredited approach to capital minimums; and
2. its worst case scenario isn’t nearly bad enough.
The problem with the 2% capital proposal is that it is built around a now repudiated view of capital
minimums. At one time in the past, capital minimums were built around the idea of simply minimizing
the loss to insurance funds such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or state‐level funds
backing insurance companies. When that was the goal, minimums were set at levels to more or less all
the losses a financial company might experience—but no higher.
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That’s not how we do things anymore—at least for big, systemically‐important financial companies. Now
we set minimum capital levels well in excess of conceivable losses—and certainly far in excess of losses
experienced in the last financial crisis.
For example, the biggest banks are required to maintain minimum of 8% total risk‐based capital
throughout the Federal Reserve’s severely adverse scenario in order to pass their stress tests. This
means that their actual capital minimums are whatever they would lose in a severe downturn plus 8%.
This suggests that the appropriate minimum capital level for Fannie and Freddie would be at least 10%.
What’s more, given their centrality to the two companies to the U.S. financial system, they would likely
be required to maintain a counter‐cyclical buffer similar to that required of banks identified as a global
systemically important banking organization. That means total capitalization at the 11% to 14.5% level.
Is that achievable? Fannie Mae has $3.2 trillion in assets. Under Basel III, most of those assets would
receive a 50% risk‐weighting, meaning Fannie’s capital requirement would be between 11% and 14.5%
of $1.6 trillion. So Fannie would need between $176 billion and $232 billion capital.
Raising that money in capital markets would be all but impossible because any expected return on
capital would be too low. At the lower figure, Fannie’s 2015 earnings of $11 billion would have equated
to just a 6.25% return on capital at that level. Even without subtracting the fees that Fannie would need
to pay to the government for a catastrophic backstop akin to FDIC deposit insurance, it’s clear that
there’s unlikely to be a bid for the companies in the market.
That would leave them in the place of building capital through accumulated earnings. Even if we assume
away the price of their government backstop, it would take decades to adequately capitalize the
companies in this way. Until that time, they’d have to remain in conservatorship as severely
undercapitalized companies. If we include the need to pay dividends to the government and a fee for
the outstanding backstop, Fannie’s freedom wouldn’t arrive for half a century.
This is dire news for the holders of the common and preferred equity of Fannie and Freddie still in the
public’s hands, suggesting the present value of the shares is approximately zero.
The second problem is that the assumption that the last housing crash represents the worst case
scenario for the housing market is unwarranted. The fall in home prices was arrested by a series of
massive and complex government and central bank interventions into the housing market, the mortgage
market and the financial system. Unless we believe that these had no effect on home prices, it should be
clear that the worst case scenario is a far deeper decline.
One of the motivations behind the Dodd‐Frank financial reforms was to build a financial infrastructure
that is resilient enough to withstand severe adversity without government intervention. So when
assessing possible future stress scenarios, it won’t do to assume that the last crisis was as bad as things
can get.
This brings us full‐circle, demonstrating that there is no realistic scenario under which the companies
will be released from conservatorship in the foreseeable future. That leaves us with either a situation in
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which the conservatorships last in perpetuity or the companies get wound down and replaced with
something new.
Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) and the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA)
The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) and the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA)
announced the availability of $65.8 million through the Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and
Economic Revitalization (POWER) Initiative to develop new strategies for economic growth and worker
advancement for communities that have historically relied on the coal economy for economic stability.
Communities and regions that have been negatively impacted by changes in the coal economy, including
mining, coal fired power plants and related transportation, logistics and manufacturing supply chains,
can apply for resources to help strengthen their economies and workforces. Funds are available for a
range of activities, including:
Developing projects that diversify local and regional economies, create jobs in new and/or
existing industries, attract new sources of job‐creating investment and provide a range of
workforce services and skills training;
Building partnerships to attract and invest in the economic future of coal‐impacted
communities;
Increasing capacity and other technical assistance fostering long term economic growth and
opportunity in coal‐impacted communities.
The POWER Initiative is a multi‐agency effort aligning and targeting federal economic and workforce
development resources to communities and workers that have been affected by job losses in coal
mining, coal power plant operations, and coal‐related supply chain industries due to the changing
economics of America's energy production.
Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis, and awards will be announced later this year.
For more information about the POWER Initiative, including application materials, visit
www.arc.gov/power.
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Assessing How Parents Experiencing Homelessness Make Preschool Decisions: Policy and Practice
Implications
Research suggests that early childhood education can help mitigate the developmental delays and
decreased academic achievement often observed in children experiencing homelessness. Yet very few
of these children are enrolled in preschool, and the reasons why have not been fully explored. In a
recent study, “A Qualitative Assessment of Parental Preschool Choices and Challenges Among Families
Experiencing Homelessness: Policy and Practice Implications,” researchers interviewed families who had
recently experienced homelessness to determine what factors influence preschool participation. Based
on their findings, the researchers make policy and community practice recommendations to facilitate
preschool enrollment for children experiencing homelessness.
Implementing the Study
Researchers conducted interviews with families who had recently experienced homelessness to identify
common themes concerning preschool enrollment and participation. The study defined preschool as an
early childhood education program that promotes cognitive and social development, including Head
Start, as opposed to “daycare” or “childcare,” which lacked an educational component. Researchers
conducted an initial round of focus‐group and individual interviews with 28 households: 14 in Atlanta,
Georgia, and 14 in the Bridgeport–New Haven area of Connecticut. Researchers restricted participation
to families with children under 6 years of age who had been enrolled in HUD’s Family Options Study, a
multi‐site random assignment experiment designed to evaluate the impact of various housing and
services interventions for families experiencing homelessness. Twenty‐two of the study participants
were African American, two were white, three were Native American, and one was of unknown race.
Females headed all but one of the participating households. One head of household was married, 19
were single and never married, and 8 were separated or divorced. After the first round of interviews,
researchers contacted participants to engage in more detailed followup discussions, with 6 households
in Connecticut and 10 in Georgia ultimately taking part.
Researchers structured the initial and followup interviews to learn participants’ views on their
opportunities for and barriers to preschool enrollment while experiencing homelessness. The first round
of discussions explored how families identified, pursued, and participated in preschool options as well as
the role of homelessness program staff and early childhood service providers in these activities.
Followup interview questions examined these issues in more detail.
Study Findings
The interviews revealed that multiple factors, both positive and negative, influenced the preschool
choices of families experiencing homelessness. High housing instability and the absence of social
supports and networks often encountered by those experiencing homelessness were key determinants
to preschool enrollment. Systemic barriers presented additional obstacles; foremost among them were
long preschool waitlists. The lack of information on enrollment periods and the absence of meaningful
information on preschool options in general compounded the problem. A lack of affordable or
accessible transportation to preschool facilities, lack of tuition subsidies, and complex bureaucratic
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processes also had negative impacts. Frustration with systemic barriers contributed to high parental
stress levels, another factor limiting preschool enrollment.
Stable, affordable, and safe housing as well as access to positive social networks and supports were
factors that encouraged preschool enrollment. Services that facilitated preschool participation included
subsidized tuition, easy access to transportation, and basic information about educational opportunities
and referral support. All of these factors helped parents focus on preschool options for their children.
Recommendations
Based on their findings, researchers recommend that shelter staff and early childhood educators more
actively publicize preschool opportunities. Few of the parents interviewed, for example, were aware
that Head Start programs prioritized the enrollment of children currently or formerly experiencing
homelessness or that they offered case management for enrolled families. Shelter and preschool
providers could help families complete preschool applications and alert them to application deadlines.
Researchers also recommend greater incorporation of preschool options and enrollment mechanisms in
shelter case management protocols, including strategies to help families transition from one preschool
or Head Start program to another and information on preschools in wider geographic areas. Reducing
systemic barriers to preschool enrollment by ensuring that program information is accurate and up to
date, simplifying the application process, prioritizing children experiencing homelessness on waitlists,
and providing transportation assistance would help boost enrollment. Researchers also cite a need for
greater collaboration between homelessness service providers and educators. They suggest that
educators actively participate in shelter programs and that homelessness service providers be included
in educational planning. In conclusion, the researchers encourage further evaluation of interventions
that link housing assistance and early education support for families experiencing homelessness,
believing that such studies would yield valuable information.
HUD Releases FY 2016 Income Limits
HUD has released its FY 2016 Median Family Income estimates and FY 2016 Income Limits. The FY 2016
Income Limits were published and became effective on March 28, 2016. These income limits are used to
determine income eligibility for HUD’s assisted housing programs, including public housing, Section 8,
Section 202 and Section 811. According to HUD, the U.S. median income and the national non‐
metropolitan median income limits have decreased from 2015 to 2016.
https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/il.html
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HUD to landlords: Rent to ex‐convicts ‐ Or else face the consequences
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro revisited they are not going
to tolerate landlords banning renters with criminal records from leasing their properties.
According to HUD, the Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, or financing of
dwellings and in other housing‐related activities on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, disability,
familial status or national origin.
HUD’s Office of General Counsel issues this guidance concerning how the Fair Housing Act applies to the
use of criminal history by providers or operators of housing and real‐estate related transactions.
Specifically, this guidance addresses how the discriminatory effects and disparate treatment methods of
proof apply in Fair Housing Act cases in which a housing provider justifies an adverse housing action –
such as a refusal to rent or renew a lease – based on an individual’s criminal history.
Julián Castro, the HUD secretary, is expected on Monday to announce guidance that details his agency’s
interpretation of how the fair housing law applies to policies that exclude people with criminal records,
a group that is not explicitly protected by the act but falls under it in certain circumstances. Federal
officials said landlords must distinguish between arrests and convictions and cannot use an arrest to ban
applicants. In the case of applicants with convictions, property owners must prove that the exclusion is
justified and consider factors like the nature and severity of the crime in assessing prospective tenants
before excluding someone.
Mr. Castro said housing bans against former offenders were common.
“Right now, many housing providers use the fact of a conviction, any conviction, regardless of what it
was for or how long ago it happened, to indefinitely bar folks from housing opportunities,” Mr. Castro
said in a statement. “Many people who are coming back to neighborhoods are only looking for a fair
chance to be productive members, but blanket policies like this unfairly deny them that chance.”
HUD’s guidance released on April 4, 2016, states that as many as 100 million U.S. adults – or nearly one‐
third of the population – have a criminal record of some sort. The United States prison population of 2.2
million adults is by far the largest in the world. As of 2012, the United States accounted for only about
five percent of the world’s population, yet almost one quarter of the world’s prisoners were held in
American prisons. Since 2004, an average of over 650,000 individuals have been released annually from
federal and state prisons, and over 95% of current inmates will be released at some point. When
individuals are released from prisons and jails, their ability to access safe, secure and affordable housing
is critical to their successful reentry to society. Yet many formerly incarcerated individuals, as well as
individuals who were convicted but not incarcerated, encounter significant barriers to securing housing,
including public and other federally‐subsidized housing, because of their criminal history. In some cases,
even individuals who were arrested but not convicted face difficulty in securing housing based on their
prior arrest.
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Neither Castro nor the lawyers who advise property management companies and tenant screening
services on fair housing issues, are surprised this is happening.
“Right now, many housing providers use the fact of a conviction, any conviction, regardless of what it
was for or how long ago it happened, to indefinitely bar folks from housing opportunities,” Mr. Castro
said in a statement.
“Many people who are coming back to neighborhoods are only looking for a fair chance to be productive
members, but blanket policies like this unfairly deny them that chance,” added Castro.
The new federal housing guidance applies a legal standard that was upheld by the United States
Supreme Court last year that allows plaintiffs to challenge housing practices that have a discriminatory
effect without having to show discriminatory intent. The ruling allows plaintiffs to show instead that the
practices both have a “disparate impact” on racial groups and are not justified. Blacks and Latinos are
arrested, convicted and imprisoned in disproportionate numbers, and civil rights groups say they face
equally disparate discrimination in finding housing.
Federal housing officials said the guidance was meant to emphasize to landlords that blanket bans are
illegal, as well as to inform housing applicants of their rights. Housing officials said they can investigate
violations and bring discrimination charges against landlords that could result in civil penalties for them,
and damages for a person denied housing.
HUD’s revised guidance also discusses the three steps used to analyze claims that a housing provider’s
use of criminal history to deny housing opportunities results in a discriminatory effect in violation of the
Act.
1. Evaluating whether the criminal history policy or practice has a discriminatory effect
2. Evaluating whether the challenged policy or practice is necessary to achieve a substantial, legitimate,
nondiscriminatory interest
3. Evaluating whether there is a less discriminatory alternative
“Criminal screenings when used properly have been a reliable way to protect an apartment community
from threats to residents including children and from severe damage to the property or residents'
property HUD has allowed for criminal screening for housing managers for many years. A recently
convicted and released sex offender may pose a serious threat to young children who freely play all
around the property,” said Michael W. Skojec, lawyer and specialist from Ballard Spahr.
“HUD has had a longstanding prohibition against allowing convicted dealers in illegal drugs from living in
public housing and now says those convictions may be used to deny a housing application because they
pose a serious danger to others living nearby. Individuals who have been convicted of shooting, stabbing
or raping other people are likely to be a greater threat to other residents based on the historic rates of
repeat offenders,” added Skojec.
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In October 2015, HUD announced it awarded $38 million total to more than 100 groups to be used for
fighting housing discrimination.
The money is being awarded as part of HUD’s Fair Housing Initiatives Program.
According to HUD, the funding provided through the competitive grants will help to support a range of
fair housing enforcement efforts, including fair housing testing, as well as activities that help educate
the public, housing providers and local governments about their rights and responsibilities under the
Fair Housing Act.
On April 1, 2016, HUD kicked off Fair Housing Month 2016 with the launch of a new national media
campaign that helps the public to envision what communities with shared opportunity for all might look
like. The new campaign is designed to further educate the public about their housing rights and the
ideals behind HUD’s new Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing initiative.
The campaign, developed in partnership with the National Fair Housing Alliance, will include print and
television public service announcements in English and in Spanish, as well as online videos and social
media
HFA Program Loans Exempt from Final USDA QM Rule
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a final rule establishing the underwriting standards
that loans originated through the Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program (SFHGLP) must meet
to be considered "qualified mortgages." Loans that do not meet these standards will no longer be
eligible for insurance under SFHGLP as of April 28.
The definition of "qualified mortgage" set in the final rule is largely similar to the definition USDA initially
proposed last year. To be eligible for SFHGLP insurance, loans will have to meet the program's
underwriting standards, and upfront points and fees must not exceed three percent of each loan's total
principal, with adjustments made for smaller loans.
The final rule includes an exemption from the rule's requirements for loans originated through HFA
programs. This means that all HFA loans will automatically be qualified mortgages under SFHGLP even if
they do not meet the underwriting standards that would otherwise apply. NCSHA requested such an
exemption in its comments on the proposed rule, arguing that the rule's requirements would make it
more difficult for HFAs to originate loans eligible for insurance under SFHGLP, particularly to lower‐
income borrowers who take out smaller loans. NCSHA also pointed out that both the Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Housing Administration had already chosen to exempt HFA
loans from their qualified mortgage standards.
In addition to finalizing its qualified mortgage definition, the final rule makes several other adjustments
to SFHGLP guidelines. These include: increasing the time period via which USDA may require a lender to
indemnify USDA for a loan that does not meet SFHGLP's underwriting standards from two years after
the loan's origination date to five years; establishing a new "streamlined‐assist refinance" option that
will allow borrowers to refinance their home loans without having to meet appraisal or credit reporting
requirements; and authorizing USDA to reimburse lenders for principal reduction advances made to
borrowers who are either in default or facing imminent default.
The effective date for the final rule is April 28.
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How policymakers can help more millennials become homeowners
If you’ve been paying attention to this year’s political debates, you’ve probably read or heard a lot more
about the inability of the younger generation to get a foothold in this economy than in previous
elections.
The financial challenges in today’s world are real. And to some groups it often feels like the hill to climb
gets steeper by the year. We can all agree the world economy has changed tremendously in the past 50
years and that owning a home (not renting for a lifetime) remains a central component to building
wealth and financial security.
Both political parties during the course of this year’s presidential campaigns have heard from young
people about the lack of affordable housing, stagnant wages and rising education costs. As a
Washington‐based real estate professional and a millennial, I face those issues every day.
It’s no secret that the Washington‐area housing market is pricey, consistently ranking in the most
expensive places to live in the United States. It’s also true that our local housing market is dependent on
younger buyers leaving their rentals to become first‐time buyers. This provides a market for the sellers
of entry‐level homes, who can in turn buy so‐called move‐up properties. The owners of the move‐up
homes can then buy more expensive homes. It’s like one big game of dominos where home owners are
dependent on the buyer behind them in order to move forward.
College debt is one of the biggest obstacles to homeownership. According to the National Center for
Education Statistics, the average annual cost of attending a four‐year public university reached $18,632
in 2015, up from $1,238 in 1970. Even adjusting for inflation, college expenses still rose significantly —
to $18,632 in 2015 from $7,756 in 1970.
According to the Institute for College Access and Success, nearly 70 percent of people who graduated
from public and nonprofit colleges in 2014 had student loans — the average amount per person was
$28,950. While the number of graduates with student loans rose only four percentage points from 2004
to 2014, the share of debt rose at more than twice the inflation rate, according to the organization.
At the same time, housing prices are soaring. In 1970, the median housing price in Washington was
$21,300, or $81,800 after being adjusted for inflation. Today, the median home price in Washington is
around $500,000, according to Zillow.com. Since 1970, the price of an average home in Washington has
increased by roughly 2,247 percentage points. Even after we experienced a collapse in housing, the
costs to owning property in Washington are five times more in comparison with incomes than they were
in the early 1970s.
Here are a few ways the next president and policymakers can make housing more affordable for young
people:
• Give an incentive for younger people to become homeowners sooner by providing those with loans
the ability to refinance student debt to a fixed lower rate. The federal government has a large stake in
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people owning property (hint: taxes and retail spending) so an ease up on the interest portion of the
student loan to a new homeowner is not a bad trade.
• Allow residential homes in neighborhoods around urban communities to be rezoned to multifamily
units. As it stands now, there are many properties zoned as R2 or R4 (otherwise considered single‐family
non‐sub dividable) though if you allow those structures, including old churches and decrepit commercial
spaces to more easily be rezoned to accommodate smaller condos, you can actually create affordable
housing. Working with the branches of government responsible for zoning to remove some red tape and
make the process of rezoning more feasible would go a long way to get developers moving into smaller,
more affordable spaces.
• The federal government should expand programs for people who may have difficulty coming up with a
large down payment. Fannie Mae has a new HomeReady mortgage program that offers loans with a
down payment of 3 percent or 5 percent and reduced private mortgage insurance costs. Gift funds can
be used for the down payment, and lenders and sellers can help with closing costs.
• The federal government should support programs aimed at easing housing costs for young people. In
2014, the Federal Housing Administration proposed a program called Homeowners Armed With
Knowledge (HAWK) designed to give reductions on mortgage insurance premiums to first‐time
borrowers who participate in housing counseling approved by the Department of Housing and Urban
Development before they make an offer on a home as well as before and after settlement. But the
program was not funded in the budget.
• In Virginia, the First‐time Homebuyer Savings Plans program, which took effect in 2014, is designed to
address the lack of down payment money by allowing future owners to accumulate up to $50,000 in
cash, investments or insurance policies that will be exempt from state taxes as long as they’re
designated for homeownership costs. More programs like this are needed.
More millennials would buy if housing were affordable.
It’s tougher today for younger people in Washington than in generations past to obtain a stake in the
system, which typically spells trouble for any economic model. An inclusive market is the only market
that will bring prosperity to all.
HUD Issues Report on 2013 Housing Credit Tenant Data
HUD released the second annual report on households residing in Housing Credit units, providing
demographic and economic data submitted by Housing Credit allocating agencies. The report provides
information about the race, ethnicity, family composition, age, income, use of rental assistance,
disability status, and monthly rent burden of tenants living in Housing Credit properties as of the end of
2013.
Congress mandated the collection and publication of this data when it passed the Housing and Economic
Recovery Act (HERA) of 2008. While Congress authorized funding for this initiative as part of HERA, it
never appropriated those funds; therefore the states and HUD have been forced to rely on existing
resources to meet the law's requirements.
Despite resource constraints, with the exception of two city‐level agencies that allocate a portion of
their state's Credits, all other agencies administering the Housing Credit submitted data to HUD for this
report, including a few agencies who were unable to provide data the previous year. However, many
states were unable to submit complete information for all active properties due to a variety of factors,
including the inability to convert or hand‐enter information originally collected in hard copy into
reporting systems in the time required, lack of annual income recertifications of tenants in 100 percent
low‐income properties as allowed by law, and limited information on the tenants in some properties in
their extended use periods. Still, states were able to provide information on households in 60 percent of
Housing Credit properties.
The median income of Housing Credit tenants was $17,000. Approximately 48 percent of tenant
households were extremely low‐income, earning 30 percent or less of area median income (AMI), and
34 percent of households were very low‐income, earning between 30 and 50 percent of AMI. More than
half of Housing Credit tenants—55.6 percent—paid 30 percent or less of their income towards rent; 19.7
percent paid more than 30 percent, but less than 40 percent, of their income for rent; and 9 percent
paid more than 40 percent, but less than 50 percent, of their income for rent. Another 9.5 percent paid
over 50 percent of their income for rent and 3.1 percent of households reported $0 in income.
Approximately 36 percent of households reported receiving some form of rental assistance.
According to the report, 22.9 percent of Housing Credit tenants identified their race as white, another
22.7 percent identified as black, 2.1 percent identified as Asian, 9.5 percent identified as Hispanic, and
less than 1 percent identified as either American Indian/Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific
Islander. Under fair housing laws, tenants are not compelled to report their race or ethnicity, leading to
incomplete data on these demographic categories—40.6 percent of tenants did not report their race or
ethnicity.