Groups Agree on Tax Credit Changes

According to Affordable Housing Finance magazine 40 national, state and regional groups have agreed to a number of legislative proposals to stimulate the low income housing tax credit (LIHTC) market.

The coalition of organizations have agreed to three key points as part of a grassroots campaign entitled Affordable Rental Housing A.C.T.I.O.N. (A Call To Invest in Our Neighborhood). The three points are:

1. Extend the Exchange Program to Maintain the Development Pipeline in 2010.
2. Immediately Stimulate and Maintain Housing Credit Investment Demand by increasing the Housing Credit Carry back Period.
3. Broaden the Investor Base.

The group is encouraging supports to contact their congressional representatives to press the aforementioned points. For more information on the campaign, go here.

GAO Releases a Report on Fair Lending

The General Accounting Office (GAO) recently released a report on fair lending which explored how effectively federal regulators monitored fair lending practices. The report, entitled, Fair Lending: Data Limitations and the Fragmented U.S. Financial Regulatory Structure Challenge Federal Oversight and Enforcement Efforts, offered the following recommendations:

1. Congress may wish to consider the merits of additional data collection and reporting options.
2. Congress may wish to consider extending the statute of limitations on ECOA violations.
3. Congress may wish to take steps to help ensure that consumers are adequately protected, that laws such as the fair lending laws are comprehensive and consistently applied, and that oversight is efficient and effective.
4. To help strengthen fair lending oversight and enforcement, Department of Justices (DOJ), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Federal Reserve System, Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) should work collaboratively to identify approaches to better assess the potential risk for discrimination during the preapplication phase of mortgage lending.

Magazine Seeks Votes on Housing Development Awards

Affordable Housing Finance has selected 35 affordable housing developments in 10 categories to receive it fifth annual Readers’ Choice Awards. The magazine allows reader to make their selection on-line. Voting is limited to magazine subscribers. The deadline is August 31.


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