Ben Carson calls poverty ‘a state of mind’ during interview

May 24, 2017                  By: Jose A. DelReal

In an interview released Wednesday, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson said that a "certain mindset" contributes to people living in poverty, pointing to habits and a "state of mind" that children take from their parents at a young age.

"I think poverty to a large extent is also a state of mind. You take somebody that has the right mindset, you can take everything from them and put them on the street, and I guarantee in a little while they'll be right back up there," he said during an interview on SiriusXM Radio with Armstrong Williams, a longtime friend.

Tracy Grant, the Eureka Garden tenant's association president, shows Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) her apartment during Carson's visit to Jacksonville. (Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union via Associated Press)

The retired neurosurgeon, who ran for president during the 2016 GOP primary, regularly speaks about his experience growing up in poverty and his road to the top of the medical field. Before entering the political fray, Carson was best known as a motivational speaker. His story was turned into a Lifetime movie and made him a role model for young people of color. But his conservative politics and denunciations of government assistance eroded that image as he became more popular among right-wing voters.................Read More

Big Cuts Proposed to 2018 HUD Budget

May 23, 2017                                  By: Donna Kimura

The Trump administration seeks to eliminate CDBG, HOME, and the Trust Fund.

Programs that have been the backbone of affordable housing and community development would be eliminated under President Donald Trump’s proposed 2018 budget released today.

As expected, the longstanding Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME programs receive no funding in the budget request.

HUD Secretary Ben Carson

Plans to eliminate the popular programs became known in the “skinny budget” that came out in March. The release of the administration’s budget proposal confirms those plans, which local leaders and housing advocates say would devastate communities and millions of low-income people across the country................Read More

Building Consensus for Affordable Housing

May 22, 2017                                    By: Bendix Anderson

Cost continues to be an obstacle to overcoming the affordable housing crisis, but another, longtime challenge persists: obtaining local support.

Every town and city in the country faces different challenges that make it difficult to create housing that’s affordable to all the different people who need it.

Shutterstock/Lorelyn Medina

But to a surprising degree, the biggest challenge developers face in this arena isn’t necessarily the actual construction of such projects, but, rather, the building of another crucial element behind affordable housing: consensus. Developments that have the support of local political leaders and the people who live nearby can overcome the more traditional challenges associated with development, such as high costs and restrictions...................Read More

Expiring Tax Breaks Reduce Inventory of Low-Income Apartments

May 22, 2017                                 By:   Dave Sorter

Washington, DC has High Rate of Expirations

The expiration of tax breaks established by the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program is exacerbating a shortage of low-income apartments in many metros nationwide.

The tax credit expires after 15 years. If it is not extended by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, these affordable units could return to market price....................Read More

Where Are Affordable Housing Units at Greatest Risk of Expiring?

May 16, 2017                              By:  Bill Kitchens

Across the nation, there is large shortfall of Low Income Housing Tax Credit, or LIHTC, units. Shortages of designated affordable housing are even more severe in certain metro areas. Another component to the scarcity issue is the expiration of the tax break associated with the LIHTC. Again, certain metros are more vulnerable than others to expiring LIHTC units.

In order to receive the LIHTC tax break, a property must adhere to a rent level affordable relative to a metro area’s median income, specified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The tax credit used to finance or rehab the property expires after 15 years, at which time the tax credit can be extended. However, if the credit is not extended, asking rents could rise to the market level. (In some cases, these units can already be supported by multiple subsidies and still be deemed affordable). The issue of expiration takes time to address. For example, units expiring in 2017 were issued around 2002, so there is a significant time lag between newly financed units and pulling enough reliable data to help answer the expiration question....................Read More

What Cities Have the Biggest Shortage of LIHTC Apartments

May 15, 2017                                                          By: Donna Kimura

Phoenix has the greatest mismatch between needy households and housing credits units, reveals study.

Phoenix has the largest disparity between needy households and low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) units, according to a new report from MPF Research, the intelligence arm of RealPage.

The city has just 6.08 housing credit units per 100 low-income households, ranking it the lowest out of the top 50 apartment markets studied by the firm. Phoenix was followed by Pittsburgh (6.13) and Syracuse, N.Y., (6.27).

Several notable LIHTC developments, including Cedar Crossing by Native American Connections, have recently opened in Phoenix.

Looking at the other end, LIHTC apartments were the most prevalent in Richmond, Va., where there are 22 housing credit units for every 100 low-income households, according to researchers. Kansas City was next with 21.68 units followed by Virginia Beach/Norfolk, Va., with 21.05 units..........Read More

Assessing a Cloudy LIHTC Market

May 5, 2017                                 By:   Donna Kimura

The uncertainty around tax reform continues to make it tough to structure low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) deals.

During the past several months, the industry has seen deals go through a number of permutations involving upward adjusters, downward adjusters, and focusing on different tax rates, said Jeff Weiss, president of Alden Capital Partners, a LIHTC syndicator.

Entering the second quarter, the search for the right formula continues.

“Investors like certainty, and we’re in a market that is not certain right now,” said Jennifer Seamons, senior vice president with KeyBank’s Community Development Lending & Investment team.

Trying to predict what will happen six months down the road while structuring deals now is tough, she said at the AHF Live: Housing Developers Forum in New Orleans................Read More

Preserve and Prosper: 3 Affordable Housing Stories in the U.S.' Growing Cities

April 27, 2017                   By: Travis Gonzalez - Hunt Mortgage Group - Bisnow

The urban revival narrative sweeping America’s biggest cities comes with a caveat: the emigration of working class, low-income families.

A row of apartment buildings in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn - Eli Duke/Flickr

The push for affordable housing, in neighborhoods offering equitable access to resources and amenities, has been contentious at best and muddled by a push to develop at market-rate and higher.

Excluding college-educated Millennials and young professionals, the U.S.’ low density suburbs grew 1.3% in 2016, according to FiveThirtyEight. Families are flocking to cheaper suburbs, unable to afford an urban lifestyle............Read More

Trump Corporate Tax Shakeup Puts Housing Developers in Tailspin

April 26, 2017                            By:  Romy Varghese

Caleb Roope’s company was close to nailing down the financing to build 477 apartments outside San Francisco for senior citizens and working families, counting on the cash to be raised from selling U.S. tax credits it received to develop affordable housing.

Then after Donald Trump, who vowed to slash taxes, won the presidential election, the value of those credits plunged -- and the plans fell through. "It was already hard enough to make the projects work, given the construction costs," said Roope, chief executive officer of the Pacific Companies, an Eagle, Idaho-based builder. "The double whammy of the interest rate pickup and then the tax credit pricing decline has really put a lot of projects in jeopardy."................Read More

Talk of Federal Tax Cuts Chills Affordable Housing Market

April 25, 2017                      By: Elaine S. Povich, STATELINE

BOSTON — The planned A.O. Flats housing development in this city’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood was billed as an oasis for low- and middle-income families, a place where they could get affordable housing in an increasingly affluent area.

Bart Mitchell, who coordinates affordable housing projects in Boston, gestures to an empty lot where a new project is to be built.  Financing for the project was thrown into disarray by the prospect of lower federal corporate tax rates.

Financing was nearly in place and construction was set to begin until President Trump and Congress started talking right after the election about delivering the biggest overhaul of the federal tax code in more than 30 years. Those plans include simplifying tax law as well as cutting taxes, especially for the better-off and for corporations..........Read More