Articles Archives

Talking Heads, Chickie Grayson, Enterprise Homes, Inc.: Offering a Slice of the American Dream

9 min read

Few people have achieved the level of success expanding access to affordable housing and homeownership opportunities in the mid-Atlantic region as Chickie Grayson, President and CEO of Enterprise Homes, Inc.

The Spread of State NMTC Programs

7 min read

“New Markets Tax Credit legislation for South Carolina has been filed the past two years sponsored by a broadly bi-partisan group of legislators,” says Burnie Maybank, a former director of the state’s Department of Revenue and now in the Columbia, S.C. office of the Nexsen/Pruitt law firm

Not So Golden a State

7 min read

Throughout the U.S., people know new ideas and trends often come from California. But in one such case, some worry that the new ideas may drive developers and investors away from building affordable housing there.

Space Race in Chicago

6 min read

The clock started ticking in May 2014, when Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH), an affordable housing developer with offices in Chicago, signed an agreement to buy Lafayette Terrace, an old, project- based Sec. 8 property on Chicago’s South Side.

More Than Just a Home

10 min read

If we had to pick a single word that best characterizes the approach to senior living exemplified by Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly of Boston, Massachusetts, we would find that word right in the name: Community.

Success Means More

11 min read

Success and its resultant growth may make the ownership and staff of a company happier, but it does not make their jobs easier. Success in the housing industry, affordable or other, usually means more—more buildings, more units, more residents, more staff, more income, more expenses, more data, more time, more everything.

Another Layer

6 min read

Responding to a request from Senator Charles Grassley, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has performed a review of the oversight and administration of the Low- Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Program. The results of the study were sent to Senator Grassley on July 15, 2015.

My Summer Daydream

3 min read

Do my eyes and ears deceive me? Has affordable housing really been edging its way into popular culture and the mainstream media?

50 Opinions

6 min read

In prominent historian Joseph J. Ellis’s latest work, The Quartet, he chronicles how George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay persuaded—and with great difficulty—states in fear of another King George III that wanted to remain independent, instead, be united. What that Colonial Quartet feared was 13 different opinions on vital issues (at that point, primarily war with a foreign nation).

HUD: Calculating Utility Allowances

4 min read

On June 22, 2015, HUD issued Notice H-2015-04, Methodology for Completing a Multifamily Housing Utility Analysis. The Notice provides instructions to owners and management agents for completing the utility allowance required at the time of the annual or special adjustment of contract rents and when a utility rate change results in a cumulative increase of 10 percent or more from the most recently approved utility allowance.

Talking Heads, David Leopold, Freddie Mac: Creating New Investor Products

9 min read

After almost two decades at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, most recently managing tax credit equity investments, David Leopold maintained a passion for multifamily affordable housing but was looking for something new. This past spring he was offered an irresistible opportunity: He joined Freddie Mac, as Vice President of Affordable Housing Production, where he manages all lender relationships, transactions, and deal negotiations for the multifamily affordable housing business.

Supreme Court

5 min read

”It would be paradoxical to construe the FHA [Fair Housing Act] to impose onerous costs on actors who encourage revitalizing dilapidated housing in the Nation’s cities merely because some other priority might seem preferable.”

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