Caitlin Jones • 5 min read
Tax Credit Advisor, August 2010: Completion of the mammoth financial-reform legislation sets the stage for a 2011 debate about restructuring the federal Community Reinvestment Act. This is long overdue – today’s financial world would have been unimaginable back in 1977, when CRA was born – and it should therefore be no surprise that CRA two point zero should be a ground-up reinvention from first principles, not a grab-bag of twiddles and tweaks.
Caitlin Jones • 5 min read
Tax Credit Advisor, August 2010: In a federal new markets tax credit (NMTC) transaction, just getting to the closing table can be exhausting enough for participants. So who wants to think about how the transaction will unwind in seven years at the end of the NMTC compliance period?
Caitlin Jones • 3 min read
Tax Credit Advisor, August 2010:
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has issued a new mortgagee letter (2010-21) making significant changes to underwriting standards, policies, and procedures for Federal Housing Administration multifamily mortgage insurance programs, including Sections 221(d)(4), 221(d)(3), 223(a)(7), and 223(f). For most programs, the letter, among other things, increases minimum debt service coverage ratios and reduces maximum loan value/cost ratios, both for market-rate and affordable projects.
Caitlin Jones • 3 min read
Tax Credit Advisor, August 2010: It’s no secret that the city of Detroit has been ravaged economically by a seemingly endless recession and declining manufacturing base. In response, many residents have reacted with their feet. As of July 1, 2006, the city had an estimated population of 871,121, a decline of 8.4% from January 2000. Once the fourth-largest city in the U.S., Detroit is now No. 11.
Caitlin Jones • 3 min read
Tax Credit Advisor, August 2010: Internal Revenue Service agents are conducting a greater volume of audits of tax returns for low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) issues.
Caitlin Jones • 3 min read
The Internal Revenue Service has issued favorable new guidance for the federal new markets tax credit program, including clearing a roadblock to the entry of individuals as investors.
Caitlin Jones • 2 min read
In what could be a new trend, some new affordable rental housing deals without low-income housing tax credits have attracted corporate investors interested in purchasing the tax losses.
Caitlin Jones • 4 min read
Nowhere is the multifamily owner’s uncertainty greater than in green or energy conservation improvements. We’ve all been offered green roofs, electrochromic glass, and on-site wind turbines à all with vendor promises of future energy savings.
Caitlin Jones • 3 min read
Developers and owners may be overlooking a valuable federal tax deduction for energy-efficient systems installed in their buildings, according to officials at Engineered Tax Services, an engineering firm headquartered in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Caitlin Jones • 5 min read
Usually a tax credit project generates local economic activity and jobs. In one case in Greensboro, N.C., it has preserved a chapter in history as well.
Caitlin Jones • 3 min read
At press time, Congress still had not net completed approval of the tax extenders bill (H.R. 4213). In May, leading lawmakers forged a compromise bill for votes on final passage. But cost concerns led the House to modify and trim the package before approving an amended version on May 28.
Caitlin Jones • 5 min read
The Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition recognized winners of the 16th Annual Charles L. Edson Tax Credit Excellence Awards at a Capitol Hill luncheon ceremony on June 2 in Washington, D.C.