Resources from the NMHC

The National Multi Housing Council has posted a guide to unemployment insurance for disaster victims and an extremely detailed model emergency response plan for apartment landlords. Note: after downloading that last item, Macintosh users may have to replace the ".cfm" extension with ".pdf" in order to open the file.

City's loan tainted by refunded bond savings

There's an IRS private letter ruling out today, PLR No. 200539003, involving a city development authority that issued tax-exempt bonds to fund affordable housing, with the bonds guaranteed by an unnamed federal agency. The city authority issued refunding bonds at a lower interest rate and split the savings with the federal agency. The IRS ruled that the savings constitute federal funds for purposes of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. It found that a loan made by the authority to an LIHTC project was funded in part with these savings, therefore in part with federal funds, and at an interest rate lower than the applicable federal rate -- making the loan a below-market federal loan for Sec. 42 purposes. The project is therefore considered to be federally subsidized and eligible to apply only for 30% present value credits. Private Letter Rulings may not be cited as precedent.

Finalized HUD Fair Market Rents posted

HUDUSER has put a "New" flag on its "final" 2006 Fair Market Rents figures, which must be determined by Oct. 1 according to law. Haven't yet checked what changes have been made since the 2006 proposed FMR figures were released back in June. For reference, the NLIHC analysis of the June figures is over here. Anyone who spots individual changes or notices policy patterns in the revisions, please let us know in comments below.

A few more federal housing announcements

- HUD has announced it will be charging up-front mortgage insurance premiums for loans insured under Sec. 234(c) and Sec. 203(k).
- The Commerce Department's Economic Development Administration, which handles a number of housing grants, is putting off the effective dates of some provisions in its big August interim final rule to allow more time for public comment and "additional consideration." Certain rules affecting Planning Investments and District Organizations will now take effect Nov. 14 instead of Oct. 1.
- Lots more disaster declarations in the FEMA section of the Federal Register. So many that I'll just link to today's table of contents.
- HUD today invites comments on a double handful of reporting forms for Public Housing Capital Fund financing, including for mixed-finance deals. Comments are due by Oct. 31.

HUD calls debentures above 5.75%

In today's Federal Register, HUD announces

...the call of all FHA debentures, with a coupon rate of 5.75 percent or above, except for those debentures subject to "debenture lock agreements," that have been registered on the books of the Bureau of Public Debt, Department of the Treasury, and are, therefore, "outstanding" as of September 30, 2005. The date of the call is January 1, 2006.

Friday Katrina bits and pieces

Assorted items here from the housing side of Katrina World. More material on today's news to follow.

- The Washington Times follows up on Secretary Jackson's earlier comment that "New Orleans is not going to be as black as it was..."
- The National Multi Housing Council has updated its major guidance page on multifamily disaster relief housing.
- On our own main Katrina page, John Zipperer explains the Fannie/Freddie picture.
- Current New Orleans Times Picayune Katrina coverage includes architects' warnings against quick fixes and much more.
- Here's a page seeking subcontractors from FEMA temporary housing contractor CH2M Hill. Some clues here also about how the housing relief effort is working.
- David Smith at the Affordable Housing Institute writes on the troubled history of the New Orleans Housing Authority. Also, he introduces the proximate-cause uncertainties that are making hellacious insurance-claim snarls part of the Katrina recovery. (Don't miss the concluding animation.)

Further Thursday disaster housing updates

- News from the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association includes legislative updates on Senate passage of an amendment for $3.5 billion in emergency Sec. 8 voucher funds, the previous passage by both houses of the HR 3768 tax relief bill, and more.

- Highlights of recent FEMA releases:
-- FEMA announced it had distributed $625 million in expedited housing assistance as of Monday 9/26.
-- FEMA's "30-day disaster update," issued today, reports one million applications for disaster assistance from Louisianans and summarizes housing and shelter efforts in the state. Similar summary for Alabama here. Alabama housing summary here.

- The most recent Department of Homeland Security disaster spending and housing summary is here.

- An Army Corps of Engineers report posted on the GOP.Gov Katrina page ends a report of pumping, debris removal, etc. with an update on its part of the housing picture:

Corps Housing Planning and Response Team (PRT) is supporting FEMA's Housing Area Command (HAC).

- 559 of 600 travel trailers have been hauled and placed in staging areas in Baldwin County, Alabama.
- Completed 189 of 377 travel trailers [sic] installations in Mobile and Baldwin County, Alabama.
- Travel trailers began arriving in Gulfport, Mississippi yesterday.

- Heritage Foundation praising the new Katrina relief housing plan.

- PBS' NOW has devoted all its September coverage to the Katrina response. Tomorrow night's show is on FEMA.

- Offered under the heading of barriers to affordable housing in the "reception states": reports of intense unfriendliness to a bus convoy of mostly-black Hurricane Rita evacuees in East Texas.

New 202/811 announcements posted

HUDCLIPS today has posted Housing Notice 05-18 concerning seniors and disability housing under Secs. 202 and 811. This is HUD's "Fiscal Year 2005 Policy for Capital Advance Authority Assignments, Instructions" document for the two programs. New forms, application procedures, deadlines, other regulatory changes. Very much worth reviewing for people working in this area.

[UPDATE 9/30: Actually one of our experts looked at this one and said, no, it's all procedural stuff.]

HUD on the Davis-Bacon suspension

HUD has posted a detailed explanation regarding housing implications of President Bush's decision suspending the Davis-Bacon Act wage requirements for federal contractors.

HUD presentation text describes new rules

HUD has posted a PDF version of the 58-slide Power Point presentation that accompanies its recently promoted Katrina emergency housing guidance webcast. Some of HUD's announcements have suggested the new webcast/presentation only addresses the new 18-month housing payment plan, but in fact the slides also summarize HUD's general response to the Katrina disaster and they mention highlights of many new emergency multifamily housing rules, some of which have not otherwise emerged as formal public regulatory announcements.

A large section of the document does discuss the new 18-month housing voucher program, lately dubbed the Katrina Disaster Housing Assistance Program (KDHAP), which it states in boldface type "should not be confused with the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program." The program, it states, is for displaced households from public housing, housing voucher units, or "other HUD assisted programs (e.g. 202, 811, Project-based Section 8, 236B). Also, mercifully, "Pre-disaster homeless individuals directly affected by the disaster."

An additional "Multifamily Housing Programs" section, beginning on p. 29, states that:

In Section 236 or 221(d) projects, a displaced family must be given priority over other applicants or placed on the top of the waiting list for temporary or permanent housing.

In Section 202 and 811 projects, a displaced individual may be given preference over other applicants on the waiting list provided that the diplaced individual meets other eligibility requirements (age, etc.)

More requirements follow for subsidized multifamily housing, and then PHA requirements begin at p. 33. Guidance on voucher housing begins at p. 41, including a statement that PHAs need not make September housing assistance payments if during that month the unit was both uninhabited and either uninhabitable or covered by a mandatory evacuation order.

The closing page provides an email address for questions: pihirc@firstpic.org. "FirstPic" appears to be a private consulting company.

Again, the rules summarized in this PowerPoint presentation are presumably based on more formal regulatory determinations that have not yet been posted. When copies of such determinations do turn up on public online regulatory sites, the links will certainly be noted in this space.

Public housing disaster response guidance

HUDCLIPS and HUD's Katrina-related "Program Guidance, Waivers and Notices" page have posted advance versions of two major HUD housing announcements that are apparently soon to be published in the Federal Register. The items are an announcement of federal Public and Indian Housing waivers (also here) and a "checklist" form (also here) that public housing authorities (PHAs) are invited to use to announce local suspensions of regulations per HUD authorization and/or to make form-letter requests to HUD (email is permitted) for waivers of regulations.

Eligibility for these suspensions and waivers varies by location: some are for declared disaster areas, others for officials receiving disaster victims elsewhere in the United States. The announcement in part formalizes what had been informal delays in deadlines for non-emergency reports and other submissions by PHAs and tribal housing officials in the disaster areas themselves.

Specific waivable requirements and extendable deadlines include a very large number of deadlines for PHAs to submit financial reports and certain other data and planning information, including Housing Choice Voucher Administrative Plans. Among the other requirements and deadlines on the list are these:
- Deadlines for obligating and spending capital funds.
- The ICDBG rule that limits downpayment assistance for homebuyers to 50% of each total downpayment.
- Deadlines for verifying Social Security Numbers, Employer Identification Numbers, and immigration status of applicants.
- Rules limiting Capital Fund "replacement housing funds" to new public housing; waivers are possible to let this money go to "modernization" or to "homeownership for public housing families."
- Maximum project cost caps.
- PHAs' duties to publish notices when they reopen their public housing waiting lists.
- Living space minimums determined according to family size.

Thursday Katrina update

Here's a partial Katrina update. More to follow as yr obd't blogmother digs through the last several days' announcements.

- The HUD Katrina section's "Program Guidance, Waivers and Notices" sub-page is full of new goodies. More on those in a bit.

- We have some more from Secretary Jackson on the Katrina relief program. There are some not very informative press releases prepared for his appearances in Dallas and Houston but also some more detailed if mainly anecdotal remarks in an "Ask the White House" exchange from this past Tuesday, Sep. 27. Statements there include a progress report on identifying vacant conventional housing:

At HUD, we have reviewed vacant HUD-owned single-family homes within a 500-mile radius of the affected areas, and identified for FEMA approximately 6,000 temporary housing units. Additionally, we’ve surveyed 47 states and found approximately 42,000 rental housing units available as potential temporary housing.

- A Houston business magazine offers tips on contracting for the disaster recovery, including that "Businesses should keep an eye on Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams, who was recently appointed to lead Texas' Katrina-response effort."

- FEMA is apparently announcing a possibility of reimbursement for spending by "faith-based organizations" in the disaster areas. Here's the Houston Chronicle on same.

- Yet more disaster announcements from FEMA for Louisiana in the Federal Register -- here and here.

- GAO has posted several texts of testimony on the Katrina response. The same new-items list (yesterday's) shows a report on factors affecting price competition among real estate brokers.

No waivers for TE bond disaster housing

In the comments section attached to Saturday's Rita/Katrina item, an anonymous reader made an excellent point: that while IRS has issued waivers through Notice 2005-69 to help house Katrina evacuees in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) properties, there does not appear to be any corresponding waiver for properties financed with tax-exempt private activity bonds. A further comment cites the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority guidance for LIHTC owners wishing to house Hurricane Katrina victims, which writes:

Important! – Please note that the Notice does not refer to projects financed with tax-exempt bonds. Those projects must still comply with federal tax law requirements.

AHF Senior Editor Cynthia Hunter checked with a source and wrote additionally:

A prominent housing finance agency official who prefers to remain anonymous provided Affordable Housing Finance magazine with his take on the matter:

My understanding is that only LIHTCs are covered by the notice, not the separate bond requirements. From what I've heard, the IRS does not consider it to have the same ability under the statute to waive those two requirements.

Many thanks for this clarification to all concerned. And if anyone else has information or thoughts on the bonds issue do please post it in the comments thread to this item up here where new visitors will be more likely to see it.

Incidentally, this is just the kind of information-sharing community discussion that we hope will begin to happen more often in our comments sections here.

Sec'y Jackson on the New New Orleans

HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson in the Houston Chronicle:

"Whether we like it or not, New Orleans is not going to be 500,000 people for a long time," he said. "New Orleans is not going to be as black as it was for a long time, if ever again."

He said he isn't sure that the Ninth Ward, a predominantly black and poor neighborhood devastated by flooding, should be rebuilt at all....

Also from his visit to Houston, comments on the evacuee housing situation there.

(Apologies for recent gaps in posting due to traveling blogmother. This space will be catching up on developments all day today.)

Meanwhile, in HUD world...

From and about HUD, non-Katrina-related:

- The text of GAO testimony on HUD rental assistance.

- HUD announcing $45 million for its regular Housing Voucher/Family Self-Sufficiency program.

- A HUD initiative to "enable high-performing lenders to endorse FHA mortgage loans for insurance without a pre-endorsement review by HUD," and another to "streamline" appraisals for FHA mortgages.

Tuesday Katrina update

Following is from the past full day's news: sorry for thin updating today and tomorrow due to traveling weblogger. This page will be back to its usual post-Katrina pace as of Thursday morning.

In recent news and announcements:

- HUD is beginning to provide details of the major new disaster housing payment program. See today's press release, which refers readers to the agency's webcast page (try this link: the one in the press release itself may not work) for RealAudio or Windows Media versions of a presentation on how the payments are being set up. [UPDATE 9/29: they've corrected the link in the press release.]

- Satellite photos used to qualify households for transitional housing; and more on the new housing payments program.

- Deputy Secretary Roy Bernardi testifies before Congress on housing aspects of the relief effort.

- Questions about a contract with the Carnival cruise company.

- Hurricane area mold hazards galore.

- Difficulties for recipients of the especially low unemployment insurance benefits in hurricane-hit areas; health coverage gaps for basically the same population.

- Freddie Mac to buy Gulf-area mortgages.

- A hurricane related SBA loan notice for Florida.

- Georgia real estate companies house 34 evacuee families.

Katrina Monday Morning Miscellany

- The new NLIHC "Memo to Members" is online this morning with updates Katrina and otherwise, including analyses of HUD's emergency waivers in its grant programs -- and political notes of interest to housing folks, e.g. that the Republican "Operation Offset" would, among many other proposals, impose higher costs on the GSEs, eliminate the CDFI Fund and the Economic Development Administration, and deny Community Development Block Grants to "wealthy" communities. Sheila Crowley writes on housing activists' efforts to keep HUD from placing newly displaced tenants in competition with needy households on existing housing waiting lists. She says Friday's housing payment announcement could solve the problem but adds: "... if HUD’s intention is to rely on FEMA funds to pay for HUD’s response to Katrina, why did HUD send legislative language to the Hill last week that would essentially allow HUD to divert its remaining FY05 funds and all of its FY06 appropriations to Katrina relief? The proposal was greeted with disdain on the Hill, so it has little chance of being enacted." Details of the proposal to Congress farther down in the newsletter; also a note that HUD representatives are to testify tomorrow morning on the costs of hurricane relief. NLIHC has scheduled a conference call for advocates this coming Friday, Sep. 30 to discuss whatever details of the disaster housing payment program have become available by then. The organization's separate Katrina page is filling out, with links to Congressional and federal agency documents on the disaster recovery alongside its own policy comments.

- There are so many new Katrina bills in Congress that it may be helpful to just browse the list at THOMAS.

- Another batch of Katrina disaster declarations, from Alabama all the way to California, under the FEMA section of today's Federal Register.

- Architecture for Humanity is asking for donations and specialized help to assist the Katrina reconstruction.

Another disaster info resource

HUD is now linking to Disasterhelp.gov, which seems like either a new or an underpublicized site. Appears to combine FEMA with other disaster-related announcements, including from state governments.

Sunday non-disaster housing mix

Some interesting reads in the non-emergency housing world:

- Today's SF Chron on the increasing presentability of manufactured housing.

- A HOPWA success story from Minneapolis. (Looks like this HUD showcase page is discussing the same project.)

- The Federation of American Scientists Housing Techology Project site.

- A group arrest of 20 HUD tenants on fraud charges in the western Pennsylvania town of McKeesport.

- A new issue of the HUDUSER "ResearchWorks" journal featuring the Virginia Housing Development Authority and summarizing two of HUD's more interesting recent reports: one on discrimination against tenants with disabilities and another on project size and factors leading to success in 202/811 housing.

Saturday Rita/Katrina briefs

Recent items of interest:

- White House disaster declarations today for Hurricane Rita in Louisiana and Texas.

- Katrina tax relief and "Flexibility for Displaced Workers" acts signed yesterday.

- LA Times on the Rita evacuation: "I don't think people realize how traumatic it is to move a nursing home."

- The Big Picture blog argues that Wal-Mart beat FEMA by days in its Katrina recovery -- though of course Wal-Mart didn't have to save families, just buildings and merchandise.
[UPDATE Sunday 9/25: Barry Ritholtz, the blog's author, responds in comments below.]

...and two items that should have been posted here a while ago:

- The Louisiana Housing Finance Agency site has updates, including a new tax credit and HOME deadline of Oct. 31.

- The Colorado Housing and Finance Authority has detailed instructions on compliance with Notice 2005-69 regarding use of tax credit properties to house Katrina victims.

Again, the Novogradac Katrina site has an excellent collection of reports on the disaster relief housing measures taken by state housing finance authorities and other state officials.

[UPDATE: Legal Services of Northern California has posted a set of PowerPoint slides (in PPT ... PDF... HTML) offering lawyer-drafted guidance for Katrina survivors and those trying to help them. PowerPoint presentations always feel incomplete without accompanying narrative, but in this case the pages are sprinkled with useful links and contacts both inside and outside FEMA. Linked documents include FEMA's own Applicant's Guide to the Individuals and Households Program and the Florida Disaster Assistance Manual by the Florida Bar Foundation. Other good links include several to the Louisiana Association of Nonprofits. But there's much more, on both legal and policy topics. Do read this one all the way through to the end.]

Further on those federal housing payments

Following up on yesterday's HUD/DHS rent payment announcement, we've now got a "fact sheet" from FEMA on how it's all supposed to work. Not too much more detail but at least a definite statement that rent payments "will be extended for qualifying evacuees up to 18 months." There's more detail in the transcript of yesterday's Jackson/Chertoff press conference. There, Secretary Jackson said something that made it a little unclear whether the same $2358 would go to everyone for the first three months:

As Secretary Chertoff said, he gave you a round figure. Some communities will charge more; some will be less. But that is an average figure of about $785 a month. Again, we are doing this to make sure that the evacuees have accessibility to quality, decent and safe housing.

Chertoff warned: "...we anticipate that we're going to start sending the checks out or making deposits beginning next week, in the early part of the week," but given the scale of the project, "I anticipate that it will be a matter of a couple of days or maybe more before checks actually get in people's hands. Obviously, direct deposit works more quickly, and those who have registered with us for direct deposit will get the money that way." The money, he said, was likely to be "a couple billion dollars" of spending, paid for at present by Congress' supplemental disaster relief appropriation. "...I don't want to anticipate now whether it will be necessary to go back. Certainly this money is included within the scope of the supplemental, current supplemental."

See the rest of the transcript for discussion of immigrants, trailers, the Rita evacuation, and more.

FEMA also has posted a warning sheet against "half-truths and misunderstandings" that could delay eligibility for aid. The advice tells displaced people that they do not have to be poor to apply for FEMA or Small Business Administration aid, nor without other sources of help, and there is no need to wait for private insurance or loan approvals before also applying to the government. A note to landlords: this document suggests some renters who lost their apartments may still not understand that there is help available to them.

[UPDATE: FEMA has posted a disaster aid FAQ. Some odd language here that might be worth attention for folks not planning to rebuild as before:

The funds you receive for disaster assistance do not have to be spent. However, if you receive disaster assistance in the form of a check, please be advised the check is good for only 12 months. Furthermore, FEMA may audit the use of disaster assistance funds provided to you at any time within three years.

So people don't have to spend their relief money but they may have to show proof of what they did do with it? Sounds confusing. Any offers of clarification much appreciated here.]

New Katrina housing fraud hotline

HUD's Office of Inspector General has set up a new fraud hotline specifically for problems surrounding the Hurricane Katrina housing recovery effort. Phone number 1-800-347-3735, hours 10-4:30 Eastern time; email and snail-mail addresses at the link above. Anonymous reports accepted.

Another HUD waiver

On the HUD Community Planning and Development page late today, an additional waiver reducing public comment period requirements so states can change their CDBG Consolidated Plans more quickly in order to use their previously allocated money for disaster relief. A previous similar waiver reduced public comment periods for local governments changing their CDBG plans. This newer notice, signed Sep. 21, extends the change to state governments as well.

Friday Katrina miscellany

- The National Multi Housing Council issued an even stronger protest today calling for existing vacant apartments to be used more thoroughly in the Katrina relief effort. (See also below.) This document may however have been issued before the HUD announcement of plans to pay Katrina victims' rents that appeared midday today, so we don't know to what extent NMHC and other critics will feel HUD, FEMA, et al. have answered their calls for action. Today's announcement does make new rent money available to private landlords, and it seems likely to reduce the tension that was shaping up between disaster victims and conventionally poor people over access to previously funded public housing and public subsidies. However, the news today doesn't address NMHC's campaign to better publicize the hurricanehousing.net registration site for matching displaced tenants with willing landlords.

- A further announcement from Treasury making it easier for banking institutions to cash disaster relief checks.

- Today's Washington Post is editorializing skeptically on the proposed Gulf Opportunity Zone, noting some differences from the "enterprise zone" idea, in language more or less applicable to the federal Empowerment Zone tax breaks that we discussed here a few days ago as a possible basis for comparison. The Post notes especially that the new proposal would offer "tax breaks for investment but not for job creation."

HUD official moves to Greystone

Michael McCullough, who resigned less than a month ago as HUD's Director of Multifamily Housing, has taken a job with Greystone Servicing Corporation, Inc. Mr. McCullough is credited with developing HUD's Multifamily Accelerated Processing program.

Rita cont'd

The BOPNews blog has a useful compilation of news and announcement sources on Hurricane Rita. Including a UPI report saying New Orleans' Ninth Ward is flooding again: "On the street that runs parallel to the canal, the water ran waist-deep and was rising."

HUD will pay Katrina victims' rent

At last, a comprehensive rent payment program from HUD, in conjunction with Homeland Security:

Evacuees eligible for housing assistance through [FEMA's Individual and Households Program] will receive an initial three month rental assistance payment in the form of check or electronic fund transfer in the amount of $2,358. This initial payment is calculated based on the average fair market rent rate for a two-bedroom unit nationwide. This payment is portable and may be applied to transitional housing costs for any location an evacuee determines. In addition to payment, eligible households will receive a letter describing specific program rules and guidelines on eligible uses of funds.

It looks like after the first three months, the fuss is presumed likely to have calmed down enough for local housing officials to determine rents according to the ordinary local limits:

Participants will receive housing assistance that can be redeemed for both public and private housing units in any community at the discretion of the participant. Rents will be calculated at 100 percent of the fair market rate in the community the evacuee chooses to relocate.

[UPDATE: According to HUD spokesman Brian Sullivan, the money will come "from previously appropriated supplemental funding to FEMA."]

[UPDATE late Friday: NAHRO's response to the plan.]

[UPDATE: Gov. Blanco of Louisiana complains: "It does little for Louisiana citizens who want to come home. With no housing available, vouchers do very little for our evacuees." ]

Louisiana relief bill proposes credits, bonds

The folks at Novogradac have spotted yesterday's introduction of S. 1765, a reconstruction proposal by Louisiana's Senators that contains tax credit and bond proposals of interest to housing developers. It's a turbocharged variation on the previously proposed HR 3769, but with lagniappe for Louisiana.

Important among the provisions is the proposed Sec. 752, which, for Louisiana only, would double the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) to $3.70 per capita from the current $1.85 per capita. Additionally, in the Hurricane Katrina disaster areas of Louisiana, projects could receive the tax credit based on at least 60% of tenants living at 80% or less of median income -- a higher income cap than usual. Furthermore, Katrina disaster area projects within Louisiana that are placed in service after the legislation passes and through 2007 would apparently qualify as high cost areas. Such projects would receive between 130% and 200% of the usual tax credit allocation as determined by the Louisiana Housing Finance Agency.

Also in the bill:

- Sec. 744, a tax credit for Hurricane Katrina relocation expenses of individuals or businesses.

- Sec. 746, a "Hurricane Katrina disaster zone restoration tax credit" for up to 20% of "the taxpayer's cost of Hurricane Katrina Disaster Zone property placed in service during the taxable year," the reward depending on how soon it is placed in service, and the "Hurricane Katrina Disaster Zones" being defined as the areas that were placed under Katrina-related Presidential disaster declarations before Sep. 14.

- Sec. 751, a New Markets Tax Credit expansion that would treat all Katrina disaster zone areas as "low-income communities" for purposes of the credit, meanwhile expanding the allocation for the credit to $6 billion for 2005, of which $4 billion would be for the Katrina disaster zones, and expanding the 2006 and 2007 allocations to $6.5 billion each, of which $3 billion each year would be for the Katrina disaster zones.

- Sec. 1400M(c), which would allow the issuance of up to $45 billion in Hurricane Katrina Disaster Bonds.

Jackson opposes GSEs housing relief fund

Secretary Jackson of HUD is on record today opposing a hurricane relief version of the proposal to make Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac send 3.5% of their profits to an affordable housing fund. Per s'morning's Washington Post, he told Bloomberg News, "I don't think we should be dictating what they do as basically quasi-private entities." A more generic version of the proposal was included this spring in the House GSEs regulatory reform bill, HR 1461, but it began to seem in trouble during August, especially in the Senate, where the bill is S. 190. In an effort to gather their fellow Republicans' support for the affordable housing fund, Reps. Oxley and Baker have been offering this week to send the affordable housing money specifically to the hurricane-damaged areas.

[UPDATE: Further coverage of the GSEs situation on our main page.]

New HUD handbook additions posted

Somewhere around the middle of today, the invaluable HUDCLIPS 'What's New' posted a densely technical notice captioned as Administrative, CIO, and GNMA Handbooks No. 2225.6: "Transmittals to Chg-54, Chg-55, Chg-56, Chg-57." This document is hard to parse -- any help in the comments section to this item gratefully accepted -- but it appears to amend this Handbook 2225.6 with a long string of instructions for handling administrative papers in a huge number of different HUD subsidy programs.

Why it might matter, even to private parties: this document tells a lot about what HUD public records exist, how they are maintained, and when they may be destroyed. Contractors and others who may need to prove something regarding a relationship with HUD may want to save this item, together with the handbook it amends, which can be found via the HUDCLIPS main page.

Two La. parishes oppose FEMA housing

Parish councils of Ascension and Livingston Parishes in Louisiana have voted against accepting FEMA temporary housing sites, though they are already housing many evacuees and emergency staff. The Ascension vote is attributed to "already existing strain on the infrastructure and in consideration of the welfare of our citizens."

Thursday Katrina picture

Yes, today it's an all-Katrina look at new items on the Net:

- The National Multi Housing Council is asking members to write to Congress, saying that private apartment owners have not been properly called on to house disaster victims, and most particularly that the address of the functioning registration site for vacant units, www.hurricanehousing.net, has not received anything like sufficient government publicity. The NMHC appeal is also asking for regulatory waivers and tax breaks to help the industry house disaster victims -- but this paragraph occurs early in its bulletin:

We are requesting that the government utilize the current housing stock of apartments as a means to provide hurricane evacuees with housing. Our members are ready, willing and able to assist in this crisis. In an effort to do this, we need the government to broadly publicize the www.hurricanehousing.net website.

The attached sample letter adds, regarding the "hurricanehousing.net" address:

At present, this link has yet to be publicized as a vehicle for housing the evacuees. This clearinghouse of available housing is accessible to anyone; the federal government, charitable organizations, state and local housing agencies and the evacuees themselves.

Our own previous items about trouble registering private units to help disaster victims are linked from here and here.

- FEMA today posted a summary of Alabama disaster aid, including the opening of the "Birmingham Interim Housing Facility," progress clearing debris, and other news including this:

Alternate temporary housing resources remain a high priority. More than 2,640 pre-placement interviews to assess unmet housing needs have been completed. Officials say that 352 travel-trailer units now house 1,056 displaced individuals. Additional units are being readied and deployed daily...

Other recent FEMA releases include fresh disaster declarations for Hurricane Rita.

- Newsday reports today on the manufactured home contracting situation.

- NLIHC estimates 71% of housing units lost to Katrina were low income.

- Criticism of eminent domain being often stereotyped as conservative, here nevertheless is Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., on Kelo and her fear that poor people could lose homes in the New Orleans reconstruction.

- Today HUDCLIPS posted new editions of forms that were redrafted last March regarding relocation assistance to businesses/organizations and homeowners being required to move "as a direct result of acquisition, rehabilitation or demolition for a Federal project or a project in which Federal funds are used." (Spanish-language editions here and here.)

[UPDATE: Mixed picture in California on whether public housing administrators will jump evacuees to the tops of waiting lists... Abandoned/tax-seized properties in Baton Rouge may be converted to house Katrina victims.]

HANO site is back up

The Housing Authority of New Orleans staff have managed to re-establish their Web site -- which is, however, currently announcing that all staff are temporarily evacuating their offices due to Hurricane Rita. Evacuating their temporary offices in Houston, that is.

Rita

Here we go again...

[UPDATE: The Houston Chronicle is blogging developments with help from scattered citizen "Stormwatchers"]

Katrina tax relief update

HR 3768, the Katrina tax relief bill, has passed both houses of Congress and has bounced back to the Senate for what's expected to be a quick reconciliation process... Treasury Secretary Snow's comment here... Also, the AP coverage here draws attention to a Sep. 19 Congressional Research Service study that among other things noted two important housing provisions then included in the bill: allowing taxpayers who charitably house disaster victims to claim them as dependents, and allowing use of mortgage revenue bonds to assist people other than first-time homebuyers. The personal exemption provision seems to have remained in the House-passed version of the bill. Unclear what's become of the mortgage revenue bond language; to be certain on that, best check back in a few days on the the HR 3768 "Summary and Status" link that begins this paragraph. The Heritage Foundation posted its own analysis of the bill today. [UPDATE 9/22: The National Multi Housing Council has posted a summary of the bill for apartment owners and a full legislative analysis by the Joint Committee on Taxation. (Note: After downloading this latter document, Macintosh users may have to change the "CFM" file extension to "PDF" in order to open it.) It turns out that, yes, the mortgage revenue bond measure stayed in. For details go to Page 39 of the legislative analysis document, numbered as "page 36."] (Note that the HR 3768 tax relief bill is distinct from Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones' HR 3769, the bill with proposed LIHTC provisions that was mentioned on this site yesterday.)

By the way, reports of the Congressional Research Service on a wide variety of topics seem to be available on this State Dept. site. Recent new reports include several on Hurricane Katrina's economic effects, as well as evaluations and recommendations on the federal response to the disaster. Items of especial possible interest include "Tax Policy Options After Hurricane Katrina," which among other topics does address incentives for building affordable housing in the disaster recovery.

Further on the subject of tax relief, the IRS has generated a handy reference page with links to its Katrina announcements. As of this writing the newest such announcement is a press release that in turn links to several substantive tax relief guidance documents, together with the new Notice 2005-73, which "summarizes and clarifies" some of the previous Katrina-related tax relief announcements. This notice does not address housing per se but may nevertheless be useful to taxpayers with property in the affected areas.

Housing starts down for August

From the Census Bureau, a decline in housing starts in August. (Here's Boston Globe coverage of same.) The Census material includes an FAQ regarding Hurricane Katrina's impact on the August figures.

Wednesday buzz, disaster and otherwise

Doesn't quite make sense to keep on separating disaster-related items from others so completely -- it's all getting to be the same ball o' wax -- so here's a combined review of new items today affecting multifamily housing and investment therein:

- The biweekly HAC News is out today with much more on disaster recovery and federal budget news, more or less from a rural housing perspective. The newsletter opens with a review of the emergency housing voucher situation in Congress that seems very much worth reading. [See also HAC's separate Katrina-and-housing analysis report.]

- HUD announces nationwide lead abatement grants and "Main Street" grants to five lucky small towns.

- USDA has posted advice on the dangerous work of cleaning up illegal meth labs -- possibly a timely consideration since, as the document notes, such things are liable to be found in "Real Estate Owned" foreclosed properties. Foreclosed properties being after all one of the sources of emergency housing currently being called upon for disaster relief.

- Here's the Federal Register edition of the SEC exemptions for securities filings of companies affected by Hurricane Katrina.

- Today's FEMA releases are shifting to the subject of Hurricane Rita. (Current Google News top headline: "FEMA Workers Flee Galveston Ahead of Rita.") FEMA statements on the existing relief operation include a proud summary of the increase during recent years of public dollars sent to Florida. There's also news of simplified procedures for the National Flood Insurance Program. The Flood Insurance Program increased some of its fees on Monday.

- Belatedly noticed in last week's coverage: a mention that the recently contracted Fluor Corporation is to "handle operations" for the Housing Area Command. And much on Katrina-relief trailer logistics from Sunday's Business Week.

Harvard Joint Center newsletter out

The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies has its fall newsletter out, showcasing the previously released "State of the Nation's Housing" but also providing convenient abstracts of recent reports you might have missed.

Bill would double LIHTC in Katrina areas

Novogradac has details of a new Hurricane Katrina tax relief bill, HR 3769, introduced by Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio. Provisions include a number of tax credits and breaks for victims of the disaster or those helping in the rebuilding. Among these are provisions specific to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit: doubling the federal housing tax credit volume allowed to Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, granting "Difficult Development Area" extra-credit boosts to the Katrina disaster areas through 2007, and other incentives.

More Katrina guidance from HUD

The link to watch on HUD's Katrina page seems to be "Program Guidance, Waivers and Notices." Links that can be found from that point have repeatedly included guidance announcements not otherwise posted on HUDCLIPS, nor in the Federal Register, nor among the agency's press releases. Currently new there, under "Multifamily Housing Assistance for Disaster Recovery," is an official clarification of procedures for following Housing Notice 2004-22 to open local public housing to disaster victims. Also, under "CPD Waivers," there's a new HOPWA waiver governing both the emergency use of federal HIV/AIDS housing funds and also the emergency relocation of tenants receiving HOPWA assistance. See below for prior discussion of the waivers on these pages.

Non-Katrina miscellany

Yes, life goes on outside the disaster districts. Hence the following bits and pieces.

- The Sacramento Bee writes up bids to build mixed-income housing on Sacramento's Greenfair site that include one from CityView, the company of former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros.

- Possibly interesting HUDUSER report on tradition-inflected Southwestern housing design.

- Dismay over students using subsidized housing near the University of Iowa. [UPDATE: NMHC has posted materials related to a conference on student housing, including "often overlooked opportunities in the student housing sector."]

FEMA asks public for housing assistance

The current FEMA news releases, along with several more disaster declarations, include an appeal to the public for housing assistance. It repeats what we heard from the National Multi Housing Council a few days ago: businesses that have large-scale resources to offer are to register them at www.SWERN.gov; business and individuals with housing rentals available are to register at www.DHRonline.org., which is the resource being provided through Hurricanehousing.net. Or that's what they appear to be saying: as of this writing the second link is misspelled in the FEMA announcement as "www.DHROonline.org."

[REMINDER: the IRS still has not changed the instructions in Notice 2005-69 for tax-credit landlords to register units at SWERN. Registering in both places may make the most sense.]

[UPDATE 9/22: The FEMA press release cited above has been corrected to give the proper link: www.DHRonline.org.]

Tuesday morning Katrina picture

- The National Low Income Housing Coalition has a highly informative Memo to Members out, including both its own recommendations in the Katrina crisis and much coverage of legislative and administrative developments. NLIHC additionally announces it is beginning a series of weekly conference calls on the federal relief picture, beginning this Friday, Sep. 23.

- Locations of mobile homes prove awkward for some new residents.

- Returns to unflooded New Orleans suspended.

- Treasury is relieving depository institutions of liability for cashing forged relief checks provided they have followed certain procedures.

- There's such a huge group of disaster declaration announcements in today's Federal Register that I'll just link to the table of contents -- see the "Federal Emergency Management Agency" section. Yesterday's Federal Register carried more disaster announcements, which were noted here in the Monday Miscellany post. (Apologies for the loss of that text.)

[UPDATE: Federal Reserve raises rates another quarter-point, with commentary on Katrina economic impact in the announcement statement.]

[MISSED EARLIER: Habitat for Humanity announces a partnership with Thrivent to rebuild in the Gulf Coast disaster areas.]

Fannie, Freddie move on multifamily relief

After previously announcing relief measures for hurricane victims with single-family home loans, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have finally announced similar help for affected multifamily borrowers. See our main page Katrina coverage for details.

Katrina Monday miscellany

[Sorry, contents of this post lost due to technical difficulties. ]

PHA Operating Fund final rule issued

HUD's Public Housing Operating Fund final rule is out today and effective Nov. 18. Much emphasis in the preamble on the carefulness of the negotiated rulemaking process. Here's the summary of main changes that were not included in the April 14 proposed rule:

Adoption of Five Committee Recommendations

HUD has adopted five of the seven Committee Recommendations that
were omitted from the April 14, 2005, proposed rule. These are:
1. The ten percent non-profit coefficient.
2. The three percent vacancy allowance.
3. The phase-in of operating subsidy gains over two years.
4. The provision regarding the discontinuation of subsidy reduction
through demonstration of successful conversion to asset management
(i.e., ``stop-loss provision'').
5. The language requiring use of an advisory committee to review
the Project Expense Level (PEL) methodology and utility benchmarking,
convened in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).
With respect to the remaining two Committee Recommendations not
adopted in the April 14, 2005, proposed rule (i.e., the change in
methodology for inflating PELs and the elimination of the $2 per unit
per month public entity fee), the final rule remains unchanged.

Removal of Provisions Not Contained in the Committee Recommendations

Additionally, HUD has removed the three proposed rule provisions
that were not part of the Committee Recommendations. These are:
1. The adjustment in Sec. 990.190(i) based on the Committee
Recommendations for certain PHAs.
2. The two-year limit on a higher subsidy for vacant units due to
changing market conditions, and the related requirements that PHAs
requesting such subsidy submit a plan for ending the higher subsidy
within the two-year period.
3. The provision authorizing sanctions on PHAs that fail to comply
with the asset management requirements or that do not submit accurate
and timely data.

There's also new language regarding eligible expenses for energy loan amortization and other changes described as "technical non-substantive."

Weekend reading, cont'd

- David Smith has been blogging up a storm all week over at the Affordable Housing Institute. This guy is the John Leonard of housing commentary, throwing together amazing salads of fact and allusion that end up broadening your view of one whole shebang after another. Most recently, he's talking about these giant groups of mobile homes and asking if the results will be "...a camp, or a city?"

- Among the many links cited in the previous item here, just wanted to highlight this Nov. '04 report from Florida. On closer reading it says really a lot about the organizational templates that federal authorities had ready to put into use for the housing response after a major hurricane.

The Katrina housing coordination picture

Thus far we've been able to report in a fair amount of detail on the separate Katrina housing relief efforts of the various organizations and agencies, but it has been hard to figure out who is getting all these efforts to work together, and how. Now, maybe, a little light on the subject:

The Congressional Republican site GOP.Gov is displaying periodic "White House Task Force On Hurricane Katrina Response" reports of the type we found a few days ago on Sen. Lieberman's Web site. The most recent such report on GOP.Gov's extensive and informative Katrina page is a Sep. 9 edition. This is a "who's doing what" report, one federal agency at a time. There's an extensive HUD section full of small pithy announcements that are worth the attention of housing professionals generally. There is also significant information here for folks trying to figure out how the housing disaster response is being coordinated. The HUD section of the Sep. 9 White House report says this (all text sic):

HUD has established the Hurricane Recovery and Response Center (HRRC), an emergency management division chaired by the Federal Housing Commissioner Brian Montgomery serving as Operations Lead. This HUD entity will serve as a command post with staff from every program office including Housing, Public and Indian Housing, General Counsel, and Public Affairs. The HRRC will report directly to the Secretary and is housed at HUD Headquarters. The HRRC has dispatched over 20 HUD specialists with expertise on disease abatement, manufactured housing, reconstruction, and community planning with plans to dispatch over 30 more individuals. In addition, to the Joint Housing Solutions Center co-lead Hank Williams; the HRRC has dispatched Bryant Applegate to serve as lead in New Orleans.

(There's a HUD bio of Mr. Applegate here. In quieter times he's in charge of the HUD initiative on removing "regulatory barriers" to affordable housing. Brian Montgomery is the new Assistant Secretary for Housing - Federal Housing Commissioner.)

So what is this "Joint Housing Solutions Center"? Well, we have enough scrapings from the Web to at least begin to answer the question. It's a centralized public-private collaboration that was also apparently activated for last fall's Florida hurricanes. We've already posted mentions of it here... here... and here establishing that Charles "Hank" Williams, HUD's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multifamily Housing, was loaned to FEMA about two weeks ago to "chair" the JHSC in Baton Rouge and that he is now its "co-chair," though we don't know who else is now sharing that leadership with him. The folks at NLIHC were told that the JHSC works closely with another entity, the Housing Area Command, which is headed by FEMA's Brad Gair. Gair is referred to in this NYT article as "head of FEMA's hurricane housing task force," but that could of course be a loose description of the same thing. He was described in a Tuesday 2/The Advocate news story as "FEMA housing area commander." Mr. Gair, in any event, appears to be the man in charge of building these very large evacuee camps using thousands of mobile homes. FEMA's Sep. 8 announcement of five large private housing contracts stated:

The Housing Area Command includes FEMA, the private sector contractors and partners from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the American Red Cross. Their primary goal is to secure emergency housing for all displaced disaster victims. The command will also develop plans for longer-term solutions to address housing needs in the wake of a storm that affected 90,000 square miles. The immediate site of the work will be the hardest hit states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

As we've noted previously, NLIHC was told that the JHSC "comes up with 'ideas' about what to do" while the Housing Area Command "is supposed to implement the ideas from the Joint Housing Solutions Center." Knowledgable readers, do please step in and correct any misunderstandings here.

It's hard to know to what extent the current Hurricane Katrina JHSC may or may not be operating according to previous plans for such entities, but it may be helpful to look through a 2004 report posted by the Florida state governor's office that describes a "Joint Housing Solution Center" as an element of planning against future hurricanes. Start at Page 10 of the report for detailed description of the center's role in combining four categories of aid: state and local; federal; "non-profit/faith-based," and private. There's considerable discussion of specific federal hurricane recovery plans and federal agencies' roles that may offer some insight at least into the patterns that were set up to be followed before Hurricane Katrina swamped so very many plans.

Some more recent documents suggest that in fact the current JHSC is following something similar to the Florida template. Yesterday's HUD press release, on Secretary Jackson's visit to Baton Rouge and the damaged areas, includes a description of

the Joint Housing Solutions Center that includes more than 20 agencies, including HUD, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Red Cross, the Salvation Army and Habitat for Humanity.

A Sep. 7 report of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, posted on Reliefweb, says in part:

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has invited voluntary agencies with strong disaster housing repairs/construction expertise or resources to participate in the Joint Housing Solutions Center to address the massive and complex sheltering and rehousing needs caused by Hurricane Katrina to facilitate contributions of ideas, solutions, and resources from all levels of government and all sectors of society.

A Sep. 2 FEMA press release includes this:

FEMA is setting up a Joint Housing Solutions Center to bring together public, private and voluntary agency stakeholders to develop innovative funding and streamlined operational partnerships to address the short and long-term housing needs of disaster victims.

Afraid this is still not a very complete picture, but hope it helps. Readers, if you can tell us more about these entities, and especially what roles they envision for the owners and developers of apartments, subsidized and otherwise, please use the comments section below or write to us.

Clarity on registering vacant housing units

NMHC has posted a very clearly written new page that asks landlords to enter their available vacant housing units into the hurricanehousing.net system even if they have already registered those units at SWERN, saying "...(We are no longer confident that the information will be automatically transferred into www.hurricanehousing.net.)..." It then adds that landlords willing to lease blocks of 10 units or more to FEMA should "please continue to submit that information to private.sector@dhs.gov." NMHC adds, "We have attempted to avoid the duplicative request, but now believe it is the only way to avoid creating dozens of state and local databases and to avoid any further delays in moving people from shelters into short- and long-term housing." (For background on this issue see below.)

Nat'l Trust for Hist. Preservation steps up

The Novogradac folks have spotted efforts by the National Trust for Historic Preservation to save "historic buildings, neighborhoods and communities" on the Gulf Coast. (Their initial relief effort was announced here.) Novogradac says that among other actions they've asked the Treasury Department to assist owners of historic tax credit rehabilitation properties.

Possibly of ongoing interest is that the National Trust is now blogging the recovery.

...and some Katrina reading for the weekend

Housing quality problems for displaced Gulf Coast people in East Texas... Criticisms of emergency trailer housing... A big selection of Brookings articles on rebuilding, including material discussed in the trailer article just cited... Secretary Jackson tours New Orleans and Baton Rouge... Katrina updates from the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California (NPH) (though please compare the widespread suggestions we have noted that landlords should register vacant units both with SWERN and with other matching services for displaced tenants.)... By email, NPH says, "About 5,000 for[e]closed homes in 11 states will be made available to hurricane survivors. HUD usually sells such homes to consumers or investors. The agency plans to spend about $10,000 on repairs for each home being made available." These are higher numbers than reported previously, hence a little good news going into the weekend.

[MORE: HUD is now saying it has 34,000 public housing units for evacuees. Until Congress approves emergency vouchers, that means fewer units for the conventionally poor... but numbers like these mean some serious coordinating is getting done. More on this from Baton Rouge today.]

[MORE: From a few days back, but worth reading if you haven't already -- FEMA is "...mapping out new towns..." for tens of thousands of people at a time.... More here... A more technical description of the manufactured housing effort here... And here is NLIHC's response to President Bush's speech.... and here's the much-blogged Heritage Foundation programme.]

[MORE: Katrina relief efforts, and some indignation too, from the American Federation of Govt Employees... Recommendations from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities... And the activist group ACORN says that while some "business owners and wealthy residents" are now being allowed back into New Orleans, poor people in shelters are still being told that they won't be able to come back for months. This last item offered as a datum that could have implications for the rebuilding -- or not -- of affordable housing in the city.]

[AND YET MORE: Another much-blogged FEMA article, this one from the New York Times. Click through to the second section of the article for the housing discussion: "Perhaps the greatest frustration expressed by state and local officials - as well as by some federal officials - is the pace of finding or setting up temporary housing..." For what it's worth, it seems as though general-interest news coverage of the housing response has shifted focus a little in the last couple of days, spending more time on the efforts to set up temporary structures on a large scale, and a little less on the efforts to get displaced tenants into individual units of conventional housing.... Though here's the NYT yesterday on displaced Gulf Coast tenants renting in Memphis -- via the informative Knowledgeplex Katrina page.]

Katrina Friday midday miscellany

Further hints and bits about housing aspects of the federal disaster response:

- A little more on the work of Charles "Hank" Williams of HUD, currently on loan to FEMA's Joint Housing Solutions Center. There's a photo caption on a HUD media page saying this:

HUD's Charles Hank Williams, co-chair of the Joint Housing Solutions Center in Baton Rogue [sic], works with a FEMA staff member to resolve a housing concern. The Center is utilizing every conceivable housing alternative to house displaced families. They've looked at a wide range of alternatives ranging from manufactured housing to converting an old Walmart facility into housing.

So that helps to fill in the picture of what the JHSC is doing. Also interesting: last we heard, Mr. Williams was sole "chair" of the JHSC. Now he's "co-chair." Wonder if it means more agencies are getting involved in the effort? And here's some more possibly helpful material among the photo captions: a reference to a HUD staff member working with

...the Real Estate Assessment Center's Strike Teams in Baton Rogue [sic]. The teams travel throughout the affected area conducting comprehensive evaluations of proposed housing options.

- The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency Katrina page has kindly linked to us (thanks!). On the same page the agency is offering instructions for housing disaster victims in tax-credit housing under IRS Notice 2005-69 and also this interesting advisory from the Philly HUD office:

HUD is currently working with FEMA to develop a resource database of vacant multifamily units that can be used to house diaster victims of Hurricane Katrina.
All owners and management agents will be contacted by their Project Managers to determine the status of occupancy in their projects. You are asked to provide your full coperation in the prompt submission of this information.
At this time, the applicable guidance for the housing of diaster victims is contained in Notice H 04-22, issued November 10, 2004. Additional guidance is presently being developed which will address several issues, including Section 202 and 811 housing.

- Nothing much seemingly new in the Treasury/IRS officials' statements while visiting hurricane recovery efforts in Atlanta today, but here are Sec'y Snow's remarks: at the IRS call center assisting FEMA... at Home Depot.

"Gulf Opportunity Zone" -- a Big EZ?

Scroll well down in this Reuters story for an interesting statement from White House economic adviser Allan Hubbard:

Hubbard said the administration will propose $2 billion to create a Gulf Opportunity Zone in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
The money would be used to spur investment and rebuilding by offering substantial tax write-offs for equipment and reconstruction costs.

Wondering if maybe a model for this might be the Bush Administration's changed approach to the HUD/USDA "Empowerment Zones": under the Clinton Administration, the EZs and similar smaller entities used a combination of cash grants, loan guarantees and tax breaks to encourage both public and private redevelopment in disadvantaged areas. Under the Bush Administration, later-designated EZs received tax breaks for private businesses along with big dollops of federal tax-exempt bond authority. Housing and New Markets Tax Credit financing deals could potentially benefit from such an approach, but not everyone has felt able to use the EZ type of incentives. For a quick summary of what Empowerment Zones offer, see IRS Publication 954 -- though of course we don't know yet if the new proposal will look anything like this.

USDA names Katrina coordinators

USDA has appointed a pair of its senior advisors to coordinate hurricane relief operations. The task goes to Gilbert Gonzalez, senior advisor to the Secretary, and James Little, Administrator of the Farm Service Agency. The announcement notes Gonzalez comes to the work from USDA Rural Development and previously worked in banking, housing and economic development, including serving as president of the Community Development Loan Fund in Texas.

The announcement also offers a little further insight into the structure of the federal disaster response with this paragraph:

Gonzalez will serve as the USDA's primary liaison at the Joint Field Office (JFO), in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The JFO is the multi-agency coordination center established to respond to Hurricane Katrina. Working under the direction of Vice Admiral Theodore Allen, Gonzalez coordinates federal assistance activities, particularly as they relate to the agriculture sector. Little joins Gonzalez in this effort to provide effective and efficient coordination of federal, state and local response to the relief effort.

Katrina federal announcements beat

- FEMA is reminding Louisiana property owners that floodplain development permits are still required for building, and "Contrary to rumors, the floodplain development permit requirement cannot be waived." (Some people want to rebuild; some don't. In a much-linked article, the LA Times reported yesterday on real estate speculators eagerly seeking damaged properties in NOLA, "flooding no problem." But USA Today says only 43% of Gulf Coast evacuees in Houston shelters want to go home.)

- The Small Business Administration has a string of Federal Register items out today announcing disaster loan areas for Alabama... Florida... Georgia... and Kentucky. Previous such announcements include these from Sep. 7: Alabama... Louisiana... Mississippi... and Texas. And these from Sep. 14: Kansas... Louisiana... Mississippi.

- By the way, in case it helps readers who will be needing to cite to these, I've gone back and noted some Federal Register editions of Katrina disaster declarations. Here are some on Sep. 7 for Florida... (amended here)... Louisiana... (amended here) and Mississippi. Further disaster and emergency area announcements from Sep. 12: Alabama (and here)... Arkansas... Florida (and here)... Louisiana (and here... and here)... Mississippi (and here). And then a whole lot more on Sep. 13: Alabama... Arkansas... Colorado... Florida (and here)... Georgia... Mississippi... North Carolina.. Oklahoma... Tennessee... Texas... Utah... West Virginia. Even more of these on the way, going by the FEMA announcements.

New 202/811 forms

HUDCLIPS has posted new Standard Rating Criteria forms for development under Secs. 202 and 811.

CDFI Fund announces FA awards

Awards of $32.8 million in Financial Assistance Component money this morning to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) through the CDFI Fund. From the announcement: press release... awardee list... awardee profiles... highlights.

The CDFI Coalition industry group's newsletter comments on the awards this morning. It's also soliciting help for disaster-affected members including Enterprise Corporation of the Delta and the Southern Mutual Help Association, and it links to a rebuilding fundraising effort by the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions.

HUD nominees heard today in committee

While the Roberts confirmation hearings dominated the news today, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs was holding its own confirmation hearings on nominees to fill vacant positions at HUD and in the Commerce Department. The HUD nominees are: Keith E. Gottfried, to be General Counsel; Kim Kendrick, to be Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity; Keith A. Nelson, to be Assistant Secretary for Administration, and Darlene F. Williams, to be Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research.

If the four HUD nominees are confirmed, that will leave three additional White House-appointed positions vacant on the HUD principal staff. The vacant positions are: Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing; Chief Financial Officer, and president of Ginnie Mae.

Orlando Cabrera, formerly of the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, was nominated Aug. 18 to be Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing. Mr. Cabrera has disaster recovery experience and during his work in Florida made a priority of extending tax credit housing assistance to lower-income tenants. See our brief online coverage here and also our print-edition interview with Mr. Cabrera beginning on p. 71 of the October 2004 AHF.

MacArthur disaster grants offered

From the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, specifically for affordable housing in the Katrina disaster areas: up to $1 million in grants; up to $5 million in "no-interest loans and loan guarantee facilities"; both apparently for non-profit organizations.

More analysis from Nixon Peabody

Nixon Peabody has been especially prolific these last two weeks with "action alerts" important to the affordable housing and housing tax credit syndication businesses. Their initial memo on the Katrina situation, which we summarized last Wednesday, is now available here. Their brief take on Notice 2005-69, which we excerpted here, is now online at this link.

Most recently, they've circulated a three-page analysis of the new HUD rule regarding mixed-finance 202/811 development, which we've discussed here, here, and here. Nixon Peabody's comments include this one:

With respect to the limited partnership structure, HUD is continuing to require that the general partner be a section 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) entity, ignoring language in the Act that appears to provide for a for-profit general partner so long as that entity is controlled by a nonprofit entity. This could have negative effects on depreciation that could lower tax credit investment in these projects.

There's much more, all densely specific and hence difficult to summarize. The whole memo should be posted publicly soon in Nixon Peabody's Affordable Housing Law Alert section. Maybe you want to recheck that page around the middle of next week.

Katrina update; more disaster declarations

More Presidential disaster declarations in announcements dated yesterday. On the FEMA map, the dark yellow shading that means "active disaster or emergency" covers almost the entire contiguous U.S. -- all but Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New Jersey and Delaware. Not everything is Katrina-related -- Maine, for example, is recovering from heavy late-spring floods of its own -- but that map looks pretty darned dire at present.

Meanwhile, more Katrina bits and pieces: AP on the disaster and the "return of big government"... Toxics in NOLA floodwaters... From Time magazine, the refugee scene in Houston as of Tuesday... The political weblogs are noting this article on possible compassionate delays to the Oct. 17 effective date of the new bankruptcy laws... also this in the Washington Post on FEMA and large private contractors... and you'll be getting coverage of President Bush's speech in your own hometown papers, hence no need for extensive discussion in this space, but here's an early New York Times take on his remarks.

[LATER: Here's the Washington Post on the D.C. housing authority's local accommodations for Katrina evacuees... and the News 2/Advocate site in Baton Rouge quotes views of the federal aid picture from officials in Louisiana.]

New guidance and waivers from HUD

HUD has been showing an excess of modesty this week, burying terribly useful items deep down in its Web page structure. Just now the only clue to the existence of new information was a slight reorganization of the links on HUD's Katrina page. Turns out they've produced two new useful items:

1) HUD's disaster policy for public housing authorities has been posted for days and days on this page, but at the foot of it there's now a link to a page with further guidance from HUD Public and Indian Housing, and there we find a meaty ten-page housing FAQ addressing questions about public housing, Section 8 vouchers, and to some extent other subsidized housing questions.

2) Community Planning and Development now has five waivers posted. We reported on three of these over the weekend: the waiver of public comment periods on changes to CDBG consolidated plans; the waiver of the 15% CDBG public service expenditure cap; and the Sep. 9 combined guidance/waiver document on use of HOME funds. However, now there are two more:

a) An apparently new but undated waiver on the use of Emergency Shelter Grant funds for disaster victims, and

b) An apparently new, additional HOME waiver document, also undated, suspending HOME statutory requirements under Sec. 290 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act of 1990, as amended, and waiving HOME regulatory requirements under 24 CFR 5.110, in "participating jurisdictions in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi counties."

[UPDATE: Judging by some of the past storm-related regulatory waivers on pages 2, 3, and 7 of this document, these Sec. 290 waivers are pretty routine in disasters.]

Mark-to-Market scandal in Joliet

Local councilman and local newspaper shocked at high "exception rents" allowed in refinancing of much-criticized apartment complex outside Chicago.

Fannie Mae: 30-day multifamily relief

Fannie Mae allowing a 30-day relief period for multifamily borrowers; something similar expected soon from Freddie Mac. John Zipperer has the details on our main page.

Gee, that was quick.

Mississippi AG suing insurance companies over adjusters' handling of disaster-related homeowner claims. (For Californians, this brings up shades of the Northridge earthquake.) The buyer-beware comments in the ChicagoBusiness story are of possible interest to anyone dealing with damage to housing right now. So are the consumer warnings and legal materials on the Mississippi AG's site itself.

IRS releases retirement savings

From the IRS today: News Release 2005-105, which at some point will likely be posted here, says they're going to allow employer retirement plans such as 401(k)'s to make emergency loans or hardship distributions to Katrina victims without penalty. ASPPA was predicting on Monday that they would take some such action. The nuts and bolts are in Announcement 2005-70, which should appear in the next few days on the Advance Notice page, probably at this link.

[UPDATE: The Treasury Dept. press release attaches the announcement text.]

Snow, Everson to appear tomorrow

Treasury is announcing that Secretary Snow and IRS Commissioner Everson will make public appearances related to disaster relief tomorrow. Not clear if they will use the occasion to make new announcements but it's maybe worth keeping an eye open.

The community response, con'td

- Tom Slemmer, CEO of National Church Residences (NCR), has added a comment to this post from yesterday explaining the efforts of NCR and the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA) to provide disaster relief assistance, including with referrals, rent and financial help, food, water, "health services," and "medication issues" For more information, see the detailed description in his comment below and see NCR's resource page here. Over on the AAHSA page, they're asking organizations that "have received Katrina evacuees" to let them know at hurricane_relief@aahsa.org:

The federal government has asked for our help in trying to keep track of evacuees’ location and needs. If you are housing Katrina elder-evacuees at your senior housing, assisted living, or nursing facility, please please email us the number of evacuees, what assistance you need, where they came from and contact information at your organization for follow-up.

- Atlanta-based Capitol Development Group and ProLandscapes, Inc. just wrote to us saying they're housing 100 displaced families in newly renovated apartments. [UPDATE: Here's their announcement.]

- There's a good new NLIHC Katrina page pulling together the past two weeks' information on the federal response, with emphasis inside the Beltway.

LISC founds recovery fund

LISC has just sent out an announcement of its new Community Recovery Fund. Not sure if this is on the main site, but the newsletter version of the announcement adds: "LISC's local partners at this time include New Orleans Neighborhood Development Collaborative; Baton Rouge Area Foundation; Southern Mutual Help Association, Inc.; Quitman County Development Organization, Inc.; Enterprise Corporation of the Delta; and Foundation for the Mid South."

House Katrina hearings address housing

Industry and social service representatives are speaking to the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity today about their understanding of the emergency housing needs. Here's the Mortgage Bankers' Association describing its own testimony. Here's the Manufactured Housing Institute... Catholic Charities USA... NAHRO... NMHC/NAA and Related Management... More info on current proposals at the main committee site.

[UPDATE: Novogradac spotted a committee press release that includes the witness list. Based on which, we have: the National Association of Home Builders... CARH... The National Alliance to End Homelessness... The National Rural Housing Coalition... The National Community Development Association... The American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging... and Judy Kennedy of NAAHL. Sorry, only the NAHB and NAAHL sites currently have prepared testimony showing but perhaps the others will display texts later.]

Big picture relief news on our main page

AHF's John Zipperer has updated the Katrina disaster housing material on our main page, with useful links and invitations to join in a community response.

Fannie Mae opens 1500 homes for relief

Fannie Mae says it is opening up 1500 single-family homes for Katrina victims, and "for rent-free leasing," too. These are Real Estate Owned (REO) properties, i.e. probably foreclosed homes that have been sitting empty.

Big Katrina relief commitment in CO

The Colorado Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) has just circulated news to its mailing list of a major state-level disaster relief effort.

CHFA's Paula Harrison reports that the Colorado Division of Housing (a different state entity that handles some of the state's tax credit housing among other functions) is going to pay hurricane victims' security deposits and even their rent for up to a year. The agency is setting out to lease properties on these displaced tenants' behalf from tax-credit landlords, initially for 3 months and then month-to-month for up to 9 more months, i.e. a total of 12 months' tenancy.

Paula also writes: "Note, each area of the state has the option to work with FEMA to set up their own plan. But if you choose not to do this, DOH will service the entire state with this assistance. "

She adds: "Please refer landlords offering rental units to our Coloradohousingsearch.com website to list their rental. "

The accompanying DOH information sheet states in part: "The Division of Housing has decided to do this in order to provide landlords security in knowing that they will receive the rent for these families. FEMA's reimbursement system cannot be dependend upon and could delay family payment for up to four months. DOH can pay up to the [Fair Market Rent] of the county in which the family is residing. DOH can provide this assistance statewide if needed and will be reimbursed by FEMA." It says the Denver Catholic Charities office will be handling the property inspection, lease arrangements, and billing.

Can't find this information sheet online yet but it might be worth watching the DOH site's "What's New" page.

[UPDATE: Novogradac has posted a copy of the information sheet and notes that the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority is providing 50 furnished units.]

Latest: List at SWERN, but also elsewhere

Just heard from one more source supporting the view that landlords with housing to offer the disaster recovery effort may have to register at www.SWERN.gov for tax purposes, but they should not rely on SWERN to bring them tenants. To make actual timely connections with disaster-displaced tenants, the increasingly consistent recommendation is to list at the Disaster Housing Resources (DHR) site, which is the online listing resource being offered through hurricanehousing.net. In addition, a huge number of the state housing tax credit administrators, including outside the South, are still calling urgently for offers of vacant units.

As we noted last night, HUD is now giving a version of this double request in its guidance for "faith-based and community organizations." It is saying large-scale offers of housing go to SWERN and small-scale ones go to DHR.

The NMHC site, which appears to have excellent sources, says large "non-cash, non-housing" offers of resources go to SWERN, while the most recently updated portion of its property listing advice still urges landlords who have registered at SWERN to "resubmit" information about vacant housing units to hurricanehousing.net. (NB: another section of this NMHC page states SWERN is saying it has transferred housing information to hurricanehousing.net. The SWERN site was in fact saying this last Friday (9/9) but the site had removed all references to hurricanehousing.net as of Saturday (9/10). Probably resubmitting information is a good idea in all cases.) [UPDATE 9/17/05, also posted above: NMHC has posted a very clearly written new page that asks for available units to be entered into hurricanehousing.net even if they have already been entered at SWERN, saying "...(We are no longer confident that the information will be automatically transferred into www.hurricanehousing.net.)..." It then adds that landlords willing to lease blocks of 10 units or more to FEMA should "please continue to submit that information to private.sector@dhs.gov." NMHC adds, "We have attempted to avoid the duplicative request, but now believe it is the only way to avoid creating dozens of state and local databases and to avoid any further delays in moving people from shelters into short- and long-term housing."]

As we know, the IRS does require owners and managers of tax credit properties to list them at www.SWERN.gov in order to benefit from the waivers in IRS Notice 2005-69. (A copy of the notice is now available online from the IRS itself in its Advance Notice list.) The IRS requirement hasn't changed.

So it does seem like registering in both places -- both at SWERN and at DHR -- is the safest, most useful thing to do, and we haven't yet heard of any reason not to double-register.

Wednesday evening Katrina miscellany

First of all, the HUD Katrina page has added two items. One, interestingly, is HUD's housing discrimination hotline number: 1-800-669-9777/1-800-927-9275 (TTY). The other item -- a much beefier one -- is HUD's new "Disaster Relief Toolkit for Faith-based and Community Service Providers," which in fact looks useful to all varieties of public and private service providers. This "Toolkit" isn't just one page: several links in the right-hand sidebar lead to further pages that appear to be newly created.

For tax credit housing providers -- faith-based, community-based, or otherwise -- possibly the most interesting message within the "Toolkit" is the brief central paragraph on the "Register Your Resources" page, which reads:

If your organization can be of assistance in the relief effort, please register at the National Emergency Resource Registry, or SWERN if you have multiple housing properties available. If you have single properties available, register at Disaster Housing Resources.

The revision date on this page is yesterday -- 9/13/05 -- so the paragraph appears to be recently drafted. It supports the still-tentative but increasingly persuasive theory that landlords who have small-scale resources to offer, such as a single vacant apartment, can be helpful by listing their resources both at SWERN and with other housing match efforts. (We still have inquiries pending on the question of what else landlords should do after they register their vacant units at SWERN.) The "Disaster Housing Resources" link given in this paragraph leads to the same registry page that is also linked from www.hurricanehousing.net.

The other "Toolkit" pages contain more progress reports than guidance for prospective action, and some of the specific guidance has already been posted elsewhere -- but there are new items too. Notably, the "Local HUD Offices" page provides field office contacts in the disaster areas; the "Office of Public and Indian Housing" page interestingly links to the July-issued PIH 2005-18, which includes advice for local housing authorities on applying for extra disaster-related administrative fees; the "Office of Housing" page notes, "All [Sec.] 202 recipient organizations can participate in helping locate and relocate eligible elderly persons and families into 202 projects on a temporary or a permanent basis." Pages captioned "Assistance for FBCO's Offering Aid" and "Organizations Offering Aid" provide contact links for a large selection of private charities, predominantly but not exclusively Christian. Several of the pages link to an electronic suggestion box, fbcokatrinarelief@hud.gov, and call for recommendations of other organizations not yet listed.

Further Katrina updates:

- The Novogradac folks have spotted a proposal by the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition for changes in the law of housing tax credits and tax-exempt multifamily bonds that it contends could benefit disaster victims.

- New resources at the Novogradac Katrina page include legislative updates and useful disaster recovery information from the Mortgage Bankers Association of America: there's a general disaster resource page here and specific mortgage relief information over here.

- The IRS today said it had 2,743 telephone operators helping FEMA today and hoped to have 5,000 by Friday.

- Per an IRS press release, IR-2005-103, probably soon to appear here, the IRS is giving Katrina relief workers until Jan. 3 to file taxes due this fall, under more or less the same terms as disaster victims themselves. Presumably there'll be further guidance on the definition of a "relief worker." For now we've got this: "Eligible relief workers are those assisting in the disaster area. This includes people affiliated with recognized government or philanthropic organizations and others."

In and via the NH&RA newsletter

The National Housing & Rehabilitation Association is now organizing its online news by topic, not just by date, so you need to scroll down considerably to find all the most recent items. Do scroll down, though. (And do consider subscribing to their newsletter, which presents the info more tidily.)

Among the current items, drawn from both Web page and newsletter: tax credit and multifamily housing events today in Oregon, Maryland and Wisconsin... Sample Katrina relief documents from Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development... an informed view of yesterday's 202/811 announcement... and... oh, just go read it.

Thanks especially to NH&RA for linking to a page full of well organized Katrina advice for tax credit housing landlords plus a continuing call to report vacant units at the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency. NCHFA is also offering a well-considered take on the SWERN issue: it notes that tax credit landlords who want to invoke the disaster waivers under last Friday's IRS Notice 2005-69 need to register affected units at www.SWERN.gov -- but like quite a few other folks, NCHFA is also suggesting additional ways for landlords to get timely word of their available housing to tenants in need.

Recent federal housing announcements

- Further to yesterday's 202/811 mixed-finance final rule: we're told that the changes from the interim rule are a pretty big deal for developers. Full coverage to follow in the next AHF magazine. In the meantime: back in winter '03/'04 when the preceding interim rule was announced, we heard that "at least 15 mixed-finance projects with existing allocations had been waiting for this regulatory guidance to start development." But according to the summaries of comments in the new final rule announcements, even the interim rule created too much ambiguity -- and, from some developers' point of view, too much restriction -- when it came to expanding the permissible roles of for-profit businesses working in cooperation with nonprofits on these types of developments. The preamble in yesterday's 13-page announcement has gone into great detail on the types of possible non-profit/for-profit relationships, not only by describing the regulatory changes summarized here yesterday, but by offering guidance in the form of responses to comments. Among other guidance, it says limited liability companies may not be ownership entities under the new regulation.

- Also for 202/811 developers: the requisition form for disbursement of capital advance/loan funds is up for comment at HUD until Nov. 14.

- Ginnie Mae is proposing a new kind of security backed by excess yield funds from previous securities. Comments are again due Nov. 14.

- The New Markets Tax Credit program has published the Federal Register notice it promised last Friday offering to extend its Sep. 21 application deadline on a case-by-case basis for applicants affected by disaster. The press releases were oddly worded as to which disaster dates were included, but the Federal Register announcement clearly refers to disaster declarations "since July 15, 2005."

New importance for homelessness council?

Interesting statement from HUD noting Secretary Jackson's election yesterday to chair the Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH). Interesting because ICH has hitherto focused pretty strongly on "chronic homelessness." Now the HUD announcement says this:

Jackson pledged to fully commit himself to the Administration’s goal of ending chronic homelessness for the hardest-to-serve homeless individuals who may also be living with a disability, mental illness or an addiction. He also pointed to those individuals and families made homeless for the first time in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Jackson called on member agencies to continue their close collaboration to assist the chronically homelessness as well as those evacuees from the Gulf region.

So is there a chance ICH might be part of the agencies' answer to calls such as NLIHC's for a coordinating authority to handle the housing side of the disaster recovery?

The ICH summary of yesterday's meeting also notes some important news for housing developers:

The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that, in response to both to the Administration’s goal of ending chronic homelessness and the needs of communities, it will in the future consider permanent supportive housing as an eligible use for federal surplus property under the McKinney-Vento Title V program.

Previously, housing on such sites was only allowed if the residents were expected to leave after a specified time. The announcement says formal regulatory publications on the subject will be forthcoming. This is great news for the nonprofits and others who have been frustrated by the restrictions surrounding those offers of "free" government surplus property that appear every Friday in the HUD section of the Federal Register.

News on the FEMA housing response

This is an email circulated yesterday by Sheila Crowley, president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, quoted here by permission:

From: Sheila Crowley
Sent: Monday, September 12, 2005 1:50 PM
Subject: Housing Area Command and Joint Housing Solutions Center.
With some poking around, we have determined that the Housing Area Command and the Joint Housing Solutions Center are two different entities, although they are "joined at the hip" according to Mr. Kwong who answers the phone at the Joint Housing Solutions Center.

Hank Williams is "chairing" the Joint Housing Solutions Center, which comes up with "ideas" about what to do. Brad Gair, a career FEMA guy who was the FEMA coordinator for 9/11 is directing the Housing Area Command, which is supposed to implement the ideas from the Joint Housing Solutions Center. The Housing Area Command is in charge of operations and let the contracts with Bechtel et al.

Some of our own previous notes about who's doing what for disaster housing are here ... here ... here ... and here. [LATE 9/13 Here, too, including a recent clarification.]

[MORE: Sheila Crowley and the NLIHC have just released a letter to Congressional and administrative branch housing leaders calling for the creation of a "central federal housing entity" to coordinate the disaster response and making recommendations for the response itself....
...Meanwhile Sen. Sarbanes is pushing a bill for emergency housing vouchers, detailed here.]

HUD granting leave to staff who volunteer

HUD announced just now it will allow those of its staff who volunteer on private charitable efforts to do so without loss of pay, subject to supervisors' approval. An example cited is a staff member in a New York State field office who also serves as a volunteer firefighter. This appears to be a policy change intended to apply generally; it's unclear how it applies to the current Katrina crisis, which at present would seem to be offering HUD staff members plentiful opportunities to assist the needy in their capacities as public employees.

....ah, here we are: the staff union's press release says they've been negotiating over this issue since April.

More housing response detail

I'm looking at a rather remarkable PDF document here that one of our editors spottted on Senator Lieberman's Web site. It's captioned "White House Task Force on Hurricane Katrina Response" and dated last Tuesday, September 6, and in the course of going through what each federal agency is (was) doing as of that date, it casts a fair amount of light on the workings of the federal housing response. Among the items -- all presumably now a week old or more:

- The Housing Authority of New Orleans "is fully operational at the Houston Housing Authority, with a satellite office at the Atlanta Housing Authority. HANO has also set up offices in Dallas and Atlanta and can be reached at 713-652-2924."

- Charles 'Hank' Williams, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multifamily Housing, has been assigned "to help lead the Joint Housing Solutions Center in Baton Rouge, LA." The document says "He will arrive Saturday, September 3, 2005," suggesting it was actually drafted before that September 6 date. The Joint Housing Solutions Center is apparently a FEMA entity.

Many more who's-doing-what kinds of details in this document, such as the fact that the housing authorities of San Antonio and Bexar County were doing intake among the first New Orleans arrivals at Kelly Air Force Base.

On the whole this is a helpful thing to read even a week later. Do note however that the information may be out of date.

Secretary Jackson live

His "Ask The White House" chat is in progress now. Follow the questions and answers here or ask your own over here. (Thanks again to the folks at Novogradac for spotting this item yesterday.)

Tuesday morning Katrina roundup

New Ginnie Mae announcement via HUD about "special procedures for security holders in disaster-affected areas," principally advising against mailing checks to addresses where the Postal Service is not delivering.... Another emergency declaration, this time for Virginia... The official Federal Register publication of the emergency Davis-Bacon Act suspension... Detroit offering housing units...

These updates are getting shorter day by day as the crisis stabilizes. But still no emergency-specific Sec. 8 vouchers far as we know...

[MORE: ...NMHC has further advice on renting to hurricane victims,

[[FURTHER NOTE LATE 9/13 -- On the NMHC page just cited, the advice about the SWERN/hurricanehousing.net situation, in the section dated 9/10 and marked "Tax Credit Properties: Special Considerations," may be out of date. Landlords with vacant units to list may want to look at this other NMHC page, which appears to be more recently updated, but please note it contains a contradiction on the same issue. First, the page gives a three-paragraph update with today's date (9/13) urging landlords who have registered units with the federal sites to also register them with hurricanehousing.net. We have not yet confirmed whether this is the most current information. Second, another paragraph appearing farther down on the page says the SWERN site "reports that all housing information has been moved to www.HurricaneHousing.net." This statement is definitely out of date. Although the SWERN site did display such a statement on Friday (9/9), the SWERN site had removed all references to hurricanehousing.net from its public site as of Saturday morning (9/10). NMHC's Katrina information has in general seemed excellent. We'll try and have more on this soon. For background on the SWERN situation see the links at the end of this post.]][[YET FURTHER NOTE LATE 9/13: During his "Ask the White House" chat this afternoon, Secretary Jackson suggested to a questioner offering a spare bedroom: "...I urge you go to www.hurricanehousing.net or www.usafreedomcorps.gov and register with the National Emergency Resource Center to find out what you can do to help the evacuees. ..." ]]

including some important nuts and bolts about FEMA registration and Individual Assistance awards (NB: these are two different things, so landlords should know that a person who has a registration number may not necessarily have been approved for aid.) And it links to Houston's interesting locally developed emergency voucher system... The HUD contracting opportunities site appears to have been expanded, though there's nothing explicitly disaster-related... still trying to get more precise word on what's being done with the listings of vacant units registered at SWERN...]

[LATER:... HAC has a report from the rural housing front of the recovery.]

Another grant competition reopened

HUD is reopening the competition for its community development technical support grants under the SuperNOFA of last March. New deadline is October 13.

HUD issues 202/811 mixed-finance rule

HUD's final rule is out today on mixed-finance development for seniors' and disability housing under Secs. 202 and 811. Changes from the Dec. 1, 2003 interim rule include a "less specific, more flexible approach" to Secs. 891.805, 891.808 and 891.828 in response to comments, which had included complaints that the interim version of Sec. 891.808, on the loan of a capital advance from a nonprofit to a mixed-finance partnership, "could interfere with the ability of mixed-finance developments to qualify for favorable treatment for Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) purposes."

Additionally, Sec. 891.815 is revised to allow higher developer fee caps and "detailed firm commitment application, mixed-finance proposal, and evidentiary material submission requirements are being removed from the rule in response to comments that these sections were overly detailed and restrictive." There are also changes to rules on conflict and identity of interest and on operating reserves.

Dismal reading on Katrina economics

UK Independent on the toxicity of New Orleans flood waters... The Standard & Poor's site, whence you can navigate to the company's extensive Katrina page... and three stories via BizNewOrleans:... The Fitch Ratings Katrina page... Swiss Re now estimating total insurance industry losses of $40 billion and its own claims at $1.2 billion... A rush to rent apartments for corporate employees transplanted to Houston... Also: the BBC on real estate boom times in Baton Rouge.

FEMA director nominee: R. David Paulison

Washington Post story here, White House statement here, no FEMA statement yet.
[UPDATE: ...here's an official bio for him... NY Newsday profile here...]

Debris removal, new disaster declarations

Sorry didn't note sooner that local jurisdictions in the disaster areas are to get FEMA reimbursement for debris removal. Here's the original FEMA release on the subject. Today, 12 Alabama counties added to FEMA's Infrastructure Aid List and 22 Alabama counties approved for debris removal. Also on the FEMA announcements, we have emergency declarations dated Sep. 10 for South Dakota, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Kentucky, Kansas, Indiana, and Iowa. For some reason Alabama is in this recent list too although it received its original declaration from the federal govt. Aug. 29. Then FEMA is announcing hotlines for donors to call to assist each of the three worst-affected states. They are: Mississippi: 1-866-230-8903 ... Alabama: 1-877-273-5018 ... Louisiana: 1-866-334-8305.

These and many more items, including Mr. Brown's resignation statement, at the September 2005 FEMA press release archive.

Retirement savings likely to be released

The American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA) reports it has been working with Congress and the IRS on ways to let hurricane victims draw on their retirement savings without penalty. (Noted as relevant here because it's a way to pay for housing.) A release from ASPPA today says:

The new IRS guidance, also expected to be issued tomorrow, allows workers to immediately take hardship withdrawal distributions or loans from their 401(k)-type plans, even where currently not allowable under the plan. The IRS would also expedite loan requests by reducing the paperwork normally required to borrow from a 401(k)-type plan.

Additionally they expect a Senate Finance Committee proposal to be introduced tomorrow that

would waive the 10 percent penalty for early withdrawals, as well as allow a participant to pay tax on the distribution over a 3-year period. Such hardship withdrawals could later be contributed back to the plan within a 3-year period.

The legislative package would suspend any payments due on existing loans for up to a year, and allow participants to borrow (up to a maximum of $100,000) of their account balance. The package would also extend all plan filing and funding deadlines for a minimum of six months, with a provision for further extensions.

Jackson, Santorum on reimbursements

Not especially surprising news, but Secretary Jackson and Sen. Santorum did mention during an appearance in Philadelphia today that the city, together with the state of PA, would be reimbursed for their disaster relief efforts.

NLIHC's Katrina updates

The new NLIHC Memo to Members is out. (Note: it's Issue 35, posted with new news today, but under a caption left over from last week.) New items include a detailed update on proposals in Congress for emergency housing vouchers. Also the note that the House Judiciary committee's jurisdiction over HR 1461, the GSEs bill, expires Sep. 16 -- which has become important because last week they postponed their markup on the bill. Also, the progress of the Violence Against Women Act and more. Go read.

Ask Secretary Jackson a question online

The Novogradac Katrina site has noted an important development: HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson will be participating in an online chat tomorrow at "Ask the White House." Submit your question for him here. The Novogradac folks have also begun linking to hurricane-related legislation before Congress among other items.

A little more on HUD and local PHAs

The Mobile Register's story on HUD relief today is locally focused but has a few details that might be helpful to folks elsewhere.

We already knew that HUD's instructions to hurricane victims have been to contact the local housing authority wherever they find themselves, and that Housing Notice 04-22 allows local housing authorities to place disaster victims at the tops of waiting lists (see below), but the Register also says this:

The federal agency will also try to direct [displaced tenants] to three housing authorities that are closest to where they are temporarily sheltered. HUD has also set up a hotline for public housing authorities to verify that person previously lived in public housing. The agency has established its Real Estate Assessment Center to verify a family's participation in public housing prior to the storm's arrival. HUD will continue to provide Section 8 payments, without recipients having to re-apply, and will allow a housing authority to prioritize evacuees' admissions to public housing, officials said.

The Register says the hurricane ironically "hit at a time when the Mobile authority is in the middle of a major renovation, demolition and revitalization effort," so apparently local officials have fewer units to offer.

Brown resigns as director of FEMA

CNN has the story.

A post-Katrina homeowners' credit?

The folks at Novogradac have been tracking proposals for a homeownership tax credit for some time. Today they're noting a Katrina relief proposal by Sen. Kerry that would include both an affordable housing trust fund and a homeownership tax credit.

Monday Katrina/federal roundup

CLPHA has posted an appeal from the Houston Housing Authority for volunteers from other U.S. housing authorities to help handle the cases of people displaced from Gulf Coast public housing. The letter adds:

Our Board has approved our granting preference to voucher and public housing program clients from hurricane impacted areas; we are actively placing clients served by the New Orleans Housing Authority (HANO) and other hurricane-affected housing authorities in our vacant public housing units as well as porting voucher clients in our program. Additionally, the City of Houston is sponsoring a citywide housing voucher system to assist an additional 20,000 non-assisted, displaced households; and the Houston Housing Authority will administer the program.

CLPHA is also requesting contact from any housing authorities with space to house evacuees.

Still no special disaster relief housing vouchers from the federal government as far as we know. FYI, the federal directive that is already allowing housing authorities to place hurricane-displaced tenants at the tops of waiting lists is Housing Notice 2004-22 -- a notice issued previously but invoked automatically by the declaration of the current disaster.

This morning in federal announcements:
- Today's Federal Register announces HUD is holding a sale of mortgage loans, including of multifamily housing loans. It says bidder information was circulated August 10 but the bids must be submitted by tomorrow.
- HUD's Community Planning and Development page carries not only its new HOME and CDBG disaster relief waivers and guidelines but also some new-looking HOPWA operating instructions. For the HOME/CDBG material and other considerable additions recently placed on HUD's Katrina page, see our Saturday-posted item below.
- Secretary Jackson, who is himself the former director of the Dallas Housing Authority, is today quoted in a HUD press release praising the said Dallas housing authority for its emergency response work placing 1,000 people locally with the assistance of "local church groups."
- USDA has announced its Economic Impact Initiative grants.
- USDA's Katrina page continues to be updated. It offers both housing guidance and more generally helpful links such as "Replacing Your Vital Documents."
- FEMA's "What Government Is Doing" page has been considerably updated, with some potentially helpful links.
- The GSA has issued an emergency waiver of limits on federal travel expenses.

...and this isn't a housing item per se, but in case it helps anyone, here's Katrina guidance for immigrants from the immigration law firm of Siskind Susser.

From the IRS on SWERN

A little more to offer on the question of where to register tax credit housing units available to Katrina victims in order to qualify for waivers under Friday's Notice 2005-69:

Over the weekend we sent a written query to IRS spokesman Bruce Friedland asking whether the correct place to register units would be https://www.swern.gov/emergency/asset_index.php or hurricanehousing.net, and also asking whether SWERN was the place not only for offering large-scale resources such as warehouses but also for offering, say, a single available tax-credit apartment.

His response (in full) was: "They should be using www.SWERN.gov."

HANO background

We've had Google queries about the pre-Katrina travails of the New Orleans Housing Authority and about its current status. In response to which, here's the Louisiana section of the HUD Office of Inspector General audit archive. It has a number of HANO items, especially from the late '90s. And here's the relevant GAO search. As for current status, HANO's Web site, which appears to have been hosted at Tulane, still seems to be down as of this writing. As we've noted previously, CLPHA and PHADA have been relaying a few messages from HANO on their own sites. HUD has been announcing for some time that its New Orleans field office operations have been moved to Fort Worth. Hope this helps.

SWERN confusion clearing up slowly

The Novogradac Katrina page is noting a circumstance that was confusing as of Friday evening but has begun to clear up over the weekend. [UPDATE MONDAY: Novogradac has updated its notes to reflect the SWERN site's clarifying changes, which are discussed in the remainder of this post.] As that page notes, Notice 2005-69 (text below) requires that taxpayers with tax credit properties must list their vacant units at www.swern.gov in order to receive emergency waivers for housing hurricane victims. As of late Friday, a visit to the SWERN site gave the confusing impression that housing could or should be listed both on SWERN's main National Emergency Resource Registry form and at hurricanehousing.net, a privately organized housing referral site that is working closely with disaster relief authorities.

Over the weekend, references to hurricanehousing.net appear to have been removed from the SWERN site, thus more clearly directing landlords to the National Emergency Resource Registry form. However, it's still unclear precisely what actions are required, for example, of a tax credit building's landlord who finds a disaster-displaced tenant through a private referral. The IRS notice does pretty clearly make www.swern.gov the gateway for landlords to qualify for waivers, but some more explanation would be helpful about who does what next.

We are hoping to get more clarity on this matter when public offices reopen tomorrow. In the meantime, if any readers have information or links to share, do please use the comments box.

By the way, in addition to the Novogradac list of state housing finance authorities' disaster relief efforts, there's a further disaster relief page at Oregon Housing and Community Services, which is inviting its tax credit housing partners to list vacant units.

Sunday Katrina miscellany

IRS Announcement 2005-69 (see below) showed up yesterday on a slightly different Advance Notice link than predicted here... Again, the IRS says that one and the Sec. 42 notice (full text below) will be in the October 3 Internal Revenue Bulletin.

Meanwhile... The UK Observer learns of serious concern over Katrina insurance losses... Red Cross paying thousands of hotel bills... FEMA reports "nearly $690 million in assistance" distributed... FEMA offers technical guidance on rebuilding stronger against "wind & flood"...

Unfunded mandates

Someone made an excellent point over the weekend: that the waivers to use CDBG and HOME money for disaster relief (see below), and other waivers that allow emergency re-use of housing that was subsidized with the goal of relieving conventional poverty, are a kind of unfunded mandate. That is, federal grant money that had previously been awarded to serve already-existing needs will now get diverted to the Katrina recovery effort -- and since it is, after all, federal money, it will look like federal generosity. But actually it'll be the generosity of state and local grantees and their clients who are giving up what would otherwise have been their share.

Lagniappe for disaster-affected law firms

LEXIS says it's going to offer free 30-day legal research cards to "Hurricane-affected legal practitioners and their firms."

New HUD info, especially on CDBG, HOME

The HUD Hurricane Katrina Resource Page has placed some new links under the "HUD Information" heading with what genuinely seems to be substantial new information. Included among these items are waivers and instructions for the disaster-relief use of HOME and CDBG funds.

Here's what looks new:

- A link labeled "CPD Waivers" goes to this page, which in turn links to the following:

1) A document signed Sept. 5, 2005 by Assistant Secretary Pamela H. Patenaude, waiving public comment period requirements for amending CDBG consolidated plans in light of the Katrina disaster.

2) Another waiver signed Sept. 5 by Patenaude waiving the CDBG public service expenditure cap, which means that CDBG grantees serving disaster victims can spend more than the statutorily limited 15% of their existing grant money on "...costs, such as the provision of food, temporary shelter and related services..."

3) A five-page combined guidance and waiver document from Patenaude, dated Sept. 9, on use of HOME funds for disaster relief. It recommends that "receiving communities" should prepare vacant HOME rental units "for immediate occupancy by evacuees" and offers "guidance on using vacant HOME units and HOME tenant-based rental assistance (TBRA) to assist evacuees. It also waives certain HOME regulatory provisions..." The waivers consist of the following:

a) A (possibly redundant?) waiver of the Consolidated Plan public comment requirements.

b) A waiver allowing landlords to take tenants' words for their income information without going to "source documentation" that may be underwater, provided the tenants register with FEMA within 60 days.

c) A one-year waiver of HOME TBRA rent standards, apparently allowing public subsidies to run higher than the usually required amount, which is "the difference between the rent standard and 30% of the families [sic] adjusted income."

d) A waiver of the usual Housing Quality Standards under 24 CFR 982.401, provided units meet state and local health and safety codes within 30 days, except that lead paint safety standards still apply.

...beyond which there is quite a bit more detail in this document for HOME rental housing people.

Also newly linked from the HUD Katrina page:

- A one-page PDF flyer for the use of disaster victims who have lost their own housing.

- HUD's Disaster Recovery Assistance page with a new "Community Planning and Development Resources" heading that has links to the password-protected HUD/CPD Disaster Recovery Grant Reporting System plus two public pages with 2003 revision dates on "Using CDBG and HOME Funds for Disaster Recovery" and on "CDBG Disaster Recovery Assistance."

- A copy of the HUD disaster instructions to housing authorities on Sec. 8 that became available indirectly to the public at PHADA and elsewhere a few days ago.

- An apparently new page with instructions to displaced public housing and voucher tenants.

- A new form captioned "Hurricane Katrina Verification of Family Assistance" that is described on the link as "Temporary Voucher/ Public Housing Certification Form."

September 9 is given as the date of the most recent update for the main HUD Katrina page, but in that case these new items must have been posted quite late in the day yesterday.

Another Katrina resource page

...this one from the Nonprofit Housing Association of Northern California.

New Markets Tax Credit relief

Treasury Secretary Snow, per this announcement, is extending New Markets Tax Credit deadlines on a case-by-case basis and saying the applications will be judged differently in order to favor those planning to assist disaster areas.

Strangely, the press release at Treasury refers both to Hurricane Katrina and to "counties where FEMA issued a 'major disaster declaration' as of 7/15/05." That has to be a typo -- although it's repeated in this release at the CDFI Fund site.... Ah, here we are: the CDFI Fund site has also posted the prepared Federal Register notice for the deadline extension, and that document refers to "...a 'major disaster declaration' since July 15, 2005..." [emphasis mine].

Sec'y Snow appears to be on a speaking tour of the disaster areas today and several statements from him are posted today.

IRS issues detailed Sec. 42 exemption

Finally, the details fleshing out the IRS/Treasury announcement from last week. Notice 2005-69, released just now. I'm going to reproduce the whole thing here in small format:

Part III-Administrative, Procedural, and Miscellaneous
Relief from Certain Low-Income Housing Credit Requirements Due to Hurricane Katrina
Notice 2005-69
The Internal Revenue Service is suspending certain requirements under § 42 of the Internal Revenue Code for low-income housing credit projects in the United States as a result of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. This relief is being granted pursuant to the Service’s authority under § 42(n) and
§ 1.42-13(a) of the Income Tax Regulations.
BACKGROUND
On August 29, 2005, the President declared major disasters for the States of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi as a result of Hurricane Katrina. These declarations were made under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, Title 42 U.S.C. 5121-5206 (2000 and Supp. II 2002).
Subsequently, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) designated jurisdictions for Individual Assistance.
State housing credit agencies throughout the United States have requested that the Service allow owners of low-income housing credit projects to provide temporary housing in vacant units to individuals who resided in jurisdictions designated for Individual Assistance in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi and who have been displaced because their residences were destroyed or damaged as a result of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina (displaced individuals). State housing credit agencies have further requested that the temporary housing of the displaced individuals in low-income units without regard to income not cause the owners to lose low-income housing credits. Based upon these requests and because of the widespread damage to housing caused by Hurricane Katrina, the Service has determined that any housing credit agency of a state or a possession of the United States (state housing credit agency) may provide approval to project owners in their respective state or possession to provide temporary emergency housing for displaced individuals in accordance with this notice.
I. SUSPENSION OF INCOME LIMITATIONS
The Service has determined that it is appropriate to temporarily suspend certain income limitation requirements under § 42 for certain qualified low-income projects. The suspension will apply to low-income housing projects approved by the state housing credit agency, in which vacant units are rented to displaced individuals. The state housing credit agency will determine the appropriate period of temporary housing for each project, not to extend beyond September 30, 2006 (temporary housing period).
II. STATUS OF UNITS
A. Units in the first year of the credit period
A displaced individual temporarily occupying a unit during the first year of the credit period under § 42(f)(1) will be deemed a qualified low-income tenant for purposes of determining the project’s qualified basis under § 42(c)(1), and for meeting the project’s 20-50 test or 40-60 test as elected by the project owner under § 42(g)(1). After the end of the temporary housing period established by the state housing credit agency (not to extend beyond September 30, 2006), a displaced individual will no longer be deemed a qualified low-income tenant.
B. Vacant units after the first year of the credit period
During the temporary housing period established by a state housing credit agency, the status of a vacant unit (that is, market-rate or low-income for purposes of § 42 or never previously occupied) after the first year of the credit period that becomes temporarily occupied by a displaced individual remains the same as the unit’s status before the displaced individual moves in. Displaced individuals temporarily occupying vacant units will not be treated as low-income tenants under § 42(i)(3)(A)(ii) (a low-income unit that was vacant before the effective date of this notice will continue to be treated as a vacant low-income unit even if it houses a displaced individual, a market rate unit that was vacant before the effective date of this notice will continue to be treated as a vacant market rate unit even if it houses a displaced individual, and a unit that was never previously occupied before the effective date of this notice will continue to be treated as a unit that has never been previously occupied even if it houses a displaced individual). Thus, the fact that a vacant unit becomes occupied by a displaced individual will not affect the building’s applicable fraction under § 42(c)(1)(B) for purposes of determining the building’s qualified basis, nor will it affect the 20-50 test or 40-60 test of § 42(g)(1). If the income of occupants in low-income units exceeds 140 percent of the applicable income limitation, the temporary occupancy of a unit by a displaced individual will not cause application of the available unit rule under § 42(g)(2)(D)(ii). In addition, the project owner is not required during the temporary housing period to make attempts to rent to low-income individuals the low-income units housing displaced individuals.
III. SUSPENSION OF NON-TRANSIENT REQUIREMENTS
The non-transient use requirement of § 42(i)(3)(B)(i) shall not apply to any unit providing temporary housing to a displaced individual during the temporary housing period determined by the state housing credit agency in accordance with section I of this notice.
IV. OTHER REQUIREMENTS
All other rules and requirements of § 42 will continue to apply during the temporary housing period established by the state housing credit agency. After the end of the temporary housing period, the applicable income limitations contained in § 42(g)(1), the available unit rule under § 42(g)(2)(D)(ii), the non-transient requirement of § 42(i)(3)(B)(i), and the requirement to make reasonable attempts to rent vacant units to low-income individuals shall resume. If a project owner offers to rent to a displaced individual after the end of the temporary housing period, a displaced individual must be certified under the requirements of § 42(i)(3)(A)(ii) and § 1.42-5(b) and (c) to be a qualified low-income tenant. To qualify for the relief in this notice, the project owner must additionally meet all of the following requirements:
(1) Major Disaster Area
The displaced individual must have resided in an Alabama, Louisiana, or Mississippi jurisdiction designated for Individual Assistance by FEMA as a result of Hurricane Katrina.
(2) Approval of State Housing Credit Agency
The project owner must obtain approval from the state housing credit agency for the relief described in this notice. The state housing credit agency will determine the appropriate period of temporary housing for each project, not to extend beyond September 30, 2006.
(3) Certifications and Recordkeeping
To comply with the requirements of § 1.42-5, project owners are required to maintain and certify certain information concerning each displaced individual temporarily housed in the project, specifically: name, address of damaged residence, social security number, and a statement signed under penalties of perjury by the displaced individual that, because of damage to the individual’s residence in an Alabama, Louisiana, or Mississippi jurisdiction designated for Individual Assistance by FEMA as a result of Hurricane Katrina, the individual requires temporary housing. The owner must list the project on the National Emergency Resource Registry (NERR) maintained by the Department of Homeland Security. The NERR assists coordination efforts between resources that are needed and resources that are available. The web site for listing the project is: www.SWERN.gov.
The owner must also certify the date the displaced individual began temporary occupancy and the date the project will discontinue providing temporary housing as established by the state housing credit agency. The certifications and recordkeeping for displaced individuals must be maintained as part of the annual compliance monitoring process with the state housing credit agency.
(4) Rent Restrictions
Rents for the low-income units housing displaced individuals must not exceed the existing rent-restricted rates for the low-income units established under § 42(g)(2).
(5) Protection of Existing Tenants
Existing tenants in occupied low-income units cannot be evicted or have their tenancy terminated as a result of efforts to provide temporary housing for displaced individuals.
EFFECTIVE DATE
This notice is effective August 29, 2005 (the date of the President’s major disaster declarations as a result of Hurricane Katrina).
PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT
Pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.18(d), the Office of Management and Budget has waived the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) with respect to the recordkeeping requirements contained in this notice.
Books or records relating to a collection of information must be retained as long as their contents may become material to the administration of the internal revenue law. Generally, tax returns and tax return information are confidential, as required by 26 U.S.C. 6103.
DRAFTING INFORMATION
The principal author of this notice is Jack Malgeri of the Office of the Associate Chief Counsel (Passthroughs and Special Industries). For further information regarding this notice contact Mr. Malgeri on (202) 622-3040 (not a toll free call).

The full Notice 2005-69 will probably appear at this link in the next few days. (Note that this is different from Announcement 2005-69 regarding tax-exempt bonds, which we reported yesterday.) Later they say it will appear in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2005-40, to be dated Oct. 3, 2005, which should appear in another few weeks over here.

[UPDATE: In more recent notifications the IRS says Announcement 2005-69 will also appear in that same Internal Revenue Bulletin 2005-40, and it issues Notice 2005-66, giving itself extra time to respond to Katrina-area taxpayers in matters like sending refunds.]

[UPDATE, later Friday: Nixon Peabody has circulated an update commenting: "...Very significantly, the IRS will permit new units that are in the first year of the credit period, which have not been previously occupied, to be occupied by Katrina victims. This is a major victory for the industry, which had lobbied the IRS and Treasury to include new units..."]

Preserving documents

The Regional Alliance for Preservation has advice on saving wet documents and valuables. For the recovery of voluminous wet papers: "Damp objects and items that cannot be dealt with immediately should be put in open, unsealed boxes or bags. Photos, papers, books, and textiles should be frozen if you can’t get them dry within 48 hours." The site also has links on efforts to preserve damaged archival and cultural resources.

Michael Brown

Michael Brown sent back to Washington, Vice Adm. Thad Allen of the Coast Guard now running relief operations....

Friday morning Katrina roundup

- HUD is further extending its HOPE VI "Main Street" grant application deadline for applicants in the hurricane-affected areas.

- The HUD press release with the central disaster housing hotline number, 1-888-297-8685, is now fully readable under today's date. This after several days' odd dithering (see here and here).

- Congress has approved $51.8 billion for relief, is looking at more.

- FEMA has more announcements on housing recovery contracts: not just Shaw Group (see below) but Fluor, Bechtel, CH2M Hill, and Dewberry Technologies. Again, anyone who can fill us in on these companies, especially the less widely known ones, please do use the comments space below.

- FEMA is warning against disaster-related fraud, and provides a number to call, 1-800-323-8603, to check on any fishy-seeming persons claiming to be property inspectors.

- CLPHA is asking Housing Authority of New Orleans employees to check in and is posting numbers to be called by "HANO Residents (or Housing Authorities housing HANO residents)."

- The National Multi Housing Council site continues to provide new information, currently including a summary of NMHC and National Apartment Association relief efforts, a description of the two groups' current lobbying efforts, updated advice on renting to hurricane victims, and a link to its own copy of a FEMA press release explaining this business of the $2,000 debit cards. If you can't get the NMHC copy of the document to open, this is FEMA's copy. But FEMA also has a more recent release saying, "...These expedited assistance payments are flowing out to individuals through electronic funds transfer to bank accounts and through mailed checks," so go figure. [UPDATE: The NYT has more on the debit card situation. .... LATE FRIDAY: OK, the debit cards are off.]

- The LA Times (free registration required to view) reports many public housing authorities are jumping hurricane victims over the people on their local waiting lists, but "... local housing authorities have not yet received additional funds to help with evacuees, and HUD has not issued temporary Section 8 housing vouchers, as it did after the Northridge earthquake."

- USDA awarded $27 million in Rural Development funds on Wednesday. This was for the whole country, not disaster-specific, but every amount helps of course.

[UPDATE: More small items, late Friday:

- VA apparently still deciding if it will release foreclosed homes for the flood recovery effort as HUD has done.

- Poverty activists in San Francisco (perhaps elsewhere too?) are upset over local authorities saying they have "vacant" public housing units available for Gulf Coast hurricane victims. The activists say local homeless families have been trying to get into those units for years.]

Big housing services contract awarded

The Shaw Group of Baton Rouge received a contract with FEMA today (Thursday) for up to $100 million worth of post-disaster "support services," including "all support services necessary to provide housing assistance for displaced residents" of the Gulf Coast. Per the company's Web site it is seeking both staff and subcontractors. According to Forbes, its shares rose 14% on rumors before it got the contract and a further 2% within hours of the announcement. Later in the day Shaw announced an additional $100 million contract with the Army Corps of Engineers. Shaw was mentioned in the Washington Post contracting story that we cited here earlier. If any readers have worked with Shaw or can otherwise comment knowledgably on the company, could they please use the comments section below?

Reuters has more on the contracting picture, noting high demand for trailers and mobile homes especially.

[UPDATE: Here's the relevant EDGAR search for the Shaw Group.]

[UPDATE: Via TPM, the Shaw Group's CEO is chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party. This and other details noted here because the wording of that press release suggests the Shaw Group may be given considerable power over any apartment owners who offer to house disaster-victim tenants.]

Thursday afternoon Katrina miscellany

- CLPHA's hurricane recovery page includes statistics for Louisiana and Mississippi regions on numbers of Section 8 vouchers and public housing units affected. They're also linking to this page (thanks!) and providing other disaster information links.

- Novogradac has moved its October New Markets Tax Credit conference from New Orleans to Chicago. The Novogradac site is continuing to compile state housing finance agencies' responses. Many of the other links on the Novogradac Katrina page have previously been posted here at the AHF blog, but the page is intelligently organized and worth a look.

- More regional housing responses: Austin, TX (apparently a subsidized building, too) ... Washington County, PA ... Affordable housing "glut" comes in handy in Houston.

- NAHRO now has a message from the Housing Authority of New Orleans including numbers for employees and residents to call. NAHRO's Southeastern Regional Council (SERC) has more information and has set up a "command center" that is requesting contact from SERC members and specifically housing authorities in Mississippi.

[UPDATE: The NH&RA main page has many more Katrina details for the multifamily housing industry, especially on efforts by state housing officials. Especially important: it directs readers to last November's Housing Notice 2004-22, "Disaster Recovery Guidance by Multifamily Housing After a Presidentially-Declared Disaster."]

Tax relief for TE bond issuers

The relevant formal document with the details is IRS Announcement 2005-69, probably soon to appear at this link. (You'll probably see an error message for a while until IRS gets around to posting the announcement online.) Announcement 2005-69 is the one tax filers will need to reference in big red letters on their tax returns. The press release is IR-2005-98 and should appear over here soon.

The gist: issuers of tax-exempt bonds are permitted to request relief from "filing or payment requirements under sections 149(e) and 148(f) of the Internal Revenue Code" if they have any of several connections with the disaster areas in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi or Florida: located there themselves, or maintaining records there that are necessary to meet reporting requirements, or having a conduit borrower there, or affected "facilities" there, or its lawyer's office there, or "the professional on whom the issuer relies for compliance with the relevant provision of the Code," i.e. presumably the bond issuer gets a break if its CPA has an office invaded by coliform soup.

The announcement covers "original due dates" between Aug. 29 and Dec. 31 of this year, and the deadline to request the relief is January 3, 2006.

Presidential announcements

President Bush has announced not only that displaced citizens will receive these previously mentioned $2,000 payments, but also that evacuee status will be conferred on all residents of the Katrina disaster areas. Here's the White House copy of his remarks. The White House site has also posted a President's proclamation suspending federal wage requirements under 40 U.S.C. 3141-3148 in the disaster areas.
[UPDATE... Yes, this means he has suspended the Davis-Bacon Act for the disaster areas, which lowers the wages that may be paid for federal contract work.]
[UPDATE: Pelosi criticizes the move ... Heritage Foundation supports it.]

Freddie: single-family Katrina breaks

A three-month suspension of mortgage payments for Katrina victims with single-family home loans. Unclear if the rest of the announcement affects multifamily folks or not.

Interesting

Buried in this Novak column: a report of HUD's Secretary Jackson criticizing FEMA in a cabinet meeting.

For those with time to read

Urban Institute has a report out on the merits of "Permanent family supportive housing."

More disaster relief updates

- Two useful items from the Conference of Mayors. Most important, a progress report and recovery information memo from HUD, dated two days ago but still about as comprehensive and informative as anything out there. Also FEMA's "Guide to the Disaster Declaration Process," which looks helpful on what kinds of federal assistance and red-tape-cutting can be expected.

- The National Association of Counties is still looking for empty land where temporary housing can be placed.

- Insurance loss estimates from Crain's

- Another contracting story that's getting attention on the weblogs.

[UPDATE: Astrodome and other temporary shelters may close as soon as next week.]

[NOTHER UPDATE: Slashdot is reporting FEMA will only accept online claims filed using Internet Explorer 6.0 or later, which excludes the use of Linux and Macintosh computers.]

Good news for Louisiana litigants

Louisiana has suspended state court and certain other legal deadlines through September 25. Here's the announcement. This and other Louisiana gubernatorial announcements available here.

REGIONAL: CO LIHTC applicants listed

Lost in the shouting last week: Colorado has posted the list of its September 1 applicants for low-income housing tax credits -- see the Round 3 section at the foot of this PDF. The Colorado Housing and Finance Authority is experimenting with a new three-round application schedule in 2005 after working for several yearson a rolling-admissions system that accepted applications ten times a year. The September applications -- the last ones to be accepted in this calendar year -- are competing for $2.75 million in credits.

IRS Katrina relief announced today

Nothing housing-specific in today's IRS/Treasury press conference. It's just that Katrina victims need not file their taxes until January 3, 2006, and employees who donate leave time to assist their employers in making cash gifts will not be treated as constructively receiving the donated money. The IRS "Newsroom" and the Treasury press release list have these announcements plus all the earlier ones.

They still haven't formalized the Sec. 42 waiver announced in last week's Treasury press release.

Katrina bits and pieces

- New press release from HUD: they're extending Ginnie Mae targeted lending in hurricane-affected areas. HUD's Katrina page is otherwise unchanged. Not much new in the multifamily way.

- USDA has posted a more prominent link to its map-based "locate units for rent" interface.

- News of the Snow/Everson press conference to follow as soon as it appears on the wires.

Regional disaster responses, cont'd

- Some regional housing responses: Tampa... Montgomery, Alabama... Montgomery County, Texas... Youngstown, Ohio...

- The Louisiana Realtors have helped produce a landlord-tenant matching site for displaced households: www.hurricanehousing.net -- Inman has details.

- There had been word of Gulf Coast evacuees being taken as far as California... but the San Francisco Chronicle is reporting FEMA has suspended plans to bring 1000 evacuees to California because most hurricane victims are not willing to go so far. They are similarly, apparently, not going to Massachusetts, at least for the time being.

[UPDATE: For people tracking the status of individual neighborhoods or properties, many sites are recommending Scipionus, a collaborative map-marking project that is accepting notes of conditions at specific addresses throughout the affected Gulf Cost area.]

Disaster housing advice from NMHC

The National Multi Housing Council has added two documents to its Katrina site: advice on Red Cross housing forms that landlords are now seeing and a group of model lease documents for disaster-related housing.

More news on state-level housing relief

Novogradac has posted a good update just now on state housing finance authorities' Katrina responses in Mississippi, Arkansas, North and South Carolina, and Colorado. They have also just posted a disaster information page.

[UPDATE: A note from the Colorado Housing Finance Authority says that in addition to using the coloradohousingsearch.com site to list available properties, owners can list properties by calling 1.877.428.8844. This number appears to be for Social Serve, a private organization.]

[UPDATE: Findlaw has an AP story detailing strains on local social service programs as hurricane victims arrive in distant cities. However, AP via Findlaw also says hurricane victims are to be given $2,000 debit cards, which should at least take some of the strain off charities. Here's hoping, however, that the authorities are also prepared to protect debit card recipients from robbery and fraud involving those cards. ... LATER ... Apparently they're not going to issue the actual cards for "a week or two".]

Treasury/IRS press conference tomorrow

Treasury Secretary Snow and Commissioner Everson of the IRS "to discuss tax related assistance to Hurricane Katrina victims," noon Eastern time tomorrow (Thursday).

[UPDATE: More disaster-related appearances by top economic officials set for Friday.]

Housing relief news from HUD

A press release from HUD today is reporting:

Initially, the Department identified nearly 3,200 vacant single-family HUD-owned properties in five states near the affected areas. In addition, public housing authorities within a 500-mile radius of New Orleans estimate they have approximately 5,600 vacant units that could be made available to public housing residents forced to evacuate their homes.

So it's not the 20,000 units within 500 miles that Secretary Jackson was apparently hoping for on Saturday, but it's progress. And the press release announces other offers of units from cities elsewhere in the U.S.

The HUD press release list is also now newly showing an item dated yesterday and captioned, "HUD establishes single toll-free number (1-888-297-8685) to help disaster victims who have FHA-insured mortgages," but the link to that press release doesn't work as of this writing.

[UPDATE 9/7, 4:38 p.m.: Odd, the link to the item about the toll-free number is completely gone from the list of press releases now.]

Nixon Peabody's Katrina memo

The high-powered Washington firm of Nixon Peabody sent out a detailed "alert" yesterday on the implications of Hurricane Katrina for tax credit housing developers. The 9-page PDF document will presumably appear at some point here and/or here, but the firm seems to leave considerable time between distributing its alerts by email and posting them on its site.

Nixon Peabody summarizes a "disaster policy" issued by HUD on September 2 that is apparently this document now posted at the Katrina site of the Public Housing Authorities Directors Association. This is important information for people trying to work with their local public housing authorities on disaster relief.

On tax issues, the "alert" notes the lack of detail in last week's announcement of a waiver allowing developers who are subsidized by low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC) anywhere in the country to house people of any income level who are classified as disaster victims. It notes that the IRS has yet to flesh out this decision in a formal notice giving details. It says a similar waiver granted last year in Florida remained in effect for "approximately one year."

It refers investors with damaged properties to Internal Revenue Code Sec. 42(j)(4)(E) and Chief Counsel Memorandum 200134006 on the question of how soon a "casualty" must be repaired to avoid recapture of previously claimed credits. It suggests that per the memorandum, "Accordingly, properties damaged by Katrina that are restored by December 31, 2007 (for calendar year taxpayers) would avoid recapture." It also references the extensive disaster relief scheme outlined in Revenue Procedure 95-28, which the Florida Housing Finance Corporation has helpfully posted here. The same Florida Housing page posts IRS Notice 2004-76 on Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jean -- and Nixon Peabody points out the relevance of this notice as a possible model for future Katrina announcements.

Additionally, this extremely well-placed Washington firm gives the following insight into current lobbying activity:

Several national affordable housing trade associations are already discussing with senior HUD officials and Capitol Hill the possibility of using a portion of the emergency funds to provide 'emergency' vouchers to displaced residents. The vouchers, which should be 'need blind' for an initial period, would allow victims to find adequate housing without regard to income. Many owners of privately held affordable housing apartments are contacting HUD's Office of Housing to inform HUD of available housing units. Long-term rebuilding efforts should include new project-based Section 8 rental assistance and increases for low-income housing tax credits and tax-exempt bonds for the States affected by Katrina's wrath. Lastly, there is the possibility of transferring project-based Section 8 contracts covering projects devastated by Hurricane Katrina to other properties.

Katrina update

- The National Multi Housing Council is continuing to update its Katrina news, most recently with a FEMA request to lease blocks of 10 or more apartment units on renewable-six-month contracts.

- NMHC also reports on apartment industry lobbying for disaster-related regulatory waivers.... A Democratic Congressional proposal for Katrina relief has been circulating online... The Congressional Budget Office has an assessment out on Katrina's effects on both the national economy and the federal budget (PDF file here)... CNN is reporting a bipartisan agreement in Congress to hold hearings on Katrina. Also a likely Bush Admin. request for a further $51.8 billion in disaster funds.

- Today's Federal Register carries a FEMA section with official disaster declaration statements for Louisiana, Florida and Mississippi.

- The HUD Katrina page is unchanged as of this writing but is probably worth continuing to watch.

- The Washington University college paper reports Secretary Jackson said on Saturday: "...we have an agreement with the U.S. Conference of American [sic], the National County Association that on Wednesday I will announce with the Secretary of Homeland Security at the request of President Bush that we have 20,000 units within the 500 mile radius that are willing to take families that want to relocate." So perhaps we'll be hearing more from him later today. (The student interviewer had caustic comments about Saturday's event.)

- FEMA has reportedly ordered 70,000 recreational vehicles of which 2,600 have already arrived in Alabama, there are 8,000 places on cruise ships, and apartments are being lined up variously.

- As to other public emergency contracting, FedBizOpps is displaying this page of Katrina contracting information and is stating, "Due to the immediacy of emergency opportunities, it is unlikely that opportunities dealing with the hurricanes will be advertised through the FedBizOpps system." This article on the issue began attracting much comment on weblogs last night.

- Some news reports like this one are being circulated with a central number for refugees to call ending in "...75," but we were assured yesterday that the correct central phone number for displaced persons with housing inquiries is 1-888-297-8685, which goes to HUD's Oklahoma City National Servicing Center.

[UPDATE: Here's Postal Service information on rerouted mail and address changes.]

[UPDATE: Louisiana officials are reportedly pushing for a special federal housing grant.]

HUD changes debenture interest rates

In today's Federal Register: debenture interest rates for the six months beginning this past July are at 4-1/2%, or 4-7/8% for 221(g)(4) debentures. The publication includes a table showing that since 1980 rates have only fallen as low as 4-1/2% only once before, during the latter half of 2003.

OFHEO regulatory review planned

Further to OFHEO still being in charge (see below): today it's announcing another very managerial action: a planned regulatory review "to consider whether existing regulations have become inefficient or create unwarranted burden" and to propose changes accordingly. Comments are due Nov. 7.

Disaster expanded to "reception states"

FEMA is announcing Presidential disaster declarations to allow public spending for relief efforts in the following "reception states": Arkansas ... Colorado ... Florida ... Georgia ... Oklahoma ... North Carolina ... Tennessee ... Texas ... Utah ... West Virginia.

Talk about Hurricane Katrina

An open forum to discuss losses, recovery efforts, and ways for the community to help.

This item was originally posted Sept. 1, 4:08 p.m. It will be bumped to the top of the page as time passes.

The HAC relief list

I've already mentioned the HAC rural housing-related Katrina recovery page, but that was several days ago and it was mixed in with other links. This page is really a good resource, both for hard information rural housing people can use and for recommendations of local relief efforts that need support.

OFHEO's in charge for the time being

The HR 1461 legislation before Congress could replace the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) with a new regulator for government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but see this Inman story, which notes that OFHEO is still in charge for now.

NLIHC's Katrina Washington news

The latest NLIHC Memo to Members appeared today with detailed news of housing-related disaster relief moves by Congress and federal agencies. In the course of which it has retrieved an interesting item from the memory hole:

HUD’s initial statement of response to the hurricane, since removed from HUD’s website, proposed a housing subsidy of $10,000 per household displaced, regardless of household income, to supplement temporary housing costs for one year. Private landlords, family members, faith-based organizations, shelters or friends would have been eligible to receive the money for housing a displaced family. The status of this plan is unknown.

Other notes include the creation of a disaster task force by the Interagency Council on Homelessness.

In non-disaster news NLIHC also notes the House Judiciary Committee has scheduled a markup for tomorrow on HR 1461, the GSEs bill. [UPDATE: They've since canceled the markup.] And it makes recommendations on possible recourse for housing authorities that have newly lost permission to use "Fair Market Rents" from the 50th instead of the 40th percentile.

CBPP on challenges facing Congress

Robert Greenstein of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has a statement today suggesting Congress should view Katrina as placing all economic levels in a little more of the same boat.

Good reading

David Smith of the Affordable Housing Institute and Recap Advisors discusses likely changes in "the new New Orleans" and housing issues before Congress as it resumes work today.

HUD REO properties off the market

Via TheREALTYGram: an announcement on the private BidSelect site says, "...In response to the critical need for housing for those displaced by Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has removed all HUD-owned REO properties from the marketplace in Texas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia...." In other words, no private sales of HUD-owned foreclosed properties in those areas for the time being.

Mississippi Home Corp. calls for units

The Mississippi Home Corporation has posted a disaster-related appeal for vacant units in tax credit properties. Owners and managers of such buildings are asked to fill out a Unit Availability Assessment form and email it to Robert Collier.

Federal housing sites quiet s'morning

Not many new announcements on the federal housing sites as the week's business begins. Presumably they're expending their efforts behind the scenes. On the HUD press releases, the only new item today is a $23.7 million award of Rural Housing and Economic Development funds (details here). Over at HUDCLIPS there's an announcement of HUD per diem rates effective Oct. 1, 2005. The federal per diem allowance for New Orleans is set at $192 October through May and $162 the rest of the year.

[UPDATE Tues.: [MATERIAL DELETED] An Inman report posted earlier gave an incorrect HUD number for disaster victims to call. Per both this report and a confirming call to HUD PR, the correct number is 1-888-297-8685. That is, the second-to-last digit should be "8" and not "7." The number turns out to go to the National Servicing Center in Oklahoma City, and it is also the place to call regarding HUD's 90-day foreclosure moratorium or other servicing questions related to disasters. HUD's online Katrina page is however still displaying other phone numbers.]

[UPDATE: IRS is expediting disaster-related applications for tax-exempt status.]

[UPDATE: The National Finance Center has its site back up and an update posted.]

New Houston seniors complex helps out

The Houston Chronicle is reporting today on neighbors welcoming hurricane victims into new subsidized seniors' apartments at Primrose Casa Bella where it says they will live "free of charge." Looks like the housing tax credit industry is swinging into gear in cooperation with the Harris County Housing Authority of Houston. This list, found elsewhere on the Net, includes two buildings on the current Harris County disaster housing roster: Primrose Casa Bella and another new project, NorthLand Woods.

USDA apartment disaster info

OK, we have a multifamily-specific announcement from USDA: "...We can relieve payments for current Multi-Family loan borrowers through moratoriums, forgiveness, reamortization, refinancing and work-out plans." Details on the site. Scroll up and down on the same page for plans to help displaced rural tenants and property owners with USDA mortgages and subsidies.

[UPDATE: The HAC disaster information site notes a Katrina recovery guidance letter specific to rural rental housing.]

[UPDATE: A further progress report, including "a general debt service moratorium for a minimum of 90 days for all housing program borrowers in counties that are included in the Presidential Disaster Declaration" for Katrina.]

Labor Day update

Many visitors to this site over the weekend have come in on Google queries asking what disaster relief vouchers will be offered and/or how landlords who provide emergency housing are going to get paid. What we know so far is in our main AHF hurricane coverage and in the posts on this page. Among government sites, see especially the contacts listed on the HUD Katrina page, the federal registration for people with resources to offer at www.swern.gov, and the Treasury Department Sec. 42 waiver announcement for low-income tax credit housing, discussed more fully below.

FEMA's summary of its own emergency housing efforts says, "Every available alternative, including creative options for immediate housing, is on the table."

One effort not noted here previously: the Alabama state government's "Operation Golden Rule" is fixing up military police dormitories at Fort McClellan to house about 1000 disaster victims. The site states: "Contractors have already begun work on getting the buildings in shape. The federal government will reimburse the Joint Powers Authority for funds already spent. The Joint Powers Authority is a non-profit association created to redevelop Fort McClellan after it was closed."

[UPDATE: USDA Rural Development progress in Missouri... and general USDA Rural Development information including for apartment landlords and tenants (see next item above)]
[UPDATE: Here's a federal link for "Hurricane Katrina emergency contracting information" including state-level contacts.]

Architects' relief

Archinect.com has a disaster relief page including jobs for stranded architects and academic transfer possibilities for stranded students. Also hurricane-related items of interest to the profession and AIA advice on flood damage cleanups. (Via A Daily Dose of Architecture.)

Sunday disaster recovery update

Housing-related disaster response updates:

- The U.S. Conference of Mayors is circulating a housing stock survey at HUD's request. The Conference is also advising mayors of cities housing disaster victims that their states should seek emergency declarations from the President.

- In USDA's posted recovery summary: the housing paragraph mentions a possible six-month moratorium on mortgage payments. Unclear if this applies to multifamily mortgages. The National Finance Center is recovering.

- Housing authorities: Salt Lake City ... Muskogee ... Chattanooga ... per PHADA, the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) "has canceled all active solicitations." As of this writing, HANO's own site is still down. As of this writing there were no Google News results for Mirza Negron Morales, who was appointed in July to serve as the sole member of the board of directors for HANO. HANO has been under HUD's direct control since 2001.

- Economic picture: Investors buying building materials stocks ... David Lynd: long-term Gulf Coast rental housing shortage likely ... NAHB Katrina economic impact study.

- Banking institutions: FDIC (many resources here) ... Office of Thrift Supervision ... National Credit Union Administration ... Treasury Secretary Snow's Sept. 2 statement.

- The National Multi Housing Council site is continuing to add advice and ways to help.

- The NAACP is organizing relief with the political MoveOn group, black churches, et al. Katrina.louisiana.gov is now linking to the MoveOn hurricanehousing.org site and also shareyourhome.org.... Craigslist is helping to make connections.

Disaster housing response update

HUD has a Katrina resource page up now and a central toll-free number for the displaced, 1-800-955-2232. Secretary Jackson is to promote volunteerism in St. Louis this evening. He was to discuss faith-based responses there this morning. He has also called on the Conference of Mayors to help.

[UPDATE Tues.: There's apparently a new HUD number for hurricane victims to call: 1-888-297-8675.]

There's also this: "...Though the cost would be "astronomical," the federal government is considering providing housing assistance to all displaced Gulf Coast residents,regardless of income, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson said in an interview..."

Other housing responses:
- In San Antonio
- In Texarkana
- In Tucson
- In Philadelphia
- Trouble conveying housing offers
- GovExec federal response roundup
- The silver lining for builders

...but please use the comments spaces here to tell us what's happening with housing in your area, OK?

House action on Katrina relief

Here's the transcript. The $10.5B emergency relief bill is HR 3645.

State-by-state local govt relief news

The Stateline nonprofit news service, which covers state government issues, has a detailed state-by-state roundup of what state governments are doing to help with Katrina. Housing-related items throughout.

LHFA suspending LIHTC, HOME apps.

The Louisiana Housing Finance Agency is indefinitely suspending the application processes for its HOME and Low Income Housing Tax Credit programs.

HUD extends "Main Street" deadline

HOPE VI "Main Street" grant applications were due today; HUD is extending the deadline until Sept. 7, next Wednesday, for applicants in hurricane-affected areas.

The not-so-humble mobile home?

David Smith of Recap Advisors and the Affordable Housing Institute is blogging the storm with his customary attention to economic detail. His thoughts include a note that the market is already bullish on mobile homes, which he notes "can be built in one place and trucked to another."

Yesterday's Senate action on Katrina

THOMAS has the transcript now. Includes summaries of what the federal agencies are doing as well as discussion of disaster relief appropriations.

"Real Estate Blog Squad" on the job

A group of real estate webloggers formed to cover next month's National Association of Realtors convention are at work on disaster coverage this week. These folks are mostly oriented toward single-family properties, not apartments, but the ideas and links are worth a look.

National Sec. 42 disaster waiver announced

Treasury Dept. announcement out just now announcing a Treasury/IRS plan to waive Sec. 42 income restrictions for tax-credit landlords preparing to house disaster victims. [ADDED NOTE: This is an exceptional waiver of both income and "non-transient" restrictions on projects housing hurricane victims "located anywhere in the United States."]

Novogradac has this item and several others, including disaster-related updates from the tax credit programs of Texas and Kentucky as well as Louisiana.

[UPDATE: The Texas Dept. of Housing and Community Affairs has the waiver request forms available for download.]

IRS relief, NMHC advice

- The IRS Newsroom site is beginning to post press releases on varying forms of expanding tax relief, and more items are reaching us on the press feed that will presumably be posted on the site shortly. Most recent is an expansion of the area covered by Tuesday's tax relief announcement to include "an additional 33 parishes in Louisiana, 37 counties in Mississippi, three counties in Alabama and three counties in Florida." [UPDATE: Here's the announcement link on the expanded coverage.]

- The National Multi Housing Council has a useful-looking FAQ for apartment owners considering opening units to disaster victims.

Emergency housing needed in Miss.

Mississippi Methodist Senior Services has issued an appeal to help it find emergency shelter for 60 seniors whose housing has been damaged by the storm. The group has another 200 seniors who were evacuated, but who now need to find permanent or long-range housing during reconstruction.

If you have units in Mississippi and can help, please contact Natalie Cochran by e-mail or at 662-844-8977.

- John Zipperer, Senior Editor

Meanwhile, back in D.C....

Yes, non-disaster aspects of governing continue. In accordance with which:
- More Rural Development regulation changes out today, including revisions to the Rural Rental Housing Origination and Servicing Handbook.
- HUD has posted new guidance for environmental reviews in its Rural Housing and Economic Development program.

Katrina update: HUD announcement, etc.

We have a press release s'morning from HUD on Hurricane Katrina disaster relief. Looks like largely single-family announcements except for the previously announced possibility of redirecting CDBG and HOME grants. The Katrina announcements section that HUD linked from its front page a while ago is continuing to be updated so it seems worth watching, but most items are still mainly for single-family homes, not apartments. Not much fresh material on HUD's disaster recovery assistance page but it does have some previously posted mold prevention guidance.

Some other disaster updates:

- According to a Baton Rouge paper, housing officials have been discussing ways to shelter displaced New Orleans public housing residents, and it says they did save the housing program's record database.
- The Harris County Housing Authority of Houston is making available 500 apartments to evacuees.
- The Dep't of Homeland Security is inviting people and businesses who can offer resources, including housing, to register at the Southwest Emergency Resource Registry.
- The Housing Assistance Council has posted some disaster recovery resources specific to rural housing that you might not find elsewhere, including its own recovery guide in a free PDF download.
- The National Low Income Housing Coalition says it "is working with Congress to develop appropriate short and long term housing needs..."
- NAHRO's efforts include offering to act as a clearinghouse for recovery by member agencies.
- ACORN lost its national headquarters in Louisiana but is running a message board that as time passes may be a helpful guide to conditions in affected low-income neighborhoods.
- USDA has posted a useful-looking disaster aftermath links page for the use of its own staff.
- The Small Business Administration has information about disaster relief loans.
- Estimates are starting to appear about the volume of the insurance claims.
- [UPDATE: Another estimate of insurance losses -- this one at $30B.]

Be sure and read our continually revised main Katrina page for further details.

LHFA appeals to LIHTC developers

The Louisiana Housing Finance Agency has posted the following:

A special note for Section 42 Properties

In an effort to provide disaster relief assistance to persons displaced as a result of Hurricane Katrina, the Agency requests that developers of Section 42 projects that are placed-in-service, advise the Agency via e-mail at complianceinfo@lhfa.state.la.us, of units available by unit type.

The Agency has requested the appropriate waivers from the Internal Revenue Service to facilitate housing for those displaced. Additionally, Staff is coordinating with FEMA to refer low-income individuals and families to these developments.

Once the Agency receives the waiver from the Department of Treasury (IRS), all developers will be notified.

Please do not move forward with housing any displaced persons without the written consent of the Agency.

Thank you for giving this matter your immediate attention.

In other news:

- The Senate is to convene late tonight to consider an emergency relief bill.
[UPDATE late 9-1: The Senate approved $10.5 billion. The House takes up the bill tomorrow, apparently at 1 p.m.]

- The New Orleans Times Picayune newspaper online edition has forums available to discuss damage and missing persons by neighborhood, and for supporters elsewhere to offer housing.
[UPDATE late 9-1: The Grow-a-Brain real estate blog notes people are using the Craigslist lost and found to look for friends and relatives. Some folks seem to have posted housing offers there too.]

- Houston apartment owners and real estate businesses are scrambling to house refugees.

Subsidized landlords win compensation

Recap Advisors has posted a legal and policy analysis on a decision by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in the consolidated cases of Cienega Gardens v. U.S. and Chancellor Manor v. U.S.

The combined decision this Monday said owners of subsidized apartments under Secs. 221(d)(3) and Sec. 236 were due compensation because they suffered temporary takings under the Emergency Low Income Housing Preservation Act (ELIHPA) and the later Low Income Housing Preservation and Resident Homeownership Act of 1990 (LIHPRHA). The two laws thwarted several types of private landlords when they attempted to pay off subsidized mortgages early, forcing them to stay in the low-income housing business longer than some of them wished.

The Recap analysis notes this is a major decision with important implications for Sec. 515 apartment owners as well.

Habitat relief efforts announced

See the main Habitat for Humanity page for updates on giving and volunteering to help with the Katrina recovery.

Louisiana HFA reopens

The Louisiana Housing Finance Agency reports as of today it is again open for business.

National Finance Center is a refugee too

USDA's National Finance Center was based in New Orleans. It has shut down and moved to Philadelphia for the duration. More info on the USDA main site but the NFC's own site is perhaps unsurprisingly not accessible. The NFC staff did finish the August payroll before pulling out and taking the latest data tapes with them.

From a 1999 GAO report:

The National Finance Center develops and operates administrative and financial systems, including payroll/personnel, administrative payments, accounts receivable, property management, and accounting systems for both USDA and more than 60 other federal organizations, including GAO, under cross-servicing or franchising agreements.

So multifamily finance people may or may not have to do with these folks directly, but their federal contacts very probably will, especially those who have personal retirement funds in the federal Thrift Savings Plan.

That GAO report, incidentally, criticized the center for "risk of fraud, misuse, and improper disclosure." The possibility of inundation was not mentioned therein. However earlier this year NFC begain preparing a move to Kansas City due in part to hurricane dangers.

[UPDATE: a posted message from Deputy Secretary Roy Bernardi to HUD employees includes reassurances that HUD's payroll was processed before the hurricane hit. However, it provides a number for HUD staff to call if they do not receive expected pay deposits.]

My Substandard Kentucky Home...

HUD charges the Arlington Park and Churchill Downs racetracks with Fair Housing violations in employee housing, with family size identified as the basis for discrimination.