Affordable Housing Issues Discussed With Top HUD Officials
Members of the LeadingAge New York Housing Cabinet met with top New York Multifamily officials at the HUD New York City Regional Office to discuss affordable housing issues. HUD staff included:
- Teresa Bainton, New York State multifamily director
- Wayne Willard, Buffalo multifamily director
- Diane Lima, director, project management
- Arvette Segar-Osby, senior project manager
- Margaret Wingate, supervisory project manager
The discussion included:
HUD Reorganization
HUD discussed the announcement of a major restructuring of field offices to consolidate the Office of Multifamily Housing Programs into 10 sites. A key component of the plan will be consolidating its field employees, who currently work in 50 offices around the country, into 10 offices that will report to five Multifamily hubs, one of which is in New York City. The HUD reorganization proposal includes transferring the Buffalo Multifamily office and functions to the New York City hub. The transfer would take up to two years to complete.
PBCA Contract
Teresa Bainton, announced that unless HUD is prohibited from doing so by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, they intend to announce the selection of Project Based Contract Administrators (PBCA) pursuant to the Notice of Funding Available (NOFA) on August 1, 2013. Currently the Housing Trust Fund Corporation and CGI have a temporary contract until December 31, 2013. If HTFC does not receive the contract there will be a transition period into next year.
Contract Administration Oversight Manager (CAOM)
HUD announced that the regional CAOM position will be consolidated to HUD Washington.
Refinancing PRAC Properties
While refinancing PRACs has not been addressed, PRAC and Senior Preservation Rental Assistance Contracts (SPRAC) oversight will be switched to the Office of Affordable Housing Preservation (OAHP) starting Mon., July 1.
Debt Service Savings
HUD reported that Debt Service Savings contacts are no longer valid. Property owners have several options to manage the funds, but all expenses still need to be spent on the original intent of the account.
Upstate Vacancies
A LeadingAge New York workgroup convened to explore best practices in renovations and marketing, with a focus on filling vacancies and ensuring "marketability" of upstate projects. HUD suggested that properties can apply to lower the age requirement to 55, with an annual request for the waiver. HUD Buffalo has been approving these age lowering requests.
Sequestration Impact
It was reported that there was a $36,000 loss on a lost tax credit rent increase through the local housing authority due to sequestration cuts.
Property Insurance
Property insurance rates have escalated since Superstorm Sandy with one property seeing a 300% increase. LeadingAge New York asked HUD to explore what types of funding sources would be available to pay for these additional costs. In addition, subordinate loan documents to the property may have to be signed with any federal funding for building repairs.
NYS Supportive Senior Housing
LeadingAge New York reported on $3 million in state funding for “supportive senior housing" that will be available soon, and could possibly be included into existing HUD senior projects.
"Senior Housing in New York State" Report
LeadingAge New York provided HUD staff with the Association's report on “Senior Housing in New York State.”
LeadingAge New York thanked HUD for convening the meeting and expressed an interest in meeting a few times a year to discuss these and other issues.
Contact: Ken Harris, kharris@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8383, ext. 139