Signups for Q&A sessions at The Housing Conference are now open!

We’re thrilled to be taking our fifth annual national housing conference to Boston this August. Included with every conference registration is the opportunity to reserve a free, one-hour Q&A session with one of our NMA experts, including Nan herself!

If you’re registered for the conference and want to sign up for a session, click here and reserve your time now. The Q&A sessions are limited to registered attendees and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

The tentative agenda has just been updated, and when you register now you'll receive early bird pricing!

Join us August 21-22, 2017, for two fantastic days of networking, learning, and exploring the beautiful and historic city of Boston, Massachusetts. Industry experts will present sessions and panels on the latest topics in affordable housing, including:

• An update on UPCS-V, the proposed inspections protocol to replace HQS
• How to deal with generational differences in the workplace
• What you need to know if you're a new executive director
• Nan McKay's annual legislative update, including new rules and notices
• Best practices in PBV and RAD PBV
• Public/private partnerships and grant funds
• What you need to know before applying for MTW
• Understanding tax credits and RAD finance
• Best practices in managing FSS, plus how to start a new FSS program in PBRA
• What's new in capital fund finance
• Best practices in PBRA and RAD PBRA
• Effective waitlist management
• What's new in fair housing
• Best practices in SEMAP
• CDBG-DR and resilience
• Roundtable panel session with NMA Housing Awards winners
• And more!

Visit our website to register!

CBPP: 3 out of 4 at-risk renters don't get housing assistance

The HUDdle: New study shows why all public housing should be smoke-free

NCSHA: FY 2018 budget blueprint proposes deep cuts to HUD, elimination of HOME

Next City: Investment in affordable housing has ripple effect

NHC: Digging deep into who struggles to afford housing in your region

NLIHC: Register for March 20 webinar on opposing HUD funding cuts

Urban Wire: Improving the lives of kids in public housing

The tentative agenda for our fifth annual national housing conference is now available, and when you register now you'll receive early bird pricing!

Join us August 21-22, 2017, for two fantastic days of networking, learning,
and exploring the beautiful and historic city of Boston, Massachusetts. Industry experts will present sessions and panels on the latest topics in affordable housing, including:

• An update on UPCS-V, the proposed inspections protocol to replace HQS (panel session)
• Best practices in managing FSS, plus how to start a new FSS program in PBRA (panel session)
• Best practices in PBRA and RAD PBRA (panel session)
• Best practices in PBV and RAD PBV
• Best practices in SEMAP (hands-on session)
• CDBG-DR and resilience
• Effective waitlist management
• How to deal with generational differences in the workplace
• Nan McKay's annual legislative update, including new rules and notices
• Public/private partnerships and grant funds (panel session)
• Quality control
• Rent reasonableness
• Roundtable panel session with NMA Housing Awards winners
• Succession planning
• Understanding tax credits and RAD finance
• What you need to know before applying for MTW
• What you need to know if you're a new executive director
• What's new in capital fund finance
• What's new in fair housing

Visit our website to register!

CBPP: Every state will likely lose housing vouchers, unless Congress boosts funding

CHA: 2017 Moving to Work annual plan approved by HUD

CityLab: Fair housing faces an uncertain fate

CityLab (via Planetizen): This start-up takes (some) of the hassle out of renting

Homelessness Law: Communities count people experiencing homelessness

Minnesota Star-Tribune: Renters become homeowners through public housing program

Next City: How tax promises could affect the LIHTC program

Next City: New York public housing steps up on climate change

NHC: Appropriations will be messy, again

NLIHC: Affordable housing and transportation programs threatened by severe cuts

NLIHC: New blog series on affordable housing as infrastructure

Rooflines: AFFH: Moving the debate from concept to practice

NMA trainers Samantha Sowards and Sheryl Putnam will be presenting a session on RAD conversion to PBRA at The Housing Conference

As director of professional development, Sheryl Putnam has spearheaded the development of several NMA seminars, including Blended Occupancy Management, Fundamentals of LIHTC Management, and our newest class, Multifamily Housing Specialist (MHS). Prior to joining Nan McKay and Associates in 2011, she managed the compliance department for a state housing finance agency, providing compliance oversight activities for the LIHTC, PBRA, and HOME programs.

Senior trainer Samantha Sowards has been a part of the NMA team since 2008. As NMA’s manager of curriculum development, Samantha oversees publications from concept and creation through the ongoing revision process, including NMA Master Books, model policies, and handbooks. Sheryl and Samantha will be presenting the following session at the The Housing Conference in San Antonio this September.

Regulatory Knowledge for Smart Management

RAD: Post-Closing Operational Transition for PBRA
Presenters, Sheryl Putnam and Samantha Sowards

Congratulations, you’ve been approved for a RAD conversion to project-based rental assistance (PBRA). Now that you’ve been approved — or are waiting for approval — what’s next? This session will cover the key differences between public housing, PBRA, and RAD PBRA that you and your team need to know about. We will cover in-place resident considerations, eligibility and occupancy differences, rent phase-in requirements, what to do when TTP is greater than the contract/market rent, and more. We will also touch on some blended occupancy issues if you are adding low-income housing tax credits.

If you're interested in learning more about PBRA, don't miss our upcoming session of Multifamily Housing Specialist! Conference attendees save 10% on the seminar, which will be held immediately following the first two days of the The Housing Conference. Extend your stay and expand your learning! Register online or email sales@nanmckay.com for more information. Don't delay, room blocks are filling up fast.

Dave Sagers, director of market intelligence for HAI Group, will present a session on technology strategies at The Housing Conference

Nan McKay and Associates is a proud partner of HAI Group, a family of companies serving the public and affordable housing community, including HousingHub, HTVN, and the Public and Affordable Housing Research Corporation (PAHRC). As a co-sponsor of The Housing Conference, HAI Group will be presenting the following session at the conference in San Antonio this September.

Executive Leadership for Performance Excellence

Technology Strategies for PHAs to Thrive In A Changing Industry
Presenter, Dave Sagers of HAI Group

As director of market intelligence for HAI Group, Dave Sagers has spent several years analyzing housing authorities' strategies, challenges, key processes, and opportunities for operational improvement. This session will leverage industry research and PHA experiences to focus on:

• Trends impacting PHAs, including regulatory streamlining, LIHTC real estate development, HUD's Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD), and the Moving to Work (MTW) expansion
• How PHA business models, strategies, and needs are changing in response
• How technology is and can be strategically leveraged to support these strategies

The Housing Conference, presented by NMA and HAI Group, will spotlight three tracks: an executive track, a regulatory track, and a best practices track. Go here to view a list of the session descriptions that have been published so far.

CBPP: Obama’s 2017 budget includes $15 million for a new housing choice voucher mobility demonstration

NCSHA: Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) announces her intention to introduce legislation to expand Low Income Housing Tax Credit authority by 50% and to make other changes to strengthen the program

NLIHC: 75% of extremely low-income renter households spend more than half of their income for housing

Planetizen: Evaluating affordable housing development strategies

Rooflines: High-density public housing may seem like an idea whose time has come and gone, but Toronto could be proving that wrong

Tomorrow the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will post two notices that revise and clarify requirements for on-site physical inspections and file reviews conducted by state allocating agencies at low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) properties. Final and temporary regulations will be published in the Federal Register and, at the same time, the IRS will concurrently issue Revenue Procedure 2016-15. The revenue procedure and notice make several key changes, including:

• Amending the requirements for the number of LIHTC units and files that must be inspected by the state allocating agency as part of an on-site monitoring review. Formerly, the state agency was required to review 20 percent of the LIHTC units and files in the project. Now, the revenue procedure states that the minimum number of units and files that must undergo inspection is the lower of:

o    20 percent of the tax credit units in the project (rounded up to the nearest whole number); or

o    The number of tax credit units as identified in the Low-Income Housing Credit Minimum Unit Sample Size reference chart included in the revenue procedure.

• Stating that HUD’s REAC protocol satisfies the physical inspection requirements of the LIHTC program. The revenue procedure makes clear that conducting an inspection under the REAC protocol does not excuse the state allocating agency from reviewing the low-income certifications in accordance with the regulations. The state agency may rely on a REAC inspections when:

o    Both vacant and occupied LIHTC are included in the population of units selected for inspection

o    The inspection complies with the procedural and substantive requirements of REAC, including using the most recent REAC UPCS inspection software

o    The inspection is performed by a REAC inspector; and

o    The inspection results are sent to HUD, reviewed and scored within HUD’s secure systems without any involvement of the inspector who conducted the inspection, and HUD makes the inspection report available.

• Removing the requirement that physical inspections must be conducted for the same units as the file reviews. While state agencies are no longer required to select the same LIHTC units for on-site inspections as for file reviews, they may continue to do so.

The revenue procedure is effective February 25, 2016. Agencies using the REAC protocol under the physical inspections pilot program may implement the provisions for onsite inspections retroactively to January 1, 2015. Although the proposed regulations are adopted as final, comments and requests for public hearings may be submitted within 90 days of the publication of the notice.

Senior trainer Samantha Sowards has been a part of the NMA team since 2008. As NMA’s manager of curriculum development, Samantha oversees publications from concept and creation through the ongoing revision process, including NMA Master Books, model policies, and handbooks. She has previously written for the NMA blog about the key differences between the project-based voucher (PBV) program and the (HCV) housing choice voucher program.

Is your staff in need of LIHTC training? NMA is the only training company that offers LIHTC classes from a PHA perspective. Register now and save $125 on each registration to our upcoming class in Chicago, Illinois or 10 percent on our upcoming class in Norfolk, Virginia. We can also bring the seminar to you. Email sales@nanmckay.com for more information about our affordable onsite training options.

NMA trainers Samantha Sowards and Sheryl Putnam at the inaugural 2013 NMA Housing Conference

We're very excited to announce that NMA trainers Samantha Sowards and Sheryl Putnam are now authorized to administer the Housing Credit Certified Professional (HCCP) exam. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) HCCP designation is a specialized designation for developers, property managers, asset managers, and others who work in the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) program. The HCCP is a well-known and respected designation in the LIHTC world.

Students who attend NMA’s Fundamentals of Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Management course now have the option to take the HCCP certification exam instead of the NMA certification exam at the end of the seminar. Individuals interested in obtaining just the HCCP certification may also take the exam without attending the course, since the exam is given independently from the course. Attendance of an NMA course is not a prerequisite for taking the HCCP exam. Students who wish to receive both certifications may take the HCCP exam at the end of the seminar and the NMA exam online within six months of attending the seminar.

NAHB’s requirements for achieving the HCCP designation include:

• Successful completion of the HCCP exam ($175 fee; $100 for retakes)
• Minimum of two years' experience in the LIHTC industry by graduation (those who fail to meet this requirement may consider themselves an HCCP candidate until reaching two years of experience)
• A total of 10 hours of LIHTC training
• Adherence to the HCCP Code of Ethics

What happens when you receive the HCCP designation?

• You receive a congratulatory welcome kit, including a plaque, HCCP lapel pin, HCCP ribbon, and sample press release for your company to use internally or for local media recognition
• Your name listed in the online HCCP Directory
• You receive a subscription to The Credential, a quarterly e-newsletter developed by the HCCP Board of Governors to bring HCCPs the latest tax credit industry information
• You are eligible for discounted registration to one-hour educational webinars offered quarterly; HCCPs that attend each webinar fulfill their annual continuing education requirement
• You have the opportunity to attend the annual reception and networking event honoring the HCCP of the Year
• You have access to the professional LinkedIn group exclusively for active HCCPs
• You have access to LIHTC technical assistance through NAHB staff and the HCCP Board of Governors

If you’d like more information on the HCCP exam, please visit NAHB’s website at www.nahb.org.

Samantha, Sheryl, and other industry experts will be available for limited free one-hour consulting sessions at the 2015 NMA and GoSection8 Housing Conference. Registered participants can sign up on a first-come, first-served basis now. Register online or email sales@nanmckay.com for more information.

NCSHA: GAO recommends joint oversight of the LIHTC program

Next City: L.A. and Philly form first Promise Zones partnership

NHC: Four ideas for moving beyond the poor door

NLIHC: Nearly 46,000 units of project-based Section 8 housing lost since 2005

Rooflines: Fair housing's giant two steps forward