Yearly Archives: 2015

Late December 15, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) unveiled tax extender legislation, the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015, that would renew and make permanent some of the expired tax provisions, including the 9 percent minimum Housing Credit rate, and extend for either five years or two years other expired tax provisions. The bill—a major victory for NCSHA and other Housing Credit industry stakeholders—is the result of weeks of negotiations among leaders of both parties and both chambers.

In the early hours of the morning on December 16, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) unveiled the Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 omnibus spending bill, providing $1.1 trillion in funding for government operations, including funding for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Housing Service programs.

In upcoming hearings across North Carolina, advocates for low income communities will share their concerns that the NC Clean Power Plan (CPP) fails to adequately meet the requirements of the EPA’s Clean Power Plan and will leave North Carolina without valuable opportunities for improving energy efficiency, lowering electricity costs, protecting the environment, developing solar and wind renewable energy, and creating new jobs

CBRE Executive Vice President Philip D. Voorhees announced today that he and the National Retail Investment Group – West (NRIG-West) and CBRE’s Net Leased Property Group teams are pleased to exclusively offer for sale, the Consolidated Tomoka Portfolio. This 100% leased offering consists of 14 single-tenant assets totaling 129,400 square feet.

Following is a statement from Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), on the inclusion of a five-year solar investment tax credit (ITC) extension in the omnibus appropriations bill filed this morning by the U.S. House of Representatives

Nationwide housing starts rose 10.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.173 million units in November, according to newly released data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Commerce Department. Single-family production increased 7.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 768,000 units, its highest reading since January 2008. Multifamily production rose 16.4 percent to 405,000 units

The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) is pleased with the treatment of low income housing programs in the proposed FY 2016 Omnibus Appropriations bill that Congressional leaders released this morning. While funding levels remain wholly inadequate to meet the housing needs of low income Americans, the bill is a significant improvement over the HUD appropriations bills passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate Appropriations Committee earlier this year under the constraints of sequestration

Attend Building Innovation 2016: The National Institute of Building Sciences Conference & Expo and check professional education requirements off the top of your 2016 “to-do” list. The Institute’s Annual Conference, to be held January 11-15, in Metro Washington, D.C., is a great way to earn continuing education units (CEUs) while hearing from speakers who are experts in their fields. With the theme Achieving a Resilient Future, Building Innovation 2016 offers a number of educational sessions that give attendees the opportunity to select from a total of 41.25 Learning Units (LUs) from the American Institute of Architects.

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and U.S. Forest Service, awarded a contract for the federal government’s first-ever joint solar power procurement in California and Nevada. Solar developer SolarCity Corporation of San Mateo, Calif. was awarded a power purchase agreement (PPA) as part of the Federal Aggregated Solar Procurement Pilot (FASPP) -- a strategic sourcing project that combines several small to mid-size photovoltaic (PV) installation opportunities within northern California and northern Nevada into a single procurement.

Beginning Monday, Jan. 11, 2016, the new adjusted educational impact fees will be $5,856 for a mobile home, $8,045 for a multi-family dwelling, and $9,324 for a single-family home. Educational impact fees are imposed by local governments and paid by developers to address the increase in school facility infrastructure demands created by new development

The level of commercial/multifamily mortgage debt outstanding increased by $38 billion in the third quarter of 2015, as three of the four major investor groups increased their holdings.  That is a 1.4 percent increase over the second quarter of 2015.

The Justice Department announced today that Southwind Village LLC, the owner and operator of Southwind Village Mobile Home Park in North Fort Myers, Florida, has agreed to pay $60,000 to resolve allegations that it discriminated against African Americans in violation of the Fair Housing Act.  The settlement was approved today by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 10 completed over 50 environmental compliance and enforcement actions in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington from July 1, 2015 through September 30, 2015

“Consumers Energy is proud to have been an integral part of the Bad Axe community for more than 52 years. This new environmentally friendly building reaffirms our commitment to providing safe, reliable natural gas service to homes and businesses in Huron County for years to come,” said Charles Crews, Consumers Energy vice president of gas operations.

An independent national survey has ranked Consumers Energy fifth in the nation among providers of electricity and natural gas and a “Customer Champion” for strengthening its bond with residential customers

Builder confidence in the market for newly constructed single-family homes remained relatively flat in December, dropping one point to 61 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI).

Tom Woods, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Blue Springs, Mo., issued the following statement on the ruling by the Government Accountability Office that found the Obama administration broke the law when it used social media to urge the general public to support the Environmental Protection Agency’s final rule defining “waters of the United States.”

Four mortgage modification scammers, Brian Pacios, Chad Caldaronello, Justin Moreira and Derek Nelson will be banned from selling debt relief products and services under settlements resolving Federal Trade Commission charges that they deceived homeowners facing foreclosure

Last week, representatives of more than 190 nations agreed to an unprecedented global climate agreement that establishes a long-term, durable framework to address one of the gravest threats facing humanity.  As the President said, the agreement in Paris creates a mechanism for us to continually tackle climate change in an effective way and begin the next phase of building a low-carbon, climate-resilient future while generating new jobs and industries.

As the nation’s metro areas continues to expand, homeowners are seeking community amenities that allow them to remain connected to people and commerce. Walkability, higher density and infill development, as well as access to public transportation are all on the rise according to the findings from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Home Design Trends Survey for the third quarter of 2015, which focuses on community and neighborhood design.