government

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) today published a new consolidated handbook to guide lenders on underwriting all FHA-insured multifamily housing construction and rehabilitation transactions. FHA’s new MAP Guide offers a new operating manual for multifamily underwriting through the Multifamily Accelerated Processing program. Read FHA’s new updated MAP Guide.

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking creative ideas from the real estate development community to redevelop the Thomas J. McIntyre Federal Building in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. GSA will use these ideas for planning purposes and to make strategic decisions regarding the future use of the property while providing the City of Portsmouth a potential economic development opportunity.

Bipartisan reforms to improve the effectiveness of public housing programs were approved by the House on Tuesday by a vote of 427-0. The reforms included in the “Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act” update and improve outdated rules and regulations in order to give state and local housing agencies and private owners more flexibility to meet key program objectives.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today spoke in support of hydropower as the Senate resumed consideration of her broad, bipartisan energy bill. Murkowski highlighted the bill’s provisions and amendments offered by her Senate colleagues to advance the use of hydropower – a clean, renewable baseload energy resource – in her home state of Alaska and across the country.

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Sen. Sherrod Brown, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, sent a letter requesting information from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) about the Distressed Asset Stabilization Program and the loss mitigation options available to homeowners whose loans are sold through the program.

U.S. Reps. Bill Pascrell Jr. (NJ-09), Frank Pallone Jr. (NJ-06), Albio Sires (NJ-08), Donald Payne Jr. (NJ-10), Donald Norcross (NJ-01), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) sent a letter to Gov. Chris Christie in an effort to understand why New Jersey missed out on over $300 million of federal flood-mitigation funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under the National Disaster Resilience Competition.

More than 200 Habitat for Humanity leaders and supporters, including several Habitat homeowners from around the country, gathered in Washington, D.C., for Habitat’s 10th annual Habitat on the Hill conference, Feb. 2-4. The event brings together Habitat representatives to urge federal lawmakers to support programs and policies that promote safe, decent and affordable homeownership opportunities and, in turn, a healthy housing market and economy as a whole

The Subcommittee on Federal Lands held an oversight hearing on issues surrounding the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Draft Resource Management Plans (RMPs) for the Beaver Dam Wash and Red Cliffs National Conservation Areas in Washington County, Utah. The panel received testimony from the Mayor of St. George, the Chairman of the Washington County Commission, local stakeholders and a representative from the BLM

Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission has approved a final order settling charges that NXP Semiconductors N.V.’s $11.8 billion acquisition of Freescale Semiconductor Ltd. would likely harm competition in the worldwide market for RF power amplifiers.

Making businesses and homes more energy efficient is a win for jobs and economic growth, operating costs and bottom lines, and the President’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions and fight climate change. That is why, today, as part of the President’s Better Buildings Program, the Administration is announcing

The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency will help the City of Lawrence with of financial and technical guidance about making future investments in its drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. EPA’s new Water Community Assistance for Resiliency and Excellence (WaterCARE) program will assist in developing robust and resilient finance strategies for water infrastructure that meets long-term needs.

Sales of new single-family houses in December 2015 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 544,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau. This is 10.8 percent (±17.1%)* above the revised November rate of 491,000 and is 9.9 percent (±25.0%)* above the December 2014 estimate of 495,000.

In an effort to help preserve and increase the amount of affordable, quality rental housing across the country, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) today announced a multifamily insurance rate reduction designed to encourage capital financing of affordable and energy-efficient apartments. The rate reductions announced today will take effect on April 1, 2016, and will directly impact FHA’s Multifamily Housing Programs and properties housing low- and moderate-income families and/or developments installing energy-efficient systems or building within federal energy guidelines.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu was joined by Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards and City, State and Federal officials to celebrate the City of New Orleans award of $141.3 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s National Disaster Resilience Competition (NDRC). HUD’s competition is designed to help state and local communities recover from past disasters while improving their ability to withstand future extreme events through strategic community investments.

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today thanked the District of Columbia National Guard for providing critical assistance to D.C. authorities during this weekend’s snowstorm, but said that “it is absurd that the District does not have home-rule authority over its own National Guard in cases of emergency, as states do.” Norton earlier succeeded in getting authority for the Commanding General of the D.C. National Guard, rather than only the President, to deploy the Guard in order to avoid the federal bureaucracy necessary to call up the D.C. National Guard.

Today, on behalf of the White House Rural Council, six federal agencies joined together to announce 27 communities selected to participate in Local Foods, Local Places, a federal initiative helping people create walkable, healthy, economically vibrant neighborhoods through local food enterprise. Under Local Foods, Local Places, a team of experts will help community members set goals and plan projects like farmers markets, local food cooperatives, community gardens, and other food-related business that can boost local economies and drive neighborhood revitalization.

The newly enacted Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA—which replaces No Child Left Behind—includes a number of key provisions that are aimed at addressing the problems with today’s testing systems in schools. The new law provides an opportunity for states and districts to move toward more coherent, aligned assessment systems that support student learning. There is a risk, however, that states and districts might not take advantage of this opportunity and might instead continue on their current paths

We are pleased that the court has rejected petitioners' attempts to block the Clean Power Plan from moving forward while litigation proceeds. We are confident that the plan will reduce carbon pollution and deliver better air quality, improved public health, and jobs across the country.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julián Castro and the Rockefeller Foundation announced the winners of the $1 billion National Disaster Resilience Competition (NDRC).  Secretary Castro traveled to Norfolk, Virginia where he joined Governor Terry McAuliffe in announcing the winners of the competition.

On the heels of the announcement that 2015 was the hottest year on record, today the public comment period closes for the federal backstop for the Clean Power Plan, President Obama’s central strategy to tackle global warming.