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The Department of Housing and Human Concerns has begun accepting online applications for its Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8) waitlist and will continue accepting online applications until 11:59 p.m. on November 8, 2015. Hardcopy pre-applications will only be available through first class mail by advanced written request to the County of Maui as a reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities by Friday, October 30th. No applications will be provided at the agency.

The National Institute of Building Sciences, through its Multihazard Mitigation Council (MMC) and Council on Finance, Insurance and Real Estate (CFIRE), has released a new white paper to promote the use of private and public incentives to achieve resilience in U.S. communities.

Tom Woods, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Blue Springs, Mo., today issued the following statement on Rep. Paul Ryan’s election as the 54th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives

Congress is poised to approve a federal budget this week that would include a dramatic overhaul of the way real estate partnerships are audited, including multifamily. Specifically, this two-year bipartisan budget deal approved by the White House and congressional leaders would set discretionary spending levels through 2017 and increase the nation’s debt ceiling. With this overhaul, lawmakers are trying to address the fact that large real estate partnerships are audited at much lower rates than their C corporation counterparts. They have simplified the audit process in the budget deal because they believe it will capture more tax revenues.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) projects originations of commercial and multifamily mortgages will rise 6 percent in 2016 to $485 billion. Mortgage bankers' originations of multifamily mortgages are forecast at $187 billion in 2016, and total multifamily mortgage originations are projected at $225 billion.

Constellation, a retail energy supplier, today announced an innovative partnership initiative with Habitat for Humanity aimed at reducing energy costs for Habitat partner families through solar generation, weatherization and other energy efficiency solutions. Funded by $100,000 in direct funding to Habitat affiliates and a new $100,000 national partnership with Habitat for Humanity International, the initiative will reach families in Boston, Chicago, Houston and Baltimore, where Constellation is headquartered, and support builds in other cities where the company does business.

The Wheaton Franciscan Sisters are pleased to announce a new direction for Franciscan Ministries, Inc. under ownership and sponsorship of Mercy Housing, Inc. The proposed transfer is expected to occur in the first quarter of 2016 subject to the successful completion of due diligence, and will include Franciscan Ministries’ current 2,620 units of housing in addition to the pending acquisition of another 1,200 units in eight states.

The National League of Cities (NLC) and the Urban Land Institute (ULI) today announced that mayors from four cities—Birmingham, Ala.; Denver; Long Beach, Calif.; and Rochester, N.Y.—have been selected as the 2016 class of Daniel Rose Fellows by the Rose Center for Public Leadership in Land Use. Mayors William Bell, Michael Hancock, Robert Garcia and Lovely Warren will lead teams from their respective cities who will receive technical assistance on a local land use challenge from NLC, ULI and their peers from the other fellowship cities.

Several national groups sent a letter to President Obama urging the Administration to rethink its position on the recapitalization of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and calling for their continued reform. The letter is in response to comments last week from Jacob Lew, Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and Antonio Weiss, Counselor to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, that seemingly suggested that the Obama Administration would not consider recapitalization of the GSEs

On October 22, the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing entitled, "The Future of Housing in America: 50 Years of HUD and its Impact on Federal Housing Policy" to review the effectiveness of HUD programs since the Department was established half a century ago

Just now, the United States Senate passed S.1731, the “Homeless Veterans Services Protection Act” which will protect the eligibility for VA homeless services of homeless veterans with “Other Than Honorable” (OTH) discharges

Pending home sales cooled in September for the second straight month and to their second lowest index reading in 2015, according to the National Association of Realtors®. All four major regions experienced a pullback in activity in September.

Second Century Ventures, the National Association of Realtors®’ strategic investment arm, has hired top technologist Alex Lange, former Market Leader chief technology officer, as an operating partner. Adding to SCV’s future success is the promotion of Mark Birschbach to vice president.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced approximately $13.2 million in supplemental funding through the Revolving Loan Funding (RLF) program for 44 communities to cleanup and redevelop contaminated properties. The agency also has released a new electronic decision tree that helps users explore the feasibility of siting renewable energy projects on formerly contaminated properties and underutilized sites.

Safety professionals aren’t yet aware of all the emerging green building systems. To meet this need in the building industry, AGC of Washington and its AGC Education Foundation partnered with others on a grant to develop a curriculum and a mobile app specific to safety concerns while working on a green building.

The White House and leaders in Congress struck a significant two-year budget deal on Tuesday to restore 90% of the sequestration budget cuts for non-defense discretionary programs in fiscal year 2016. The House passed The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 this afternoon.

In an effort to remind individuals and businesses to renew their licenses early, the State Regulatory Registry, LLC (SRR), operator of the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS), will launch its second annual “Your License is Your Business” campaign Nov. 2

Mortgage applications decreased 3.5 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending October 23, 2015. The previous week's results included an adjustment for the Columbus Day holiday.

EPA, the U.S. Department of Justice and the State of Iowa have reached a proposed settlement of alleged Clean Water Act violations by the City of Waterloo, Iowa, that will require the city to assess its sanitary sewer system and develop a master plan to eliminate unlawful sewer overflows and bypasses

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today announced new leaders for its Independent Mortgage Bankers Network and Community Banks and Credit Unions Network.