10
/ Wednesday, October 26, 2022
Ricardo Álvarez-Díaz,
X
FAIA – Licensed architect and entrepreneur
I
X
Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act – a benefit for all
ntroduced to the Senate in April 2021, the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act (AHCIA) would substantially contribute towards addressing the affordable housing crisis. The Act legislates to expand and strengthen Housing Credits. Housing advocates are pushing for the bill to be passed to address citizens’ pressing housing needs. The intent of the Act is to increase affordable housing production. The AHCIA would increase the annual Housing Credit distribution by 50% over its current level, which is especially urgent as the Housing Credit is now facing its lowest allocation in four years. Residents who are essential workers, veterans, seniors, people with disabilities, and low-wage workers with a national median income lower than $18,000 are the ones who will benefit most from the AHCIA. If residents were forced to pay market-rate rents, many would be unable to pay rent and potentially lose their housing. Also, the Act could create over 2 million affordable housing units that could house more than 4.7 million low-income citizens, supporting 3 million jobs, providing $345 billion in wages and business income, and generating $119 billion in tax revenue. By serving communities, it could make more developments financially feasible for extremely low-income and formerly homeless tenants. The Act would also support Housing Credit developments for veterans and encourage developments in rural and Native American communities. Additionally, it would facilitate the revitalization of high-poverty communities and the development of more properties in highopportunity areas. By streamlining program rules and promoting efficiency, The Act would also prohibit
The Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act would substantially contribute toward addressing the affordable housing crisis and would set the stage for long-term recovery.
discriminatory approval and contribution requirements that can prevent developments from moving forward. It will help ensure that homeless youth are not disqualified regardless of whether they were homeless before becoming adults. Also, rules designed to prevent college students from living in Housing Credit properties can now do so. The intent is not to penalize residents seeking to further their education. Finally, the AHCIA would provide more resources for affordable rental housing development, increase the financial feasibility of development products, and simplify the LIHTC. It would essentially increase a property’s maximum LIHTC allocation, allowing a LIHTC property to generate more equity and make new construction or rehabilitation of an existing property more financially feasible. What does it mean for Puerto Rico’s reconstruction needs? The AHCIA would grant further discretion to state agencies including Puerto Rico, to extend the disaster reconstruction and replacement period
beyond 25 months for families needing more time to restore their damaged properties. States could provide up to an additional 12 months for a total of 37 months of disaster recovery. If additional time beyond 25 months is necessary, such time will be added to the compliance period. This means that the Act would facilitate safe tenant relocation during the rehabilitation of Housing Credit properties, ensuring that properties are given enough time to rebuild after disasters and be flexible for existing tenants when refinancing properties. The Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act would substantially contribute toward addressing the affordable housing crisis in the short term and, more importantly, would set the stage for long-term recovery. If the AHCIA bill is passed, Congress would not only address the housing needs of US’s lower-income households by financing millions of additional affordable rental homes but would also positively impact the nation’s economic well-being and help counteract the economic damage done by the pandemic.