RURAL UPDATE

摘要

The Council for Affordable and Rural Housing (CARH) convened in Washington, D.C.June 15-17 for its 2008 Annual Meeting and Legislative Conference. Highlights of interest to NAHRO members are provided below. Rural Housing Preservation Acl of 2007 (H.R. 4002). Introduced on Oct. 30, 2007 by Rep. Lincoln Davis (D-Tenn.) and Rep. Geoff Davis (R-Ky.), this bill is intended to "establish a program to preserve rural multifamily housing assisted under the Housing Act of 1949." The Act would authorize a set of incentives intended to encourage project owners to repair and revitalize their properties and enter into ong-term use agreements. Discussion at the conference focused on several elements of the bill that CARH believes need to be changed: the 30year capital needs requirement, which increases escrow needs, decreasing cash flow; a requirement that owners accept vouchers; the ineligibility of owners seeking to recover damages under ELIHPA; and the requirement that owners who have already received damages under ELIHPA pay 50 percent of the award back to USDA as a condition of participation in the program.