| Holland Testifies on Affordability |
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| Clyde Holland Greets Chairman Blaine Luetkemeyer |
Clyde Holland, chairman and CEO of Holland Partner Group,
testified on Capitol Hill yesterday on the challenge of meeting the increasing
demand for multifamily homes for millions of working Americans.
Testifying on behalf of NMHC and NAA, Holland outlined the
key reasons why America faces a growing affordability problem – stagnant wages,
a supply-demand imbalance and numerous hurdles and regulations in developing
new apartments – along with potential solutions
“Almost 75 million young adults are entering the housing
market, primarily as renters. At the same time, Baby Boomers and empty nesters
are trading single-family houses for rental apartments,” said Holland. “This
combination of factors is forecast to lead to four million new renter
households over the next decade.” |
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| CONSTRUCTION LENDING |
| Banks Tap the Brakes on Multifamily Construction Loans |
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Multifamily industry developers nationwide are
starting to experience a more cautious approach to construction
lending offered by both national and regional lenders. This
is resulting in higher rates, lower proceeds, more demanding completion
guarantees and, in some instances, an outright turndown of a loan request.
Banks are citing the need to be more cautious because some areas of the country
have experienced slowdowns in the lease up of newly delivered apartments as building
is slowly catching up with demand. While not widespread across all markets, it
is a growing concern among lenders as the long-term run up in the apartment
market reaches its seventh year. |
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| AFFORDABLE HOUSING |
| Fannie, Freddie Contribute $186M to Housing Trust Fund |
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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) recently made their first contribution to the National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) – totaling $186 million –
for the production and preservation of affordable housing for
low-income families nationwide. The funds were set up as part of the
Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, but were put on hold soon
after when the GSEs were taken into conservatorship by the Federal
Housing Finance Agency. |
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| LEAD PAINT |
| Congress Steps Up Actions to Keep Kids Lead-Safe |
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Spurred by the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, Congress is focusing attention on lead hazard control with the “Lead-Safe Housing for Kids Act of 2016”
introduced in the House and Senate on March 3. The bill addresses
federally-assisted housing built before 1978. Specifically, it would
require HUD to revise the threshold for requiring a housing risk
assessment when a child under six-years-old is found to have an elevated
blood lead level (BLL). A comprehensive risk assessment of a housing
property would be required to be completed prior to a child moving in. |
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| NET NEUTRALITY |
| House Goes Big on Broadband Deployment |
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On March 16, the full House approved
bipartisan legislation by a unanimous vote of 411-0 that would exempt
small internet service providers (ISPs) from enhanced transparency
requirements in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) new Open Internet or ‘net neutrality’
rules. The efforts of Congress to bolster broadband access across the
nation could significantly benefit multifamily properties and their
residents by ensuring greater access to high-speed internet,
particularly in non-urban core areas. |
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| DATA SECURITY |
| Key Consumer Protection Bureau Jumps into the Data Security Fray |
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For the first time, the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau (CFPB) entered the data security enforcement arena,
announcing that it took action against online payment platform Dwolla.
Dwolla collects and stores personally identifiable information,
including customers’ names,
dates of birth, Social Security numbers and banking information. NMHC
has been following cyber policy and regulatory developments carefully
because of the highly sensitive personally identifiable information that
firms and their service providers collect. This information is valuable
to data thieves and those wishing to do harm to a company’s reputation or financial standing. |
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| NMHC EVENTS |
| Register Today: NMHC Spring Board Meeting from May 18-20 in Chicago |
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The 2016 NMHC Spring Board of Directors Meeting will
be held from May 18 to 20 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago. Don’t miss this
exclusive event that brings together senior apartment executives from the
industry’s leading firms. The Spring Board Meeting provides NMHC Executive
Committee and Board members with an invaluable opportunity to candidly share
information and insight on issues of common interest. Speakers at this
must-attend event will include: CNN
Senior Political Commentator David
Axelrod; Equity Group Investments Chairman Sam Zell; Academic, Researcher, Writer and Entrepreneur Vivek Wadhwa; and Former Secretary of
the Treasury Henry M. Paulson, Jr. There
will also be informative panels on cybersecurity and on innovative business
models for rental housing. The Spring Board Meeting is open to NMHC Executive
Committee and Board of Directors members only. Register now! |
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| Building Momentum in Busy Election Year |
Every
day, elected officials make critical decisions that impact the apartment
industry, your firm and, ultimately, your job. From housing finance reform
to tax policy to fair housing and energy and environmental regulations – policy
choices made in Washington have a direct impact on how you operate your company
and how successful you can be. NMHC is here for our industry to help
educate federal lawmakers so they understand that multifamily is an essential
part of the nation’s real estate industry. Read more to learn about
upcoming NMHC PAC events.
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| Please note: The Senate and House are in recess March 24 through April 1. |
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Awkward Moment Alert: President Obama and
Castro Meet in Cuba
For the first time in 88
years, a U.S. president visited Cuba this week. But, although every minute of
President Obama’s visit was carefully scripted, it seems no one briefed him and
Cuban President Raúl Castro on how best to wrap up their historic joint press
conference. Find out below what awkward moment left people wondering “what was
that?”
Read
More |
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