The Weekly Housing Recap™
HUD, Congress, and the tax credit industry, translated into plain English by someone who actually reads the notices.
Welcome to Issue No. 4. Last week the tax credit world finally got real numbers back on the 25% bond test, a bipartisan bill went looking to hit pause on some Buy America paperwork, and a federal court threw out an entire HUD funding notice on a technicality that keeps repeating itself. Grab your coffee. Let's get into it.
The Big One: The 25% Bond Test Is Producing Actual Data, and California Went First
What dropped: Novogradac's August Journal of Tax Credits, built this month around LIHTC and bonds, along with a Michael Novogradac analysis dated August 3, is reporting the first state-level results from the OBBBA 25% financed-by test. California is the early proof of concept.
Who it hits: 4% LIHTC owners, developers, and the management agents who inherit these deals at lease-up and carry them for the next 15 years. If your property pairs tax-exempt bonds with 4% credits, this is your neighborhood.
What changed: OBBBA permanently cut the private activity bond "financed-by" test from 50% to 25% of aggregate basis. Early California data suggests the same slice of a state's bond cap now finances meaningfully more homes, which Novogradac frames as a possible roadmap for other states. The trade is real, though: each deal now carries less bond debt, so the financing gap moves somewhere else.
Effective date: The 25% test applies to developments placed in service and financed by PABs issued on or after January 1, 2026, with a transition rule for 2025 bonds where at least 5% of aggregate basis is issued in 2026.
The rule took effect back in January, but this is the first week we are seeing the receipts, and they matter. Owners, expect more competition for soft funding as bond cap spreads thinner across more deals. Agents, watch for properties arriving with tighter debt coverage and leaner reserves, because that gap has to land somewhere and it usually lands on operations. And if the phrase "recycled bonds" still makes your eyes glaze over, get comfortable with it fast, because it is about to show up in a lot more deal structures.
Source: Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits, Volume 17 Issue 8
Meanwhile, at HUD: A Federal Court Threw Out HUD's 2026 Homelessness Funding Notice
What dropped: On Friday, August 7, a federal judge in Rhode Island (U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy) set aside HUD's entire FY2026 Continuum of Care (CoC) Notice of Funding Opportunity, the roughly $4 billion competition that funds local homelessness programs.
Who it hits: CoC grantees, homeless-services nonprofits, and permanent supportive housing (PSH) operators, plus the local governments that administer these grants. If your portfolio touches PSH or you partner with a CoC, this one lands close to home.
What changed: The court found HUD issued the 2026 notice without the public notice-and-comment process the law requires, an Administrative Procedure Act (APA) violation. The notice had set aside about $1.3 billion, more than 30 percent of the total, for new transitional housing and treatment or services-only projects, a step away from the long-standing "Housing First" model. HUD Secretary Scott Turner has said Housing First funding has been misused; the plaintiffs, including the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the National Low Income Housing Coalition, and several local governments, argued the changes could put roughly 97,000 people at risk. This is the third HUD homelessness notice blocked on the same procedural grounds in under a year.
Status: Ruling issued August 7, 2026. The FY2026 notice is vacated. Watch for HUD's next move, either re-issuing with a proper comment period or appealing.
Set the politics aside and the practical story is uncertainty. Three funding rounds, three procedural losses, and grantees still waiting on money Congress already appropriated. If your work touches CoC dollars or supportive housing, do not build your fall budget on a clean 2026 award just yet. The bigger housing-versus-services fight will get settled well above our pay grade, but notice-and-comment is the step that keeps tripping up these rollouts, and it is not a hard box to check.
Source: Democracy Forward, August 7, 2026
PRO Housing FY26 closed its window: HUD's FY2026 Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing) competition reached its application deadline on August 3, 2026, at 11:59 pm ET, with HUD prioritizing "priority geographies" that show the greatest affordable housing need. Mostly a states, local governments, and PHA story for now; owners and agents feel it later, through local zoning and permitting changes. This is not a compliance item, it is a tea leaf: PRO Housing tells you where HUD thinks the obstacles are, and where the money points, the next opportunities usually follow.
Source: HUD, PRO Housing Program
A bipartisan bill wants to pump the brakes on BABA: H.R. 9311, the Build Housing Affordably Act from Reps. Mike Flood (R-NE) and Maggie Goodlander (D-NH), would pause Build America, Buy America (BABA) requirements for affordable housing until 60 days after HUD delivers a report to Congress on BABA's effects, then set a 90-day clock for reviewing BABA waivers. Introduced June 15, 2026, and still in the House, not law. This hits developers and owners doing new construction or substantial rehab with federal funds, plus the agents who will manage the finished product. BABA is the "prove where this steel was made" paperwork that has quietly slowed federally funded affordable deals since the 2021 infrastructure law. A firm 90-day waiver clock would be a genuine mercy for anyone stuck waiting on a determination. Nothing to file yet, but if you have a deal parked in BABA review, track this one.
Source: congress.gov, H.R. 9311
Tax Credit Corner
LIHTC: The 25% bond test is the story this week, see The Big One above. Nothing new on the state application front since last issue.
NMTC: Quiet. The CDFI Fund's now-permanent $5 billion program and its refreshed FY 2026 materials are still the latest word.
RETC / Energy credits: The August Journal's renewable energy coverage, dated August 7, flags that energy tax credit structuring keeps shifting as the industry digests OBBBA and newer federal guidance on transferability and Foreign Entity of Concern (FEOC) rules. Eligibility and transfer rules for energy credits are not where they were a year ago, and guidance is still evolving.
If you are pairing energy credits with an affordable deal, do not assume last year's structure still clears. This is the fastest-moving corner of the credit world right now, and it is exactly why I am buried in NMTC and energy credit coursework, so that you do not have to be.
Source: Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits, Volume 17 Issue 8
Mark Your Calendar (Yes, Actually Mark It)
- September 16 to 17, 2026: Novogradac 2026 Fall Affordable Housing Conference, Honolulu. Worth the trip if bonds and the 25% test are shaping your 2027 pipeline.
- Now through fall: QAP watch. Many state housing agencies are amending their Qualified Allocation Plans to implement the 25% financed-by test. If your deals touch a state's bond cap, read your agency's draft QAP before the comment period closes. No single national date on this one, so check your own state.
- October 1, 2026: Still the date. NSPIRE begins scoring the new affirmative requirements.
- January 1, 2027: HOTMA full compliance, confirmed for PHAs under Notice PIH 2026-15 and for Multifamily under Notice H 2025-07.
About the Recap
The Weekly Housing Recap™ is published every Monday by LaLonde Affordable Housing Strategies LLC, covering the prior week's HUD notices, Federal Register activity, congressional housing action, and LIHTC, NMTC, and HTC news. It is written by an actual human, Kari LaLonde, who spent 23 years inside HUD Multifamily doing asset management, HAP contract administration, RAD, and compliance, and who genuinely enjoys reading this stuff so you don't have to.
This newsletter is a summary for general information and links to primary sources. It is not legal advice, and it pairs well with coffee.
Until next Monday: may your files be complete and your inspections uneventful.
Kari
Welcome to Issue No. 3. A quiet week on HUD's notice desk, which is exactly when the calendar does its damage. HOTMA's compliance date is now five months out and confirmed on both sides of the house, two state credit deadlines are closer than the old "it's always October" memory suggests, and HUD keeps quietly retiring guidance you may still be citing. Let's get into it.
The Big One: HOTMA Is Five Months Out, and Now Confirmed for Everyone
What dropped: Nothing new this week, and that is rather the point. With the notice desk quiet, the largest item on your horizon is a date already on the books: full HOTMA compliance on January 1, 2027. It is now confirmed on both sides of the house, with Notice PIH 2026-15 setting it for PHAs and Notice H 2025-07 setting it for Multifamily.
Who it hits: Everyone. PHAs, PBRA and Multifamily owners, management agents, and LIHTC properties whose state agencies have already adopted HOTMA, which is most of them.
What changes: HOTMA rewrote how income and assets are calculated and reworked the guidance behind Handbook 4350.3. For any certification with an effective date on or after January 1, 2027, the file must follow the new rules. Admin plans, ACOPs, and Tenant Selection Plans need to match, and staff need to be trained on the new calculations before the first 2027 recertification, not during it.
Deadline or effective date: January 1, 2027. Five months out. Many state Housing Finance Agencies moved LIHTC to HOTMA earlier, so for a good number of you the practical deadline has already passed.
Five months feels like a runway until you count the recertifications between now and then. If your admin plan and ACOP are not already HOTMA-current, that is an August project, not a December one. And if you run LIHTC, call your state agency and ask where they landed, because January 2027 may be the federal date and not yours.
Source: HUD HOTMA guidance (Notice PIH 2026-15; Notice H 2025-07)
Meanwhile, at HUD: A Quiet Desk, and Guidance That Keeps Vanishing
No new H-series, PIH, or CPD notices this week. Quiet weeks, though, are the right time to deal with a slower-moving problem: HUD has been steadily withdrawing sub-regulatory guidance, and a withdrawn document does not update your policy manual for you.
What dropped: Nothing new, but the pattern from earlier this summer still stands. HUD's Office of General Counsel withdrew a batch of guidance documents with a retroactive effective date, and handbooks that referenced them are being revised.
Who it hits: Anyone whose policies, training decks, or compliance procedures cite HUD interpretive guidance. That is most of us.
What changes: When a document comes off HUD.gov, staff can keep following language that is no longer authoritative, and a reviewer will notice before you do. The fix is boring and free: pull the guidance you rely on now and keep a dated copy. HUD notices are public government works with no copyright, so you may save and hold your own backups. One caution, though: a saved copy is a reference, not a rule. Federal guidance is one layer. Know your state and local laws and document that you checked, because where they are stricter, they control. And if LIHTC is anywhere in your stack, confirm with your state Housing Finance Agency before relying on a federal document.
Deadline or effective date: None, and that is the trap. There is no due date on housekeeping, so it never makes the list until an inspection makes it for you.
Spend one afternoon this month saving the notices and handbook sections your policies cite, with the date you pulled them. Then note which ones your state or your HFA reads differently. That folder is cheap insurance against a finding built on a document nobody can find anymore.
One live deadline from the quiet desk: Comments on HUD's information collection for Service Coordinators in Multifamily Housing (Docket FR-7098-N-20) are due August 4, 2026.
Source: Federal Register, Service Coordinators information collection
Tax Credit Corner
LIHTC: State 9% application deadlines are the story this cycle, and two are close. Kentucky Housing Corporation has pre-application waiver requests due August 28, 2026 and full 9% applications due September 11, 2026. If your calendar still says fall, tighten it: KHC's last round closed August 19, 2025, so this is a late-summer agency. Ohio Housing Finance Agency has 9% full applications due September 17, 2026. If you are applying anywhere else, your deadline lives in your state's QAP, and most already ran in winter and spring.
NMTC: Quiet. The CDFI Fund's now-permanent $5 billion program and its refreshed FY 2026 materials are still the latest word.
HTC: Also quiet. The HTC-GO Act is still waiting its turn in Congress.
The 4% bond route stays rolling in most states, so this is a 9% timing note. If Kentucky is your state, check the QAP and not your memory: the last two rounds closed August 19 and September 11, so plan for late summer, not fall.
Mark Your Calendar (Yes, Actually Mark It)
- August 4, 2026: Comments due on HUD's Service Coordinators in Multifamily Housing information collection (Docket FR-7098-N-20).
- August 28, 2026: Kentucky (KHC) 9% pre-application waiver requests due.
- August 29, 2026: For PHAs on a January 1 fiscal year, the Annual Plan and the HUD-50077 certification (qualified PHAs have their own streamlined version) are due to HUD by October 18. Have the draft finished now, so it can clear board review and the 45-day public comment period in time.
- September 11, 2026: Kentucky (KHC) 9% full applications due (last year's round closed August 19).
- September 17, 2026: Ohio (OHFA) 9% full applications due.
- October 1, 2026: NSPIRE begins scoring the new affirmative requirements. Eight weeks out.
- January 1, 2027: HOTMA full compliance, confirmed for PHAs under Notice PIH 2026-15 and for Multifamily under Notice H 2025-07.
About the Recap
The Weekly Housing Recap™ is published every Monday by LaLonde Affordable Housing Strategies LLC, covering the prior week's HUD notices, Federal Register activity, congressional housing action, and LIHTC, NMTC, and HTC news. It is written by an actual human, Kari LaLonde, who spent 23 years inside HUD Multifamily doing asset management, HAP contract administration, RAD, and compliance, and who genuinely enjoys reading this stuff so you don't have to.
This newsletter is a summary for general information and links to primary sources. It is not legal advice, and it pairs well with coffee.
Until next Monday: may your files be complete and your inspections uneventful.
Kari
Welcome to Issue No. 2. This week: the ROAD Act's fine print keeps surfacing new provisions, HUD wants to know about your cyber incidents within a day and a half, and a state tax credit agency actually moved faster than the federal government. Let's get into it.
The Big One: ROAD Act, the Parts We Skipped Last Week
What dropped: Last issue covered the headline provisions of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act (Public Law 119-101). The bill runs 139 pages, and a few more provisions are worth flagging now that analysts have finished combing through it.
Who it hits: PHAs and owners of federally assisted housing specifically this time, not the whole industry.
What changes: A pilot program will grant PHAs and other owners of federally assisted housing money to test temperature sensors for compliance with temperature requirements, meaning a tech fix for a documentation headache. Separately, the manufactured home permanent chassis requirement is eliminated, which HUD's manufactured housing program will need to implement through rulemaking. On the oversight side, PHAs picked up new posting and reporting requirements as part of the law's broader push to expand scrutiny of HUD and PHA performance.
Deadline or effective date: Enacted July 11, 2026, same as last week; implementation timing on these specific provisions is still pending HUD guidance.
The temperature sensor pilot is the one worth watching if you manage properties in extreme climates. Free money for compliance tech does not come around often. Sign up when HUD opens it.
Source: Bipartisan Policy Center implementation tracker
Meanwhile, at HUD: Report Your Cyber Incidents, and Fast
What dropped: Notice PIH 2025-17 instructs PHAs to report cyber incidents to HUD's Cyber Incident Response Team and their local field office.
Who it hits: Every PHA. If you touch IMS/PIC, VMS, or any HUD secure system, this is you.
What changes: PHAs must now report cyber incidents, meaning data spillage, unauthorized access, exploited vulnerabilities, or other attacks, no later than 36 hours after becoming aware of the event. That is a day and a half, not a business week.
Deadline or effective date: Effective on issuance. There is no grace period buried in here.
Thirty-six hours is not long enough to loop in legal, IT, your ED, and HUD in sequence. If your PHA does not already have a one-page incident response chain with named contacts, that is a Tuesday afternoon project, not a someday project.
Source: NMA Community Development and Housing News, July 20, 2026
Tax Credit Corner
LIHTC: While Congress and HUD took the week off, Hawaii did not. H.B. 1920, relating to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, was enacted July 9, 2026, and California's Tax Credit Allocation Committee released updated 2026 credit estimates the same week, projecting roughly $136.4 million in annual federal housing tax credits available in-state. States are moving on the permanent 12 percent allocation boost faster than the ink has dried.
NMTC: No new developments this week. The CDFI Fund's refreshed FY 2026 application materials from early July are still the latest word.
HTC: Also quiet. The HTC-GO Act is still sitting in Congress waiting its turn.
If your state hasn't published its 2026 credit estimates yet, ask your allocating agency when to expect them. California and Hawaii just showed you what a state agency moving with urgency looks like.
Mark Your Calendar (Yes, Actually Mark It)
- August 24, 2026: Comment deadline for HUD's 30-day notice on the Survey of Market Absorption of New Multifamily Units, published in the Federal Register July 23, 2026.
- October 1, 2026: Still the date. NSPIRE begins scoring the new affirmative requirements. Nine weeks away now.
- Ongoing: Cyber incident reporting under Notice PIH 2025-17 is in effect now, not on a future date. See above.
About the Recap
The Weekly Housing Recap™ is published every Monday by LaLonde Affordable Housing Strategies LLC, covering the prior week's HUD notices, Federal Register activity, congressional housing action, and LIHTC, NMTC, and HTC news. It is written by an actual human, Kari LaLonde, who spent 23 years inside HUD Multifamily doing asset management, HAP contract administration, RAD, and compliance, and who genuinely enjoys reading this stuff so you don't have to.
This newsletter is a summary for general information and links to primary sources. It is not legal advice, and it pairs well with coffee.
Until next Monday: may your files be complete and your inspections uneventful.
Kari
Welcome to Issue No. 1. This week: Congress passed the biggest housing law in a generation, HUD's notice desk went so quiet you could hear a tenant file close, and NSPIRE's new requirements are ten weeks from counting. Coffee up. Let's get into it.
The Big One: The ROAD to Housing Act Is Now Law
What dropped: H.R. 6644, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, became Public Law 119-101 on July 11, 2026. It passed the Senate 85 to 5 and the House 358 to 32, then became law without the President's signature. Senator Elizabeth Warren called it the most significant housing bill in more than 30 years. When 85 senators agree on anything, we take notes.
Who it hits: PHAs, PBRA and RAD owners, management agents, LIHTC and HOME developers, Section 8 landlords, CDBG grantees, and bank investors in the Housing Credit. So, basically everyone reading this.
What changes: Three provisions will actually land on your desk. First, RAD is now permanent, with the cap raised by 100,000 units to 555,000 and resident protections written into statute. Second, units financed with LIHTC, HOME, or USDA Rural Housing that passed a qualifying inspection in the prior year now automatically satisfy Housing Choice Voucher inspection requirements. One inspection, counted twice. Your scheduling calendar just sent a thank-you card. Third, HOME is reauthorized and streamlined, with expanded eligibility and lighter environmental review for small and infill projects. Bonus round: the public welfare investment cap for banks jumps from 15 to 20 percent, effective immediately, which should widen the LIHTC equity pipeline.
Deadline or effective date: Enacted July 11, 2026. Some provisions carry their own dates, and HUD implementation guidance is still to come.
"Historic" is doing a lot of work in the headlines. On an owner's or agent's desk, this law lives in three places: RAD conversions, voucher inspection coordination, and HOME layering. The rules that actually change your Tuesday arrive with HUD's implementation notices, and I'll be reading those cover to cover so you don't have to.
Source: congress.gov, H.R. 6644
Meanwhile, at HUD: A Very Quiet Desk
No new H-series Housing Notices. No new PIH Notices. No new CPD Notices. Somewhere in Washington, a printer got the week off. But one item did slip out, and it deserves your attention.
What dropped: A Federal Register notice (FR Doc 2026-14432, published July 17, 2026) from HUD's Office of General Counsel formally withdrawing a batch of sub-regulatory guidance documents.
Who it hits: Every HUD program participant whose policies, training decks, or compliance procedures cite HUD interpretive guidance. Yes, that probably includes yours.
What changes: HUD is pulling non-binding guidance it views as inconsistent with statute or as imposing burdens outside notice-and-comment rulemaking. The withdrawn documents are off HUD.gov and no longer authoritative. Handbooks that reference them are being revised.
Deadline or effective date: The withdrawal was effective September 25, 2025; the July 17 notice makes it official and public.
If your policy manual cites guidance HUD just walked away from, your staff is being trained on documents with no chaperone. Not a crisis, but worth an afternoon and a highlighter. Stretched teams, put it on the list before inspection season does it for you.
Source: Federal Register, July 17, 2026
Still the newest notices on the books, for your reference:
Notice H 2026-05 / PIH 2026-09 (April 13, 2026): HOTMA Sections 102 and 104 implementation guidance, amending the interim reexamination standard. Read the notice
Notice PIH 2026-16 (May 29, 2026): Asset Repositioning Fee eligibility guidance, superseding PIH 2021-37. Read the notice
Tax Credit Corner
LIHTC: No new IRS guidance last week, but the 10 percent test remains undefeated at tripping up carryover deadlines, and Novogradac's July 14 Tax Credit Tuesday podcast gave it a full walkthrough. Numbers to keep taped to your monitor: the 2026 state ceiling for 9 percent credits is the greater of $3.416 per capita or $3,953,600, reflecting the permanent 12 percent boost, and the bond financing threshold for 4 percent deals dropped from 50 to 25 percent this year.
NMTC: The CDFI Fund refreshed FY 2026 application materials in early July. Big picture: the program is now permanent at $5 billion in annual allocation authority, and the CY 2026 round is expected to open later this year.
HTC: Quiet week. The National Park Service's April 2026 guidance on the Standards for Rehabilitation is still the newest word, and the HTC-GO Act (H.R. 2941 / S. 1459), which would restore the credit to a one-year structure, is still waiting its turn in Congress.
Quiet weeks are for housekeeping. If you hold a 2026 carryover allocation, confirm your 10 percent test timeline now. Month eleven is a terrible time to discover math.
Mark Your Calendar (Yes, Actually Mark It)
- July 23, 2026: Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee virtual meeting on proposed energy conservation standards.
- August 11, 2026 (on or about): HUD-Held Healthcare Loan Sale (HLS 2026-2).
- October 1, 2026: NSPIRE begins scoring six categories of new affirmative requirements for Public Housing and Multifamily properties, including PBRA, Section 202, and Section 811. That is ten weeks away. Yes, ten. I counted twice. If your properties have not run a readiness review against the new requirements, this is your friendly nudge.
About the Recap
The Weekly Housing Recap™ is published every Monday by LaLonde Affordable Housing Strategies LLC, covering the prior week's HUD notices, Federal Register activity, congressional housing action, and LIHTC, NMTC, and HTC news. It is written by an actual human, Kari LaLonde, who spent 23 years inside HUD Multifamily doing asset management, HAP contract administration, RAD, and compliance, and who genuinely enjoys reading this stuff so you don't have to.
This newsletter is a summary for general information and links to primary sources. It is not legal advice, and it pairs well with coffee.
Until next Monday: may your files be complete and your inspections uneventful.
Kari
Need help with something you just read?
NSPIRE readiness, tenant file audits, 8823 responses, or a stabilization plan: if an item in this issue hit close to home, the earlier the conversation, the more options you have.
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