Ohio Housing Finance Agency 57 East Main Street | Columbus, OH 43215
Housing news from Washington DC and the Ohio Statehouse
On Friday, March 27, both President Trump and Governor DeWine signed important pieces of legislation providing assistance to individuals, businesses, and government entities in response to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Federal Legislation
President Trump signed the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act (H.R. 748) on March 27, 2020. NCSHA has posted a summary of the legislation which can be found here.
Two key provisions related to the affordable housing community include the following:
Forbearance of Residential Mortgage Loan Payments for Multifamily Properties with Federally Backed Loans.
Provides up to 90 days of forbearance for multifamily borrowers with a federally backed multifamily mortgage loan who have experienced a financial hardship. Borrowers receiving forbearance may not evict or charge late fees to tenants for the duration of the forbearance period. Applicable mortgages include loans to real property designed for five or more families that are purchased, insured or assisted by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or HUD.
Temporary Moratorium on Eviction Filings.
For 120 days after the enactment of the bill, owners of certain rental properties may not initiate any legal action to evict a tenant for nonpayment of rent or charge any fees or penalties to a tenant for nonpayment of rent.
Rental properties covered under this provision include properties financed with any housing program covered under the Violence Against Women Act (which includes HUD-financed properties, as well as Housing Credit properties), properties participating in the rural housing voucher program, and properties with federally backed mortgage loans.
The following items have not yet been addressed by the federal government, but may be in a future bill or agency guidance:
Extensions of the 10% Test deadline for LIHTC carryover allocations, 24-month minimum rehabilitation expenditure deadline, and placed in service deadline;
Moratoriums on both LIHTC physical inspections and tenant file reviews, and tenant income recertification requirements;
Establishment of a minimum 4% LIHTC rate; and
Waiving of certain program rules and extension of deadlines for HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) and National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) recipients.
The legislation includes several items which may be of interest to OHFA multifamily stakeholders, including but not limited to:
Authorization for state boards, state commissions, local and county governments and higher education boards to conduct meetings electronically, as long as the public is aware and may participate electronically. Public entities must give notice of the meetings to the public, media and parties required to be at the hearing at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting, except in the event of an emergency, which requires immediate action.
A requirement that all county offices required to transfer property and process titles remain open, in order for people to access documents that are not made available online. The offices may provide access during limited hours and for a limited duration of time.
Authorization for the Director of Environmental Protection to issue an order that prohibits disconnecting water service as a result of nonpayment of fees and charges. The legislation also requires the reconnection of water service to anyone whose service was disconnected as a result of nonpayment of fees and charges and waives all fees for connecting or reconnecting water service.
