[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 115 (Thursday, June 15, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39219-39220]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-12778]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Rural Housing Service
[Docket No. RHS-23-MFH-0018]
Decoupling Rental Assistance: Virtual Public Listening Sessions
AGENCY: Rural Housing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of meeting.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with a Congressional directive in the FY2023
[[Page 39220]]
Consolidated Appropriations Act, the Rural Housing Service (RHS or the
Agency), a Rural Development agency of the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA), will be hosting two virtual listening sessions to
obtain stakeholder information on potential decoupling of section 521
Rental Assistance from section 515 Rural Rental Housing loans at the
time of loan maturity. Both sessions will be open to the public.
DATES: The virtual listening sessions will be held on July 19, 2023,
beginning at 2:00 p.m. (ET) and on July 25, 2023, beginning at 2:00
p.m. (ET).
ADDRESSES: The listening sessions will convene virtually on the Zoom
platform. All participants must pre-register. To register for the July
19, 2023, session, please use the following link: https://www.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_S8IV8KZ2TjKU-v231VIXhA. To register
for the July 25, 2023, session, please use the following link: https://www.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_A7a3cdjgRy6D6xWguP24Qw.
A confirmation email, including the Zoom link and teleconference
information for the meeting, will be sent upon receipt of the
registration.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephanie Vergin, Policy Advisor,
Multifamily Housing, Rural Housing Service, USDA, STOP 0781, 1400
Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20250-0781, telephone: (651)
602-7820 (this is not a toll-free number); email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The section 515 Rural Rental Housing program loan portfolio
includes nearly 14,000 Multifamily Housing (MFH) properties in rural
areas nationwide. Approximately 80 percent of units financed with a
section 515 loan also receive section 521 Rental Assistance (RA), a
project-based tenant rent subsidy. By statute, when a section 515
mortgage matures or is terminated, the property is no longer eligible
to receive section 521 RA, adversely impacting residents and creating
an elevated risk of loss of affordable units in the section 515
portfolio. Between 2023 and 2033, approximately 137,000 affordable
housing units will be lost due to maturing section 515 mortgages, with
a potential to lose approximately 333,000 units by the year 2050.
For owners willing to continue providing affordable housing upon
mortgage maturity, the agency is currently limited to debt
modifications and deferrals to keep the section 515 mortgages in place,
which enables the continued availability of RA. However, maintaining
the section 515 mortgage with currently available preservation tools
may adversely impact the property by discouraging critical investments
from other local, State, and Federal sources or create a lack of equity
for further recapitalization.
Decoupling of section 515 from section 521 Rental Assistance is a
tool for preservation of rural multifamily housing properties. It will
allow for the continuation of the project-based RA to MFH tenants, who
had an average annual household income of approximately $13,000 in
Fiscal Year 2022, while also encouraging new third-party investment and
recapitalization of the aging MFH portfolio.
Meeting Agenda
The Fiscal Year 2023 President's Budget included a request to
decouple section 521 RA from section 515 loans to facilitate the
rehabilitation and preservation of the Multifamily Housing loan
portfolio. Congress directed USDA to conduct a series of stakeholder
meetings and provide a report on how decoupling would be implemented.
Therefore, RHS MFH is seeking stakeholder input on how decoupling might
impact the current section 515 and section 521 policies, program
requirements and operations. In addition to participating in the
listening sessions, stakeholders may provide written comments to the
agency on MFH decoupling until July 31, 2023. Comments may be submitted
to [email protected].
After the listening sessions, a report will be developed for
Congress summarizing stakeholder input and identifying strategies for
implementation of MFH decoupling.
Joaquin Altoro,
Administrator, Rural Housing Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-12778 Filed 6-14-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-XV-P