HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) posted the first national Housing Trust Fund (HTF) “Open Activities Reports” for each state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Advocates familiar with the HOME program’s “Open Activities Reports” will recognize similarities with the HTF reports. CPD also posted the first “Vacant Units Reports.” CPD will update and post these reports at the end of each month. The initial reports include information as of December 31, 2019. The reports are on CPD’s Housing Trust Fund page under “HTF Reports.”
For each HTF project reported by a state, the HTF Open Activities Report (PR107) shows: city, ZIP code, activity type, number of HTF-assisted units, amount of HTF resources, initial funding date, and amount of HTF drawn down. Activity types include new construction, acquisition and new construction, rehabilitation, acquisition and rehabilitation, and acquisition only. The only project identifier is its “IDIS Activity ID” number, so interested advocates will have to ask the state which projects are reflected in the HTF Open Activities Report, if they are not obvious by the city and ZIP code identifiers. IDIS is CPD’s computer-based management information system used for all CPD programs.
The Vacant Units Report (PR106) shows the program year from which a project was awarded HTF funds, the date a project was initially funded or completed, and which HTF-assisted units, if any, are vacant. Again, because the only project identifier is the “IDIS Activity ID” number, interested advocates will have to ask the state which project has the vacant unit(s).
The HTF IDIS User Manual indicates that states will be reporting most of the information that NLIHC gathered from states regarding their 2016 HTF allocations (see “Getting Started” and Supplement) and that NLIHC is gathering related to their 2017 HTF allocations. Information will include:
- Information about households initially occupying HTF-assisted units, including: race, ethnicity, family type (single/non-elderly, elderly, single parent, two parents, other), household size, and household annual income at the time of initial occupancy (0-30% of area median income [AMI], income greater than 30% AMI but at or less than the federal poverty line, or income between the higher of 31% AMI and the federal poverty line and 50% AMI).
- Information about the unit initially occupied, including: number of bedrooms; total monthly rent (broken down by tenant contribution and any subsidy amount); rental assistance type if any (Housing Choice Vouchers, HOME Tenant-Based Rental Assistance, other federal, state, or local tenant-based rental assistance, Project-Based Section 8, or other federal, state, or local project-based rental assistance); Section 504-accessiblility; Energy Star certification; and number of years of affordability if greater than the required 30-year affordability period.
- Information about designated units (both total and HTF-assisted), including:
- Disabled individuals or families with a person with a disability other than a mobility impairment (there is no field for disabled individuals or families with a mobility impairment)
- Homeless individuals:
- Of the units designated for homeless individuals, the number for chronically homeless individuals
- Of the units designated for homeless individuals, the number for homeless veteran individuals (there is no field for veteran individuals who are not homeless)
- Homeless families:
- Of the units designated for homeless families, the number for chronically homeless families
- Of the units designated for homeless families, the number for homeless veteran families (there is no field for veteran families who are not homeless)
- Persons with HIV/AIDS
- Survivors of domestic violence
- Homeless youth
- Youth aging out of foster care
(There is no field for units designated for people re-entering the community from the criminal justice system.)
- Information about the HTF assistance will include whether it is provided as an amortized loan, deferred payment loan, grant, or other.
- Information about other funding sources will include: HOME, CDBG, FHA funds, other federal funds (it is not clear if this includes Federal Home Loan Bank Affordable Housing Funds), state or local housing trust funds, other state or local funds, tax-exempt bond proceeds, Low Income Housing Tax Credit equity, private loans, owner cash contributions, and private grants.
NLIHC learned from an email from CPD that most of this excellent information will not be posted in other HTF reports the way the Open Activities Reports will be. An “HTF Production Report” (PR110) will be posted each year, however, modeled after the HOME National Production Report. Information about the form of the HTF funding (e.g., deferred payment loan or grant) or about other funding sources (e.g. HOME, LIHTC, etc.) will not be in PR110. CPD staff will, however, provide reports if requested.
For years CPD has posted HTF Deadline Compliance Status Reports because HTF allocations must be committed to specific projects within two years of a state signing a grant agreement, and committed funds must be spent within five years.
HTF Open Activity Reports are at: https://bit.ly/2PpZ3By
HTF Vacant Unit Activity Reports are at: https://bit.ly/2HVgmGD
HTF Deadline Compliance Status Reports are at: https://bit.ly/32rUPyF
The HTF IDIS User Manual is at: https://bit.ly/32rVBM5
More information about the national HTF is on page 3-1 page 3-1 of NLIHC’s 2019 Advocates’ Guide. (The 2020 Advocates’ Guide is coming later in March.)