NAHRO's CD Edge

Welcome to NAHRO's CD Edge, our free e-newsletter focused on federal community development programs.

Please feel free to forward this newsletter to your colleagues. If you're not already subscribed to NAHRO's CD Edge, click here to subscribe.

In This Issue:

NAHRO Unveils Innovative Partnership with Home Depot, Gifts in Kind
CDBG, HOME Community Funding Reports Available to NAHRO Members
NAHRO Chosen to Receive Major HOME Technical Assistance Award
HUD Provides IDIS Modernization Update
NAHRO to Host April 25 HOME Workshop on Foreclosure Intervention
Senate Foreclosure Bill Includes Emergency CDBG Funding
HUD Official on ADDI: Program "has run its course"
HUD Posts New HOMEfires on Section 203(b) Limits

The items available for donation may include building supplies and materials, plumbing products and assorted household and cleaning items. Specific items, including quantity, type and/or assortment cannot be guaranteed. While the available donation quantity will vary from store to store, the program is expected to consist of a donation pick-up of approximately one to three pallets per week. It is important to note that donations are given in "as is" condition with no warranties expressed or implied by Home Depot or Gifts In Kind International.

There are specific criteria that organizations must meet in order to qualify for this program. For more information, read the Eligibility Requirements and complete the Home Depot Store Community Donation Program Application.

This exciting opportunity is available only to NAHRO members. For more information on becoming a NAHRO member, click here.

To access FY 2009 Community Funding Report for the CDBG program click here (PDF). For the HOME program, click here (PDF).

The successful application represents the first time NAHRO has applied on its own for HOME TA funding. Previously, NAHRO was one of several national community development public interest groups that operated jointly as the National Affordable Housing Training Institute, a nonprofit umbrella organization that traditionally submitted a single application for HOME TA funding.

This new award in excess of $990,000 positions NAHRO to become one of the premier national providers of HOME TA products focused on serving local housing and community development agencies. In the coming months NAHRO will be working with its members to devise a work plan for expending these new funds.

A representative from the contractor began the briefing with a real-time demonstration of the current version of the Windows- and web-based system that will eventually replace the antiquated IDIS interface. The contractor's representative walked attendees through the process of setting up a new CDBG activity. Unlike the current IDIS, the new interface allows for data entry through the use of a mouse, pull-down menus, and check boxes.

The version of the system demonstrated on April 15 does not yet include paths for CDBG and HOME accomplishments, drawdowns, LOCCS, or report generation. The contractor will continue to add modules over the coming months, with the final prototype build scheduled for delivery to HUD in mid-August. HUD has informed the interest groups that it plans to make the current build of the prototype accessible to grantees no later than Friday, April 18. This will allow grantees to familiarize themselves with the new system while offering feedback to improve its functionality.

According to HUD, grantees can expect their data to be imported from the current version of IDIS into the new web-based version approximately six weeks before the grantee "goes live" on the new system. This will allow grantees some time to troubleshoot any data conversion issues while gaining additional familiarity with the new system using actual grantee data.

The current version of the timetable calls for grantees to transition to the new system in three groups. The first group will consist of approximately fifty grantees from the states of Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, and will officially convert to the new system on October 22. The second group will consist of approximately 40 percent of all grantees and will convert on November 26. The final group, representing the remaining 55 percent of grantees, will convert to the new system on January 7, 2009. According to HUD, this final group will consist of grantees from the 20 states whose state programs transmit data to IDIS through HUD's Electronic Data Interchange gateway.

The training is free and open to all HOME staff, Participating Jurisdictions and State recipients. Funded through the HOME CD-TA program, the training will address the HOME homebuyer program, challenges, and strategies in the current foreclosure crisis.

Seating is limited and you are encouraged to register immediately. Please contact Sharon Elliott at selliott@nahro.org for registration information or click here to download a registration form (PDF).

The bill passed last Thursday by the Senate (H.R. 3221) includes $4 billion in emergency Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding intended to support state and local government efforts to purchase and rehabilitate foreclosed homes. The bill also provides $10 billion in new mortgage revenue bond authority and allows these tax-exempt bonds to be used to refinance subprime loans, mortgages for first-time homebuyers, and multifamily rental housing.

Earlier this week NAHRO encouraged its members to contact their Senators to request that the final version of Senate housing legislation include emergency CDBG funding and the new mortgage revenue bond authority. NAHRO's 2008 Legislative and Regulatory Agenda calls for "new resources to help families in need and to strengthen at-risk communities, including emergency CDBG funding...and additional mortgage revenue bond authority to refinance untenable mortgages."

The Senate-passed bill has been criticized in some quarters, and its future is uncertain. A controversial provision within the bill would allow homebuilders and other businesses that lose money in 2008 and 2009 to apply those losses against profits from four previous years, as opposed to two as current law allows. The bill also offers tax breaks for individuals buying foreclosed properties.

With the Senate having wrapped up its bill, the House is working to develop its own comprehensive legislative package aimed at addressing the foreclosure crisis. The House Ways and Means Committee recently passed its own package of tax measures, and the Financial Services Committee concluded hearings on Chairman Frank's proposal last week. House Ways and Means Chairman Charles B. Rangel said in a press release, "The House Financial Services Committee has also gone to great lengths to find ways to help families avoid foreclosure and I believe our efforts dovetail nicely with legislation pending before their Committee. I expect these bills can continue to receive broad, bipartisan support when they are considered by the full House of Representatives in the near future."

NAHRO Members: For more information on foreclosure-related legislative activities in the House, see NAHRO's April 15 Direct News. Direct News is NAHRO's members-only email service providing breaking news and information on federal housing and community development programs.

The President's FY 2009 budget seeks $50 million for ADDI under the HOME program account. ADDI was originally authorized to receive up to $200 million annually, but Congress has always funded the program at well below that level. Although the program's authorization has expired, Congress chose to provide $10 million for the program for FY 2008. The program received only $25 million for both FY 2006 and FY 2007.

Of the 647 HOME Participating Jurisdictions, 383 are receiving direct ADDI allocations for FY 2008. The smallest ADDI formula grant for FY 2008 is $2,338. Downpayment assistance is already an eligible activity under the HOME program. HOME formula funding fell by $52 million from $1.680 billion for FY 2007 to $1.628 for FY 2008. NAHRO has called for $2 billion in HOME formula funding for FY 2009.

In short, the HOMEfires concludes that PJs cannot use the higher Section 203(b) limits approved for use in the FHA Single Family Mortgage insurance program this year, since doing so would violate the HOME statute.