COVID-19 Relief Bill Housing Provisions

From the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition

The final version of the $2 trillion Senate COVID response phase 3 package (full legislation here) includes enhanced worker protections, oversight, and limits on corporate stock buybacks to the $500 billion rescue fund for impacted industries. Individuals and families will get fiscal stimulus checks ($1,200 for individuals, $2,400 for married couples), U.S. hospitals are getting $100 billion in aid, and unemployment insurance is expanded with an extra $600 per week for up to 4 months to supplement state programs and to cover 100% of workers’ lost wages. $150 billion in aid is provided for state and local governments, with $8 billion set aside for local governments.

Phase 3 includes substantial emergency funding and other measures related to housing, including:

• • Over $12 billion in new appropriations for HUD programs (p. 846), including:

• • • $1.25 bil – Tenant-Based Rental Assistance
    • $1 bil- Project Based Rental Assistance
    • $685 mil- Public Housing Operating Fund
    • $300 mil- Native American Programs ($200 mil for Native American Housing Block Grants, $100 mil for Indian Community Development Block Grant)
    • $65 mil- Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS
    • $5 bil- Community Development Fund
    • $4 bil- Homeless Assistance Grants / Emergency Solutions Grants
    • $50 mil- Housing for the Elderly (Section 202)
    • $15 mil- Housing for Persons with Disabilities (Section 811)
    • $2.5 mil- Fair Housing Activities
    • $5 mil- HUD OIG

• • Section 4022. Foreclosure Moratorium and Consumer Right to Request Forbearance. (p. 567 of the bill)-  Prohibits foreclosures on all federally-backed mortgage loans for a 60-day period beginning on March 18, 2020 and provides up to 180 days of forbearance (and an additional 180 day extension if needed) for borrowers of a federally-backed mortgage loan who have experienced a financial hardship related to the COVID-19 emergency. Applicable mortgages included those purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, insured by HUD, VA, or USDA, or directly made by USDA. These provisions expire on December 31, 2020 or when the COVID emergency is over, whichever comes first.
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  • Section 4023. Forbearance of Residential Mortgage Loan Payments for Multifamily Properties with Federally Backed Loans. (p. 570) – 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 5 or more families that are purchased, insured, or assisted by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or HUD, but I’m pasting the full language below because there may be some ambiguity about how this applies to the Housing Credit that we’ll be looking into over the coming days. These provisions expire on December 31, 2020 or when the COVID emergency is over, whichever comes first.

• • • The term ‘‘Federally backed multifamily mortgage loan’’ includes any loan (other than temporary financing such as a construction loan) that is… “made in whole or in part, or insured, guaranteed, supplemented, or assisted in any way, by any officer or agency of the Federal Government [italics added] or under or in connection with a housing or urban development program administered by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development or a housing or related program administered by any other such officer or agency, or is purchased or securitized by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation or the Federal National Mortgage Association.”

• • Section 4024. Temporary Moratorium on Eviction Filings. (p. 574)- For 120 days beginning on the date of enactment, landlords are prohibited from initiating legal action to recover possession of a rental unit or to charge fees, penalties, or other charges to the tenant related to such nonpayment of rent where the landlord’s mortgage on that property is insured, guaranteed, supplemented, protected, or assisted in any way by HUD, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the rural housing voucher program, or the Violence Against Women Act of 1994.