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A. J. Johnson

A. J. Johnson

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Procedures for Requesting a Private Letter Ruling

May 23, 2020

A Private Letter Ruling (PLR) is a written decision by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that is sent in response to a taxpayer’s request for guidance on unusual circumstances or complex questions about their specific tax situation. For certain transactions…

Webinar on Fair Housing and COVID-19

May 20, 2020

A. J. Johnson will be conducting a webinar on June 2, 2020 on Complying with Fair Housing Law in the Age of COVID-19. The Webinar will be held at 10:00 AM Eastern Time. This one hour webinar will provide property…

COVID-19 Takes Disproportionate Toll on Affordable Housing Residents

May 17, 2020

A new survey by the Federal Reserve (FED) shows that 39% of former workers in households earning $40,000 or less lost work during the current pandemic, and many of these households do not have the resources to make it through…

Joe Biden Releases Housing Plan

May 16, 2020

Former Vice President and presumed Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden has released a comprehensive housing plan – much of which deals with affordable rental housing, including the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program. Following are the major elements of the 81-page…

HUD Issues Guidance on COVID-19 and HOME Projects

May 3, 2020

On May 1, 2020, the Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) issued updated guidance relative to application of the CARES Act to projects with HOME funding. Section 4024 of the CARES Act imposes a temporary moratorium on evictions. The…

Supreme Court Refuses to Overturn Idaho Case Giving Homeless the Right to Sleep in Public Places

April 25, 2020

The U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition by Boise, ID to review Martin v. Boise, December 16, 2019, leaving in place earlier rulings by the 9th Circuit that homeless persons cannot be punished for sleeping outside when there are no…

HUD Issues Issues Waivers for Public & Indian Housing Programs, Including Section 8 Project-Based Vouchers During COVID-19 Emergency

April 19, 2020

On April 10, 2020 the HUD Office of Public & Indian Housing (PIH) issued waivers to provide administrative relief and ensuring continued program operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. These waivers can be reviewed in their entirety in Notice PIH-2020-05. These…

Minnesota Supreme Court Rules that Payments Made to a Parent to Care for a Disabled Child Count as Income

April 19, 2020

On February 12, 2020, the Supreme Court of Minnesota held that some of the payments made by the state under a program for families with children having developmental disabilities who need to stay at home, which are made to offset…

IRS Extends Deadlines for Several LIHTC Requirements Due to COVID-19

April 18, 2020

The IRS has issued Notice 2020-23 extending the deadline to July 15, 2020 for any tax action that was due to be performed from April 1, 2020 through July 15, 2020. The actions for which the extended deadline applies were…

HUD Issues COVID-19 Suspensions and Waivers for HOME Program

April 17, 2020

On April 10, 2020, HUD issued guidance regarding suspension and waivers for requirements for the HOME program as a result of COVID-19. The memorandum authorized HOME participating jurisdictions (PJs) to use HOME tenant-based rental assistance (TBRA) funds to facilitate urgent…

Complying with HUD’s New Guidance on Assistance Animals -Part III – The Type of Animals That Can Serve as Support Animals

April 12, 2020

On February 8, 2020, I posted an article on the new HUD guidance on how to assess requests to have an animal as a reasonable accommodation under fair housing law. This new guidance which is known as the “Assistance Animal…

HUD Issues New Guidance on Annual & Interim Recertifications During COVID-19 Emergency

April 11, 2020

On April 2, 2020 the HUD Office of Multifamily Housing issued an updated Questions and Answers (Q&A) for the Office of Multifamily Housing Stakeholders – Coronavirus (COVID-19) on the HUD Multifamily webpage. As part of the Q&A, the processing of…

HUD Guidance Regarding COVID-19 Property Management Issues

April 5, 2020

On March 24, 2020, HUD updated its guidance on dealing with site management issues at HUD-regulated properties during the COVID-19 crisis. Following are some of the highlights of that guidance. 1. Owners may consider extenuating circumstances (including COVID-19 considerations in…

Complying with HUD’s New Guidance on Assistance Animals -Part II – Assistance Animals Other then Service Animals

April 5, 2020

On February 8, 2020, I posted an article on the new HUD guidance on how to assess requests to have an animal as a reasonable accommodation under fair housing law. This new guidance which is known as the “Assistance Animal…

CARES Act – Impact on Multifamily Housing Operators – REVISED POSTING

April 1, 2020

THIS IS AN AMENDED ARTICLE FROM ONE THAT I POSTED IN LATE MARCH. IT HAS BEEN AMENDED BASED ON GUIDANCE INDICATING THE LOW-INCOME HOUSING TAX CREDIT PROJECTS ARE ALSO SUBJECT TO THE TENANT PROTECTION MEASURES CONTAINED IN THE ACT. On…

HUD Publishes 2020 Income Limits

March 31, 2020

On March 31, 2020, HUD published the 2020 income limits for HUD programs as well as for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and Tax-Exempt Bond programs. The limits are effective on April 1, 2020. The limits for the LIHTC and…

Complying with HUD’s New Guidance on Assistance Animals

March 29, 2020

On February 8, 2020, I posted an article on the new HUD guidance on how to assess requests to have an animal as a reasonable accommodation under fair housing law. This new guidance which is known as the “Assistance Animal…

CARES Act – Impact on Multifamily Housing Operators

March 28, 2020

On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act (Senate Amendment to H.R. 748. This $2 trillion bill provides financial aid to individuals, businesses, nonprofits, and state and local governments. It…

A. J. Johnson Consulting Operations During COVID- 19 Crisis

March 17, 2020

Aside from the onsite training sessions we conduct on a regular basis, the current COVID-19 health crisis is not impacting the operations of our company. All of our staff work remotely and we are fully operational with regard to all…

Dealing with Coronavirus (COVID-19) at Multifamily Properties

March 15, 2020

At this time, all but one state (West Virginia) has reported cases of coronavirus, more accurately known as “corona virus disease 2019,” or COVID-19. Areas with dense populations are particularly susceptible to an outbreak due to the proximity of individuals…

Understanding the Role of a Notary

February 29, 2020

In the affordable housing industry, verification of income and other eligibility elements is a common requirement. In most cases, third party verification is required, meaning that the provider of the income provides a verification of the income. While such verifications…

Landlord Agrees to Abandon Two-Person Per Bedroom Occupancy Policy in Conciliation Agreement

February 26, 2020

In the case of Inland Fair Housing & Mediation Board (IFHMB) v. Edwin A. Muradliyan Living Trust, Pacific Diversified No. 4 LLC, Cheri Todaro, Deanna Cordova, the respondent Landlord agreed to abandon a two-person per bedroom occupancy policy as part…

NSPIRE – HUD Replacement for REAC Protocol is Moving Forward

February 22, 2020

The Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) is well underway in the overhaul of its Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) physical inspection protocol. The REAC inspection process will eventually be replaced with a new physical inspection procedure known as…

HUD Publishes 2019 Income Limits for Average Income Minimum Set-Aside

February 22, 2020

The Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) has published the income limits to be used by Low-Income Housing Tax Credit properties for which the Average Income (AI) Minimum Set-Aside is elected. As expected, the AI limits use the HUD…

Alabama Court Decision Requires that Restrictions on LIHTC Properties Must be Considered in Property Tax Assessments

February 16, 2020

On December 13, 2019, an Alabama Circuit Court ruled that use restrictions for Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (and other types of affordable housing) must be considered when assessing the value of properties for real estate tax purposes. The case is…

A New Tool for Landlords “Non-Smoking” Policies

February 15, 2020

One of the most difficult parts of implementing a non-smoking policy at an apartment community is enforcing compliance. Detection of smokers can be difficult and precisely locating the source of smoke even more so. Now, thanks to a New Hampshire…

Assistance Animal Requests Under the Fair Housing Act – HUD Issues Important New Guidance

February 8, 2020

On January 28, 2020, HUD issued FHEO Notice 2020-01. The subject of the Notice is: Assessing a Person’s Request to Have an Animal as a Reasonable Accommodation (RA) under the Fair Housing Act (FHA) Purpose of the Notice The Notice…

Special Needs Trust- Determination of Annual Income

February 1, 2020

Managers of affordable housing properties (e.g., Section 8 or LIHTC) must consider whether a household has assets that may contribute to the income of the household. Common assets include cash-on-hand, bank accounts, and retirement accounts. A less common type of…

IRS Issues Ruling on Determination of Income Limits for Average Income Minimum Set-Aside

January 31, 2020

On January 29, 2020, the IRS released Revenue Ruling 2020-4. This ruling outlines the requirements for determining the designated income limits under the Average Income (AI) Minimum Set-Aside. The Conference committee report for the Tax Reform Act of 1986 stated…

Excess Subsidy Repayment Agreements

January 25, 2020

When households receiving federal rental assistance – such as Section 8 – receive more assistance than they are entitled to based on their income, the residents are required to repay the excess amount. In order to ensure that these repayments…

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