Nevada Receives $6.76 Million for National Housing Trust Funds

HUD announced on Tuesday that Nevada will be receiving $6.76 million dollars from the National Housing Trust Fund (HTF) for its 2021 allocation, a record high and over twice the $3.14 million received from the 2020 allocation. The HTF is used to improve access to affordable rental housing for extremely low income households, including homeless families. Extremely low income households are defined as households with income less than 30% of area median income or under the federal poverty level.

The HTF is funded by an assessment on mortgages purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 requires Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to set-aside 0.042% of new purchases for affordable housing programs including the HTF. In 2020, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchased over double the amount of mortgages they purchased in 2019. Mortgage lending activities increased in part due to low interest rates that drove both refinancing and home sales to record levels during the pandemic. [i] Funds collected during the previous calendar year are disbursed the following year.[ii]

Nevada Housing Division (NHD) is responsible for the administration of the HTF for the State of Nevada. HTF are distributed throughout Nevada through a competitive application process. HTF funding priority is awarded to those properties who are successful in securing a Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) allocation and for developing high quality housing affordable to households with extremely low income that increase the availability of housing with supportive services, including those for veteran households. In addition funding for new construction, acquisition and rehabilitation or conversion projects that add to Nevada’s affordable housing inventory are prioritized.

NHD releases the HTF applications in the spring for review in late spring/early summer with potential funding release in the late fall/winter.

[i] https://www.novoco.com/notes-from-novogradac/novogradac-estimates-2021-housing-trust-fund-capital-magnet-fund-allocations-will-more-double

[ii] https://nlihc.org/resource/fhfa-announces-711-million-national-housing-trust-fund