AFFORDABLE HOUSING INDUSTRY - NEWS BRIEFS

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released its 2011
calendar year resident population estimates, which are used to determine
states' low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) ceilings and tax-exempt private
activity bond caps in 2011. According to Notice 2011-15, each state's available
LIHTC ceiling in 2011 is equal to the greater of $2.15 multiplied by the state
population or $2,465,000; a state's tax-exempt bond volume cap will be the
greater of $95 multiplied by the state population or $277,820,000. The notice
includes the population estimates for each state, territory and insular area
and is available at www.taxcredithousing.com.

Freddie Mac approved Enterprise Community Investment Inc.
to originate affordable multifamily loans nationally on its behalf. The loans
will support apartment properties with rents that are affordable for
individuals whose incomes are at or below 80 percent or 60 percent of the area
median income. Targeted loans include mortgages on LIHTC properties; mortgages
on properties that receive federal subsidies; and transactions in which Freddie
Mac will provide credit enhancement for a mortgage that backs tax-exempt bonds,
a trust certificate or other instrument related to tax-exempt bonds. Enterprise joins a
handful of lenders already licensed to sell and service targeted affordable
housing loans nationwide.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the American Planning
Association (APA) named Sherwood Village Senior Apartments the recipient of the 2011 HUD Secretary's
Opportunity and Empowerment Award. The award is presented annually to a project that
demonstrates improved quality of life for low- and moderate-income residents.
Community Housing Improvement Systems and Planning Association Inc. (CHISPA)
rehabilitated a blighted motel in Salinas,  Calif. to create the 124-unit
affordable senior community and revitalize the surrounding neighborhood. CHISPA
will receive the award on April 11 at APA's National Planning Conference in Boston, Mass.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC)
selected Citizens' Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA) to receive its
second annual State and Local Organizing Award, which recognizes achievement
for organizing activity at the state or local level that furthers NLIHC's
mission. CHAPA is a Massachusetts-based NLIHC state partner that successfully
campaigned to defeat a ballot initiative to repeal the state's affordable
housing law. NLIHC presented the award at its conference in March. For more on
CHAPA's campaign to protect Massachusetts' affordable housing law, see the article in the October
2010 Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits.

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