§4563 Multifamily special affordable housing goal

Summary

The Director must set one yearly goal for each enterprise for buying mortgages on apartment buildings that fund units affordable to low-income families. The goal can be by number of units or by dollar amount. The Director must also set extra rules for mortgages that fund units for very low-income families. The Director must require reports on purchases of smaller projects, roughly 5 to 50 units (or mortgages up to $5,000,000), and may add related rules. When setting the goal, the Director must leave out market areas that would hurt an enterprise’s financial health or that the enterprise is not allowed to buy. The Director must consider national need and the enterprise’s ability to add liquidity and stability, past performance, market size (including small projects), the enterprise’s ability to lead the market, availability of government subsidies, and the need to stay financially sound. Units financed by state or local housing agency bonds count fully toward the goal if the bonds are backed by an enterprise guarantee or bought by the enterprise, though the Director may give less credit for buying investment-grade bonds that do not create new markets or add liquidity. The Director must monitor each enterprise each year and decide if it met the goal and the extra rules for very low-income housing. Rents are counted as affordable if they do not exceed 30 percent of the top income level for the income group, with adjustments for number of bedrooms.