For more than 25 years, the National Association of State and Local Equity Funds (NASLEF), has operated as a professional, nonprofit association formed to promote the efficient management of state and local equity funds. Throughout 41 states, NASLEF Active Members raise capital for affordable rental housing developments that qualify under the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. Collectively through 2017, member funds have raised over $14.5 billion in equity capital for rental housing developments throughout the country, creating or rehabilitating more than 180,153 units of affordable housing in 3,789 developments.
NASLEF’s mission is to promote a greater understanding of tax credit and other financing programs, to advocate for community development resources and to encourage the professional development of its member organizations all in support of the communities we serve. Our work is fueled by our members’ leadership in affordable housing advocacy, connection with community organizations, and knowledge of local markets. These organizational attributes enable NASLEF members to invest capital in strategic community endeavors, especially in underserved markets.
NASLEF Active Members are visible in the communities they serve by providing affordable housing opportunities, strengthening neighborhoods, and impacting the lives of residents. Many member funds have developed philanthropic affiliates and foundations that fund programs that assist residents socially, economically, and educationally. Member funds also provide value-added services to development partners in the areas of technical assistance, training, engaging in local and state housing policy groups, and providing lending opportunities as certified CDFI organizations.
NASLEF member funds will continue to lobby for the continuation of the most successful affordable housing program in the nation. Fund members will continue to raise capital to provide affordable housing options for families, seniors, individuals, and special needs populations. NASLEF will continue to be a local presence with national impact on affordable housing.
2017 was a rollercoaster year for the Low Income Housing Tax Credit industry, culminating in the December passage of the first major tax legislation in over 30 years. While the LIHTC program was preserved, the lower corporate tax rate significantly reduced the capital flowing into projects. A week before I drafted this letter, the Omnibus FY 2018 spending bill passed with a temporary increase in the LIHTC program thanks to the leadership of Senator Maria Cantwell, other friends in Congress, and the hard work of advocates around the country. This will help, but further increases are critical to meet the rental housing crisis.
Despite the market disruption since late 2016, last year was successful for NASLEF members. NASLEF members raised over $1 B to finance the development of approximately 10,000 homes in communities all across America. The 12 NASLEF organizations are active in 41 states where our leadership in affordable housing advocacy, connection with community organizations, and knowledge of local markets creates high quality, strategic community investments, especially in underserved markets.
We had a wonderful conference last fall in Indianapolis hosted by Cinnaire and look forward to our 2018 conference in Boston hosted by the Massachusetts Housing Investment Fund.
Over the years, NASLEF members have grown, diversified and found new ways to serve their development and investment partners, residents and communities. New Market Tax Credits, loan products, enhanced technical assistance and training and philanthropic grants are just some of the expanded services members offer. Additionally, each organization is actively engaged in state and local housing and community development initiatives.
Collectively NASLEF members represent about 10% of the national Housing Credit market, having raised and invested nearly $14.5B in affordable housing and $1.2B in other community and economic developments. While much has been accomplished, significant challenges remain. We continue to lose affordable housing from our nation’s stock at a time when more than one in four renter households in the U.S. – roughly 11 million – spends more than half of their income on rent, leaving too little for other necessities like food, medical care, and transportation.
The Housing Credit is the key federal resource to increase the supply of affordable housing and recapitalize existing affordable developments. Administered on the state level, this program has shown to be flexible and resilient with a long track record of success and few failures. State designed allocation plans work well with NASLEF members’ focus on local needs and relationships. NASLEF has and will continue to work with others to preserve and expand the housing credit during the debates on comprehensive tax reform. NASLEF will continue to be a local presence with national impact on affordable housing.
We look forward to working with our local and national partners in 2018!
As I write this column in late March to assess the last year in federal policy, Congress just reached agreement on an omnibus spending bill to fund federal agencies for the remainder of FY 2018. That legislation provides for a four year, 12.5% increase in the allocation cap for the Housing Credit program, remarkably the only tax provision in the omnibus spending bill other than a provision to correct a mistake dealing with agriculture cooperatives in the “tax reform” bill Congress passed in December.
How did we get this victory and what does it indicate about the future of the Housing Credit program? To get some perspective on that, let’s go back to our efforts in 2017.
Last year, the Housing Credit community continued to put an emphasis on legislation introduced in the Senate, S. 548, providing for miscellaneous changes in the program and a 50% increase in the allocation cap, and legislation introduced in the House, H.R. 1661, that was virtually identical to the Senate bill but without the cap increase. Through a diligent effort by the entire affordable housing community, both bills picked up strong bipartisan support, including a majority of both Republicans and Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee, and the Republican chairman and ranking Democrat of the Senate Finance Committee.
As we all know, building broad political support for putting more government resources into affordable housing has always been a difficult proposition. In spite of our best efforts to highlight the critical affordable housing shortage that exists in so many of our communities, the various spending programs at HUD have been cut or have remained stagnant for many years until this current omnibus spending bill. Fortunately, the most important federal housing production program, the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, is part of the Tax Code and has been insulated from the annual appropriations process that has trimmed federal domestic spending over the years.
But that protected status as a permanent tax provision has been at risk as Congress considered tax reform legislation for the last eight years. In the final bill, our program was spared a direct hit and we are thankful for that result especially since it looked like right until the end the private activity bond program – which accounts for about 40% of Housing Credit production across the country – might be eliminated.
But on closer inspection, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), was really little more than a general tax cut bill. It included few real reforms and almost no special tax provisions were eliminated. The Housing Credit was not eliminated but neither was any other tax expenditure. And in fact the tax bill included many changes sought by various industries. Yet, in spite of the strong bipartisan support for the House and Senate Housing Credit bills, there was really never any serious consideration to including those provisions in the TCJA. Moreover, the tax writers essentially ignored our proposal to change the credit rate formula to compensate for the lower corporate tax rate.
The result was disappointing. Novogradac and Company estimated the resulting impact from lower equity pricing would cost approximately 235,000 affordable units over the next ten years.
But we were given a reprieve in the omnibus spending bill through the 12.5% increase in the allocation cap for the next four years. Overall, although not necessarily with each development, that should largely compensate for the reduced equity pricing resulting from the TCJA.
How did we achieve this “victory” so soon after being ignored in the TCJA? It was largely due to the efforts of our chief Senate sponsor, Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), who doggedly insisted on more resources for affordable housing in the omnibus spending bill if that legislation was going to include a correction to the agriculture cooperative provision in the TCJA. Democratic votes were needed to pass the omnibus and this created leverage to insist on a trade-off for the co-op provision. But the inclusion of the Housing Credit provisions also required the key support of Republicans in both the House and Senate, including Chairman Hatch.
While the Housing Credit provisions were quite limited and we did not get anything near what is needed, this was still a very positive outcome for the Housing Credit showing a level of political support that we can hopefully build upon in the future if we all remain committed to vigorously advocating for affordable housing.
President and Chief Executive Officer
CAHEC
President & CEO
Cinnaire
Member
Hawaii Housing Finance, LLC
President
Housing Vermont
Director of Capital Development
Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation
President
Merritt Community Capital Corporation
President
Midwest Housing Equity Group, Inc.
President
Mountain Plains Equity Group, Inc.
President
Northern New England Housing Investment Fund
President
Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing
President & CEO
St. Louis/Kansas City Equity Fund, Inc.
President & CEO
Virginia Community Development Corporation
Lisa Castillo joined Merritt Community Capital as President in September 2017. Lisa brings more than 25 years of industry leadership to the company having served as Vice President of Originations for WNC & Associates, where she led tax credit syndication negotiation and origination efforts in the western region that placed more than $580 million in equity during her tenure. Previously, Lisa held senior executive roles in both public and private sectors, where she was responsible for the acquisition, finance and project management of affordable housing developments across the United States, as well as implementation of county housing programs. For the County of San Bernardino, Castillo & Company, National Community Renaissance, and National Housing Development Corporation, she spearheaded the cultivation of new business, secured hundreds of millions of dollars in equity and debt, oversaw regulatory compliance, expanded into new regional markets, and generated millions in revenue. Lisa has extensive experience working for, and with, numerous nonprofit developers, as well as serving on several nonprofit boards including her continued commitment to the Kennedy Commission which is an advocacy group working for the production of affordable housing serving extremely low income families in Orange County. Welcome to NASLEF, Lisa!
There are two levels of membership in the NASLEF association: Active Member and Corporate Member. If you are interested in becoming an Active or Corporate member, please review the eligibility information below to ensure your organization qualifies. Membership in NASLEF must be approved by the NASLEF Board of Directors. We thank you for your interest in NASLEF and encourage you to submit an application. If you have any questions, please contact Mary Kay Meagher, NASLEF Executive Director.
Any organization whose principal employment is that of a regional, state or local equity fund not solely controlled by or managed by a national fund, consultant or third party.
NASLEF Active Members pay a base fee of $2,600 yearly and an additional yearly amount based on the number of Full-time employees (FTE) within the organization.
1-10 FTE’s $2,600
10-24 FTE’s $6,500
24 + FTE’s $13,000
Association voting privileges.
Listing of company information in NASLEF’s Membership Directory, website, and other NASLEF publications.
Participation in networking opportunities, IRR-seminars, special asset management sessions, annual conference, and Executive Director’s meeting.
Eligibility for service as a Director or Officer on the NASLEF Board.
Any government agency, corporation, syndicator, professional association, broker, consultant, attorney, accountant, or other individual having a professional interest and involvement in the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program.
A national equity fund or consultant actively engaged in the management or co-management of a state or local equity fund.
Any investors in Active Member funds and state housing finance agencies.
Advantageous networking/business opportunities via access to 12 Equity Fund Members in 42 states.
Listing of company information in NASLEF’s Membership Directory and website.
Networking/training opportunities in LIHTC at the NASLEF Annual Conference.
Opportunities to promote your business to the industry.
Contact with peers who network with specific state industries.
CAHEC
Cinnaire
Hawaii Housing Finance, LLC
Housing Vermont
Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation
Merritt Community Capital Corporation
Midwest Housing Equity Group, Inc.
Mountain Plains Equity Group, Inc.
Northern New England Housing Investment Fund
Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing
St. Louis / Kansas City Equity Fund, Inc.
Virginia Community Development Corporation
NASLEF member funds not only invest in affordable housing communities but also invest in the residents who live in our communities. We know that providing safe, decent, affordable housing is a catalyst to revitalizing neighborhoods and stabilizing lives. We help provide supportive services that link residents to health, education, and employment services that will impact their lives socially, educationally, and economically.
Our residents value their housing and their lives are impacted daily by what it means to have a safe, stable place to call home.
While raising capital to provide affordable housing opportunities is our core business, NASLEF member funds also actively provide value-added services to our partners in the industry. Many member funds serve vulnerable populations by investing resources into programs and activities that impact residents’ lives. Member funds have developed philanthropic affiliates and foundations that fund programs that assist residents socially, economically, and educationally.
Examples for 2017 from Member Funds include:
Other funding includes:
Member funds engage development and management partners by providing opportunities for training and education on a regular basis. Examples include:
Member funds recognize that importance of providing technical assistance to partners navigating HUD and Housing Finance Agencies programs. Assistance is given in:
Member funds are actively involved in state and federal housing policy issues, engaging lobbyists, and serving on:
Member funds focus on raising capital and providing equity for affordable housing development and preservation. Many funds also offer loan products or operate a Certified Development Financial Institutions Program that offers:
