Housing Credit
All times Eastern. Agenda subject to change.
Speakers are published as they are confirmed.
UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, SESSIONS ARE OPEN TO ALL ATTENDEES REGISTERED FOR THE HOUSING CREDIT MODULE.
Tuesday Jan 09
TUESDAY BADGE PICK-UP AND SESSIONS OPEN ONLY TO HFA AND HOUSING CREDIT ALLOCATING AGENCY MEMBERS REGISTERED FOR THE HOUSING CREDIT MODULE
Badge Pick-Up & Registration
Zeffert’s Java Joint Open
Sponsored by: 
PLENARY SESSION
NCSHA Policy Update
NCSHA’s policy team briefs allocating agency representatives on key Housing Credit program developments. Hear the latest on legislative initiatives impacting the Credit, upcoming federal agency guidance, and new allocating agency recommended practices.
DISCUSSION LEADER
Garth Rieman, Director of Housing Advocacy and Strategic Initiatives | National Council of State Housing Agencies
SPEAKERS
Robert Henson, Senior Housing Policy Specialist | National Council of State Housing Agencies
Jennifer Schwartz, Director of Tax and Housing Advocacy | National Council of State Housing Agencies
James Tassos, Deputy Director of Tax Policy and Strategic Initiatives | National Council of State Housing Agencies
Break
PLENARY SESSION
Treasury Briefing
Senior officials from the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service meet with Housing Credit allocating agency representatives to preview forthcoming regulatory guidance and discuss program administration and reporting requirements.
DISCUSSION LEADER
James Tassos, Deputy Director of Tax Policy and Strategic Initiatives | National Council of State Housing Agencies
SPEAKERS
Ellen Lurie Hoffman, Acting Director, Office of Community and Economic Development | U.S. Department of the Treasury
Michael Novey, Associate Tax Legislative Counsel, Office of Tax Policy | U.S. Department of the Treasury
Dillon Taylor, Attorney | Internal Revenue Service
Break
COMMUNITY MEET-UPS
OPEN ONLY TO HFA AND ASSOCIATE MEMBERS REGISTERED FOR THE HOUSING CREDIT MODULE
Housing Credit Development Community Meet-Up
Allocating agency development officials share program administration experiences and explore emerging issues in Housing Credit allocation, underwriting, and development.
DISCUSSION LEADER
Felita Hamilton, Multifamily Programs Allocation Manager | Tennessee Housing Development Agency
Rebecca Frawley Wachtel, Director, LIHTC and HOME Programs | Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities
Housing Credit Compliance Community Meet-Up
Allocating agency compliance officials share program monitoring experiences and explore emerging issues in Housing Credit compliance and management.
DISCUSSION LEADERS
Renee Dickinson, Multifamily Compliance Manager | Minnesota Housing
Susan Westbrook, Manager of Rental Assets | North Carolina Housing Finance Agency
Wednesday Jan 10
Badge Pick-Up & Registration
Continental Breakfast
PLENARY SESSION
The Washington Report
Washington DC Credit advocacy insiders consider the legislative and regulatory forecast for the Housing Credit in 2024. Explore the status of the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act and other bills that could impact the Housing Credit, the outlook for annual appropriations, implications of new Community Reinvestment Act regulations, and forthcoming regulatory guidance impacting the program.
DISCUSSION LEADER
Jennifer Schwartz, Director of Tax and Housing Advocacy | National Council of State Housing Agencies
SPEAKERS
Emily Cadik, Chief Executive Officer | Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition
Peter Lawrence, Director of Public Policy and Government Relations | Novogradac & Company LLP
Ayrianne Parks, Senior Director, Public Policy | Enterprise Community Partners, Inc.
Shannon Ross, Vice President, Policy | Housing Partnership Network
Break
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
Tax-Exempt Bond Financing Seminar
Explore strategies to make the most effective use of tax-exempt bond financing in the current high interest rate environment. Discuss the impact of bonds on the capital stack and financial structuring, as well as tactics for limiting aggregate basis, utilizing bond recycling, and combining 9 and 4 percent Credits.
DISCUSSION LEADER
Claudia O’Grady, Vice President, Multifamily Finance and Development | Utah Housing Corporation
SPEAKERS
Jim Gillespie, Executive Vice President | Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital, LLC
Charlie Rhuda, Partner | Novogradac & Company LLP
Ben Taylor, Vice President and Project Partner | Lincoln Avenue Communities
Monitoring Compliance with the Average Income Test
Share compliance and management experiences with the Average Income Test (AIT) minimum set-aside. Discuss emerging HFA and industry best practices for unit designation, annual recertifications, the next-available-unit rule, noncompliance correction, and maintaining compliance in AIT developments with multiple subsidies.
DISCUSSION LEADER
Erica Etterling, Rental Compliance Support Manager | Virginia Housing
SPEAKERS
Gary Kirkman, Director of Compliance Training | US Housing Consultants
Stephanie Naquin, Director of Multifamily Property Compliance | Novogradac & Company LLP
Jennifer Robinson, Vice President, Tax Credit Programs | National Center for Housing Management
Melanie Shapiro, Director of Compliance and Training | Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing
Networking Lunch
Seated lunch served 11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m.
Zeffert's Java Joint Open
Sponsored by:
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
Housing Credit Development Forum
Housing Credit developers discuss current challenges and opportunities in affordable housing. Explore the impact of area median income increases, construction cost trends, and spikes in multifamily insurance premiums and other operating costs on development budgets, as well as new sources of gap financing and tactical approaches to development cost reasonableness.
DISCUSSION LEADER
Marisa Button, Managing Director of Strategic Initiatives | Florida Housing Finance Corporation
SPEAKERS
Althea Arnold, Senior Vice President, Policy | Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future
Debra Guerrero, Senior Vice President, Strategic Partnerships and Governmental Affairs | The NRP Group
James Riley, Vice President and Project Partner | Lincoln Avenue Communities
Tom Tomaszewski, President | The Annex Group
Compliance Requirements in Acquisition/Rehabilitation Deals
Review compliance requirements in acquisition/rehabilitation deals and Housing Credit resyndications, as well as specific rules for qualifying existing tenants, applying income and rent limits, student eligibility, tenant relocation, amending extended use agreements, and applying the next-available-unit and unit vacancy rules.
DISCUSSION LEADER
Jillian Toole, Special Projects Manager, Office of Portfolio Management | Georgia Department of Community Affairs/Georgia Housing and Finance Authority
SPEAKERS
Jennifer Brewerton, Vice President, Compliance | Dominium
Amanda Gross, Vice President of Training and Compliance Policy | US Housing Consultants
Kristin Han, Vice President, Compliance | WNC & Associates, Inc.
Scott Michael Dunn, Chief Executive Officer/Principal | Costello Compliance
Break
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
Housing Credit Equity Market Outlook
National Housing Credit investors and syndicators provide the outlook on 2024 equity market activity. Hear how the reduced state Credit ceiling, tax-exempt bond activity, Community Reinvestment Act reform, enhanced energy credits, and state tax credits are impacting investor demand and Credit pricing. Explore current investor perspectives on Average Income Test deals and the impact of higher interest rates and operating costs on project underwriting criteria.
DISCUSSION LEADER
James Lehnhoff, Assistant Commissioner, Multifamily | Minnesota Housing
SPEAKERS
Dana Brown, Vice President, LIHTC Investments | Fannie Mae
Scott Hoekman, President | Enterprise Housing Credit Investments
Vihar Sheth, Managing Director of Affordable Housing | U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance
Jacob Stern, Senior Vice President, Business Development | Cinnaire
Fair Housing Compliance Strategies
National fair housing experts discuss best practices in fair housing and Section 504 compliance. Understand Fair Housing Act design and construction requirement safe harbors, accessibility laws, reasonable accommodation requests including requests for assistance animals, and tips for identifying and correcting fair housing violations during the compliance period.
DISCUSSION LEADER
Matt Rayburn, Deputy Executive Director and Chief Real Estate Development Officer | Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority
SPEAKERS
Mark English, President and Founder | E&A Team, Inc.
Lynn Grosso, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement Programs, Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity | U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Mark Shelburne, Housing Policy Consultant | Novogradac & Company LLP
Break
JOINT CONCURRENT SESSIONS | Housing Credit and Section 8 Modules
Incorporating Federal Energy Dollars in Housing
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) unleashed billions of dollars in funding for energy efficiency and resiliency measures in affordable housing. Learn more about the status of these new programs and how to incorporate them into new housing developments or for preservation and recapitalization of existing affordable housing.
DISCUSSION LEADER
Kathryn Grosscup, Manager, Housing Tax Credit | Colorado Housing and Finance Authority
SPEAKERS
Aimee Bell-Pasht, Senior Research Associate, Federal Policy Program | American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy
Michelle Diller, Policy Program Director, Building Resilient Futures | Enterprise Community Partners, Inc.
Gregory Heller, Director | Guidehouse
Dirk Wallace, Partner | Novogradac & Company LLP
Transitioning Inspections to the NSPIRE Protocol
The National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate (NSPIRE) protocol represents the most significant overhaul of HUD’s physical inspection regime in decades. Learn about new property deficiencies, inspection requirements, and scoring methods that apply to HUD-assisted properties and when Housing Credit properties also might be affected.
DISCUSSION LEADER
Todd Folse, Construction and Compliance Monitoring Director | Louisiana Housing Corporation
SPEAKERS
Larry Keys, Director, Government Affairs | National Affordable Housing Management Association
Scott Precourt, Founding Partner | US Housing Consultants
Ashley Sheriff, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the REAC | U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Housing Credit Happy Hour
Reunite with old friends and make new ones among your peers in the affordable housing community.
Sponsored by:
Thursday Jan 11
Badge Pick-Up & Registration
Continental Breakfast
JOINT CONCURRENT SESSIONS | Housing Credit and Section 8 Modules
Multifamily Preservation Strategies
Explore solutions to preservation challenges as affordability restrictions expire and multifamily developments in the Housing Credit, HUD, and USDA portfolios face other threats. Discuss tools for preservation financing and recapitalization, as well as the significant legal and financial structuring factors involved in preserving at-risk properties.
DISCUSSION LEADER
Stephanie Flanders, Director of Tax Credit Programs | Virginia Housing
SPEAKERS
Laura Abernathy, Senior Director of Housing Policy | National Housing Trust
Brandon Hodge, Vice President and Project Partner | Lincoln Avenue Communities
Yvonne Hsu, Chief of Staff, Rural Housing Service | U.S. Department of Agriculture
Laura Turner, Senior Director, Disposition Management | Enterprise Community Asset Management, Inc.
Understanding HOTMA
The Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016 (HOTMA) makes numerous changes to the methodology required for calculating income and assets for purposes of qualifying households for various forms of HUD-assisted housing. Discuss the impact of HOTMA compliance and reporting requirements on property owners, tenants, and state agency monitoring responsibilities.
SPEAKERS
Sheryl Putnam, Senior Director of Professional Services | Nan McKay & Associates, Inc.
Heather Sievers, Trainer and Consultant | Nan McKay & Associates, Inc.
Break
JOINT CONCURRENT SESSIONS | Housing Credit and Section 8 Modules
Financial Structuring in RAD Developments
Learn about the status of HUD’s Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program, including Faircloth-to-RAD conversions, Section 18 mixed finance transactions, and RAD for Section 202. Gain a better understanding of complex deal structuring and underwriting considerations for RAD developments using Housing Credits, tax-exempt bonds, and HUD financing.
DISCUSSION LEADER
Mitch Kelly, Director, Office of Housing Finance | Georgia Department of Community Affairs/Georgia Housing and Finance Authority
SPEAKERS
John Ardovini, Director, Affordable Housing Transaction Division | U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Charlie Rhuda, Partner | Novogradac & Company LLP
Kathie Soroka, Partner | Nixon Peabody LLP
Ensuring VAWA Compliance
The Housing Credit and HUD Multifamily programs are covered programs under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which, in part, provides housing protections for applicants and residents who are survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. This training session delves into survivors’ VAWA rights, housing providers’ obligations, and new resources to help state agencies ensure VAWA compliance in the programs they administer.
SPEAKERS
Debbie Piltch, Consultant | Enfuse Action Collective, LLC
