Housing Credit Year 15 Resources

A Nationwide Partnership Supporting Housing Opportunities

National Housing Trust (NHT) has championed the preservation of existing affordable housing for over 30 years. Strengthening a nonprofit’s right of first refusal (ROFR) to purchase a Housing Credit property at Year 15 and ensuring long-term affordability is an essential tool in the preservation toolbox.

We are a trusted partner, working with stakeholders across the affordable housing community such as renters, advocates, lenders, developers, Housing Finance Agencies (HFAs) and other program partners. NHT recognizes the value of partnerships with HFAs to better serve the needs of affordable housing residents and support quality housing opportunities. 

To best address the growing problem, NHT is leading multiple approaches across the country to help mitigate Year 15 threats to the long-term preservation of affordable housing: 

  • Engaging in Policy Change at the Federal, State and Local Levels
  • Capacity Building Among HFAs
  • Sharing Qualified Allocation Plan Policy and Regulatory Solutions

We are working with over 15 state and local HFAs and allocating agencies to address Year 15 / ROFR threats, providing information and education to agency staff, state advocates as well as sharing solutions. 

At least nine state or local HFAs have implemented our recommended policy solutions in a Qualified Allocation Plan and/or Policy Manual. 

Benefits

Joining the HFA ROFR Working Group will give you access to a collaborative team of Housing Credit allocating agencies and advocates from across the country, dedicated to tackling the most pressing issues surrounding Year 15, along with policy solutions and other resources vital to your pursuit of long-term affordable housing. 

Join the ROFR Working Group

For more information:

Courts are Handing Setbacks to Nixon Peabody Clients Seeking Control of Affordable Housing, WBUR (May 2022)

Investors Target Affordable Housing, NPR Here and Now (May 2021)

Local Officials and Congressional Leaders Decry Investors Who Put Affordable Housing At Risk, WBUR (May 2021)

Investors Mine for Profits in Affordable Housing, Leaving Thousands of Tenants At Risk, WBUR (April 2021).

Refusing the Right of First Refusal, Branden Duong from Shelterforce (October 2020).

Nonprofit Transfer Disputes in the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program: An Emerging Threat to Affordable Housing, Report from the Washington State Housing Finance Commission (September 2019).

Year 15: Facing Off with the Aggregator, David Davenport from Tax Credit Advisor (May 2019).

Beware the Aggregator, David Davenport from Tax Credit Advisor (April 2017).

NCSHA Best Practices (2017), Qualified Contracts pp. 31