Earlier this week, the Bureau of State Audits released a report on California’s Housing Agencies, including the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA), the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (CTCAC), and the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee (CDLAC). The State Auditor found that the state does not have a coordinated and effective approach to affordable housing development and recommended that the state improve its housing plan, harmonize multiple funding programs, and strengthen its oversight of local jurisdictions to facilitate construction. Among its findings, the Auditor noted the state’s mismanagement lost $2.7 billion in bond resources that could have been used for affordable housing projects. Further, State law requires that a certain portion of tax credits for affordable housing development be reserved for rural areas, but the audit found CTCAC inadequately recruits developers to apply in counties with few-to-no tax credit awards (such as Amador, Calaveras, Inyo, Modoc, Mono, Tehama and Trinity counties).
As a result of the Audit’s recommendations, HCD announced it is pausing, until further notice, the Multifamily Housing Program guidelines and Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), Infill Infrastructure Grant guidelines and NOFA, and the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities guidelines and NOFA. Further, the Joe Serna Jr. Farmworker Grant program NOFA has also been temporarily suspended. HCD seeks to align their policy goals with other agencies by removing conflicting scoring criteria and definitions. More information will be announced and updated on each program’s respective webpage, which can be accessed here.
