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Recently, the Federal Reserve Bank cut its benchmark federal funds rate by 1 percent in an effort to stimulate the economy as it takes a major hit from the coronavirus pandemic. The decrease was the central bank’s second emergency rate cut in a month.
When the Fed cuts interest rates, consumers usually earn less interest on their savings. Banks will typically lower rates paid on cash held in bank certificates of deposits, money market accounts, and regular savings accounts.
Some of your households may have unreimbursed medical expenses that include travel expenses to and from treatment. And if any of these households are classified as elderly or disabled, HUD permits a medical expense deduction to be used to calculate their adjusted annual income. So be sure these households are aware that you can include mileage to and from medical appointments and to and from regular medical treatments as part of the medical expense deduction.
The Social Security Administration recently announced that the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits will increase 1.6 percent in 2020. The 1.6 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to more than 63 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2020. Increased payments to more than 8 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on Dec. 31, 2019. Changes to Medicare for 2020 have not yet been announced. When information is available, it will be provided at www.Medicare.gov.
The U.S. Constitution mandates that a census of the population be conducted once every 10 years. Census data is used to determine the number of seats each state holds in Congress and how more than $675 billion in federal funds are distributed back to states and local communities every year for services and infrastructure, including healthcare, jobs, schools, roads, and businesses.
ABLE accounts are tax-advantaged savings accounts for individuals with disabilities and their families. They were created as a result of the passage of the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2014, better known as the ABLE Act. The beneficiary of the account is the account owner, and income earned by the accounts is not taxed.
For Section 221(d)(3) and (d)(4) BMIR multifamily housing, HUD subsidizes an owner’s mortgage by lowering the mortgage interest rate. Sites subsidized under this program are sometimes referred to as Below Market Interest Rate (BMIR) property. Rents aren’t based on a percentage of a tenant’s income, but are a flat amount that HUD approves. In a number of these developments, however, there may be other rental assistance under the Rent Supplement or Section 8 project-based assistance programs for some or all units that will change these rent rules.
Explosive growth in ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft are attracting more and more drivers. These drivers earn extra income with the benefit of working flexible hours. According to recent research by JPMorgan Chase Institute, from late 2013 to this spring, the number of households earning income from transportation-related apps has grown 20 times. And a separate study Uber released in late 2016 showed that while the number of drivers on the app had grown, average hourly earnings remained fairly stable at about $20 an hour from mid-2014 to the end of 2015.
According to recently issued RHIIP ListServ Posting #411, HUD has been advised that a number of owners/agents are encountering old or missing data when attempting to view EIV reports for some or all of their sites. If you’re encountering these issues, for compliance monitoring purposes, copies of the incorrect EIV reports must be retained and proper verification must be conducted. HUD is aware of the errors and is working to correct the issues in the system.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced that the monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) will increase 0.3 percent in 2017. The 0.3 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to more than 60 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2017. Increased payments to more than 8 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on Dec. 30, 2016.
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