Ohio Housing Finance Agency 2020 Fall Newsletter

OHFA UPDATE - PAGE 6 - FALL Office of Research and Analytics Multifamily Training As 2020 comes to a close, we reflect on the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and the efforts OHFA’s Office of Training and Technical Assistance undertook to continue meeting the needs of our affordable housing industry partners. Perhaps the biggest change includes the new virtual trainings and tools to help increase awareness of federal and state regulations, address compliance issues, and maintain safe, high-quality conditions for properties. The Office also developed an OHFA Compliance Policies and Regulations Training webinar which fulfills OHFA’s Qualified Allocation Plan training requirement in order to obtain IRS Form 8609. We helped partners stay in compliance with a new acquisition/rehab training webinar, co-presented with the Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing. In addition, we held an Annual Owner Certification Webinar to assist with uploading data and submitting the Certification. OHFA also co-sponsored a Fair-Housing and LIHTC Essentials training with US Housing Consultants and the E&A Team. As shown in the chart below, we had 1,451 people join 11 webinar sessions throughout the year. Of that total, nearly 75% of attendees took part in the Compliance Policies and Regulations Training, 15% attended the Annual Owner Reporting webinar for 2020, and 11% completed the Conquering Acquisition and Rehabilitation Training sessions. Our team created several informative industry tools: Unit Transfers, Applicable Fraction and Next Available Unit Rule , Household Composition Changes , an d Tenant File Best Practices . We also developed a new On-Boarding and Partner Relationship Building Program for partners who are new to OHFA or experiencing significant compliance issues. The Office held 62 Compliance Next Steps meetings. The meetings ensure all parties involved with OHFA-funded multifamily properties are aware of federal and state regulations and increases accountability in the post-allocation process (see our Compliance Next Steps Policy ) . To continue building on the successes of 2020, the Office is busy working on several training initiatives for 2021, including the following: • Continuing to offer the Compliance Policies and Regulations Training monthly • Holding quarterly Acquisition/Rehab trainings or more dependent on demand • Developing new on-demand formats including the LIHTC and HUD Student Rule and DevCo processes • Developing new trainings on LIHTC Essentials, Extended Use and Resyndication, Rent and Income Restrictions and Average Income • Holding industry meet-ups/roundtables in conjunction with the Midwest Affordable Housing Management Association to promote awareness of OHFA programs, share Housing Finance Agency best practices, and focus on hot industry topics Be sure that you are signed up for OHFA’s email list to receive important updates on OHFA’s multifamily training initiatives. Single Family Housing Training OHFA has continued to offer real estate agent and mortgage lender training through live webinars and on-demand platforms. Over the last quarter we have presented 10 live webinars on Fair Housing and OHFA Homebuyer Programs as well as two live webinars with the African American Wellness Initiative and the Ohio Realtors Association as part of our continuing effort to spread the word about OHFA programs. In conjunction with one of our federal housing partners, Freddie Mac, OHFA held a live webinar on the benefits of OHFA conventional loans along with a panel of mortgage lenders to discuss the benefits to homebuyers. As always, please contact Jonathan Duy if you would like us to conduct a training session for you. OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT UPDATE RYAN GLEASON OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT MANAGER