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44 HUD SECRETARY TO LEAD OPPORTUNITY AND REVITALIZATION COUNCIL U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson was named the chairperson of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council that was established through an Executive Order signed by President Donald Trump. e council, which will consist of 13 federal member agencies will engage with governments at all levels on ways to more effectively use taxpayer dollars to revitalize low- income communities. "With the creation of today's council, the resources of the whole federal government will be leveraged to rebuild low-income and impoverished neighborhoods that have been ignored by Washington in years past," President Trump said while signing the Executive Order to create this council. "Our goal is to ensure that America's great new prosperity is broadly shared by all of our citizens." "ese are still early days for the work of the Council and Opportunity Zones, but the groundwork has been laid," Secretary Carson said. "e seeds the President has planted are growing, and the promise they hold will improve places long forgotten, and the lives of those who call those places home." In a statement, HUD said that the council would aim at improving the revitalization efforts in these communities by streamlining, coordinating, and targeting existing Federal programs to Opportunity Zones and in economically distressed communities where new investments may be eligible for preferential tax treatment. It will also consider legislative proposals and undertake regulatory reform to remove barriers to revitalization efforts while presenting the President with options to encourage capital investment in economically distressed communities. "Under our new tax cuts, any distressed area that is designated as an Opportunity Zone will receive massive incentives for private sector investment, including zero capital gains tax on any investment held for at least 10 years," President Trump said. e 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act had created Opportunity Zones to stimulate long- term investments in low-income communities. e program offers capital gains relief to those who invest in these distressed areas and is anticipated to spur $100 billion in private capital investment in Opportunity Zones. "Our goal is to ensure that America's great new prosperity is broadly shared by all of our citizens." EXPANDING LOAN LIMITS e U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that Federal Housing Administration's (FHA's) loan limits increased in more than 3,000 counties, as of January 1, 2019. e loan limit ceiling increased to $726,525 from $679,650 in high-cost areas of the country and the floor jumped to $314,827 from $294,515 in 2019. e limit also increased for FHA- insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs) to $726,525 from $679,650. Clarifying this increase, HUD said, "FHA's current regulations implementing the National Housing Act's HECM limits do not allow loan limits for reverse mortgages to vary by MSA or county; instead, the single limit applies to all mortgages regardless of where the property is located." ese changes in FHA's floor and ceiling caps mean that the maximum loan limits for FHA forward mortgages rose in 3,053 counties and remain unchanged in 181 counties. e rise in forward mortgages in the over 3,000 counties would also be due to the robust increases in median housing prices and the required changes to FHA's floor and ceiling limits that are tied to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA's) increase in the conventional mortgage loan limit for 2019. Giving the definition of what is considered a high-cost area, HUD said that the National Housing Act required FHA to establish its floor and ceiling loan limits based on the loan limit set by the FHFA for conventional mortgages owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Giving a breakdown, FHA's 2019 minimum national loan limit, or floor, of $314,827 is set at 65 percent of the national conforming loan limit of $484,350. is floor applies to those areas where 115 percent of the median home price is less than the floor limit. As a result of this calculation, "Any areas where the loan limit exceeds this 'floor' is considered a high-cost area, and HERA requires FHA to set its maximum loan limit 'ceiling' for high-cost areas at 150 percent ($726,525) of the national conforming limit," HUD said. According to CoreLogic, the highest delinquency rates were seen in loan types originated between 2006 and 2008. KNOW THIS

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