How the Affordable Housing Industry Managed the Government Shutdown Together

January’s government shutdown found the Affordable housing industry grappling for a lifeline. Next to the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development was the most affected by the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. Contract renewals were put on hold and much needed monthly payments to those properties stopped. Properties with limited cash flow submitted emergency requests to tap into their reserve for replacement funds. However, many properties no longer had sufficient funds. Even though funding has restarted after the government reopened, the industry is still seeing the effects of the shutdown and many believe that there could be long-term damage. In many cases, the shutdown only amplified what some in the industry say is Affordable housing’s ongoing crisis.  Prior to the shutdown, there were more contracts in limbo than those caused by the late December stoppage. It’s typical for many contract renewals to take months, even as much as a year, to renew because of the HUD review process or lack of funding, industry officials say. “The irony is that (payment delays) are the focal point as a result of the shutdown; when in fact the fallacy is that the affordable industry struggles with funding all the time,” said Samuel Rotter, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer for New York-based MMS Group. Shutdown stirs anxious moments and may shake Affordable’s future Housing providers felt the impact and worried that funding delays would send the industry deeper into crisis – which some believe it has. Many low-income housing renters feared they would become homeless because the government assistance they dearly needed had stopped. “The most difficult problems were the anxieties from the seniors concerned they would lose their home because of the lack of funds,” said Steve Protulis, president and CEO Elderly Housing Development & Operations Corp....