The National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC), the only organization advocating solely on behalf of American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian housing interests, released today the electronic version of the 2013 Indian Housing Development Handbook.
"The Handbook is intended to help those in the tribal housing industry meet Indian Country's great need by fully understanding the available federal programs, housing on trust land requirements and a tribe's self-determined right to provide safe, affordable and culturally-relevant housing to their members," said NAIHC Executive Director David Sanborn. "The process is much more than just building houses. It's also about community development, which is central to creating good jobs, infrastructure, sustainable economic growth and a strong middle class in Indian Country."
Since 2009, NAIHC has worked with Brian Pierson, Attorney and Indian Nations Team Leader at Godfrey & Kahn, S.C. to ensure that the Handbook serves as a valuable guide for tribal leaders and tribal housing professionals, federal and state government agencies, lenders, contractors, investors, attorneys and other tribal housing stakeholders. Godfrey & Kahn focuses on housing, development of tribal legal infrastructure and Indian Country economic development.
"As federal funding shrinks, creativity and aggressive leveraging of financial resources will be crucial to meeting the growing housing needs of tribal communities. We hope tribes and TDHEs will find this Handbook a useful tool in meeting these challenges," said Pierson.
The 2013 Handbook includes provisions on implementation of the Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Homeownership (HEARTH) Act and the revised Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) leasing regulations. The new BIA regulations set a framework for implementing the HEARTH Act, which was passed by Congress and signed into law in 2012. The regulations provide a basic structure and process for tribes to develop their own residential and business leasing regulations for consideration by the Secretary of the Interior.
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