On December 17, 2010, the President signed into law the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, which extends the “Bush-era tax cuts” on earned income and certain investment income, and makes substantial changes in the estate, gift, and generation skipping transfer (“GST”) taxes for transfers in 2010 – 2012.

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On December 14, 2010, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors amended its Inclusionary Housing Ordinance to exempt “Qualified Student Housing Projects” from inclusionary housing requirements.  Qualified Student Housing is housing that is owned or leased for a period of 20 or more years by an accredited post-secondary educational institution in which at least 30% of the beds are occupied by students who receive or are eligible to receive certain types of need-based financial aid.  To qualify for the exemption, the project must also meet the following requirements: (1) the project will not result in the loss or conversion of existing housing, including rental housing and dwelling units; (2) an Institutional Master Plan (IMP) is on file for the educational institution which contains the required additional information related to student housing; and (3) a Notice of Special Restrictions is recorded against the property.

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On December 14, 2010, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors amended its Inclusionary Housing Ordinance in response to a California appellate court’s decision in Palmer/Sixth Street Properties, L.P. v. City of Los Angeles.  The Palmer case held that an affordable housing program that restricted the rental rates an apartment owner could charge at the beginning of a tenancy was in violation of the state’s rent control laws (Costa-Hawkins Act).  Because of similar rent restriction features in San Francisco’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinance, the Board of Supervisors adopted interim controls in February, 2010, to address the Palmer decision.  The newly adopted Ordinance (now renamed the “Inclusionary Affordable Housing Ordinance”) makes most of the interim controls permanent.

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