February 2000

HUD Allows 90-Day Filing Deadline for Multifamily Project

Society Real Estate Committee and AICPA Lobbied for Change

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently announced that it had permanently extended the filing deadline for audited financial statements for multifamily projects to 90 days after the year end, up from an earlier 60-day deadline. In effect, this gives multifamily projects with December 31, 1999, year ends until March 31, 2000, to electronically submit their annual year-end packages.

Both the NYSSCPA and the AICPA lobbied for the filing extensions. In a September 1998 letter to HUD Secretary Andrew M. Cuomo, the Society's Real Estate Committee, spearheaded by Abraham Haspel and Elliot Lesser, had requested a permanent filing deadline of 120 days after year end. The committee expressed concerns that HUD was implementing a new electronic filing process that first took effect for 1998 year-end reporting packages without proper testing and guidance. At about the same time as the Society's letter, the AICPA wrote HUD of its concerns that the 60-day filing deadline was unreasonable in light of the complexities of the new electronic filing program.

Ian MacKay, AICPA director of professional standards and services, expressed appreciation for the efforts of the NYSSCPA and other state societies that joined the AICPA in seeking relief.

"CPAs need a longer window of time to perform and complete the HUD audits," MacKay said. "Our efforts have finally paid off."

For additional information about the deadline and other changes for the 1999 reporting period, see http://www.hud.gov/reac/secondcycle.pdf. *