Current Compliance Issues
George Littlejohn
Partner
Novogradac & Company LLP
George Littlejohn is a partner in the Austin, Texas, office of Novogradac & Company LLP. Mr. Littlejohn specializes in commercial real estate development, with an emphasis in affordable housing. He has extensive experience in the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC), the historic rehabilitation credit (HTC) and tax-exempt bond financed transactions, including those subject to the auditing requirements of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). He is a frequent speaker at numerous industry sponsored conferences and workshops and serves as chairman for Novogradac & Company’s annual housing conference in New Orleans. He also serves as technical editor for the firm’s Tax-Exempt Bond Handbook: A Tax Credit Practitioners Guide to Using Tax-Exempt Bonds for Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Projects. In addition, Mr. Littlejohn represents the firm as a member of the Housing Credit Group of the National Association of Home Builders. He is the immediate past president for the Texas Affiliation of Affordable Housing Providers (TAAHP), the leading organization of affordable housing professionals in Texas, representing the affordable housing industry. Mr. Littlejohn graduated from the University of South Carolina-Aiken with an undergraduate degree in business administration with an emphasis in accounting. He received a master’s degree in accounting from the University of South Carolina and is licensed as a certified public accountant in Texas and Georgia.
Mike Price
Director, Asset Management & Compliance
Travois
Mike Price, Director of Travois Asset Management & Compliance, is a Housing Credit Certified Professional (HCCP), as designated by the National Association of Home Builders, holds the designations of Housing Compliance Manager for HUD (HCM-H) and Rural Development (HCM-R) from Zeffert & Associates and is a National Compliance Professional (NCP), administered by Elizabeth Moreland Consulting. He trains, oversees and manages the asset management and compliance team, which ensures that all client projects are rented to the appropriate people and maintain compliance with the different program requirements for the life of the projects. He advocates on behalf of Travois’ tribal clients for appropriate regulatory or policy changes at the state and federal level and ensures that all state allocating agency and investor requirements are met. Mike regularly speaks at industry trainings and conferences to explain the LIHTC compliance rules and program requirements. Mike has also been selected by the National Association of Home Builders to be an HCCP distributor and provides clients with the opportunity to obtain HCCP certification, the premier designation in the LIHTC industry. He received a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Southern Illinois University and from the University of Missouri–St Louis for information technology. He has been with Travois since 2009.
J. Michael Sugrue
Principal
StoneLeaf Companies
Michael Sugrue is the principal of StoneLeaf Development Partners LLC, a development and consulting firm specializing in properties developed with low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs). Several of StoneLeaf Development’s properties, as a result of planning and execution, achieved 100 percent lease up before construction was finished. Mr. Sugrue’s experience includes developing, constructing, and managing affordable and market-rate housing. Mr. Sugrue has held senior positions with major national syndication firms, where he was responsible for all acquisition, financing and project development activities. He has also held a senior position with the first national lender to focus on the financing of affordable multifamily properties as well as operating his own building and development firm. Mr. Sugrue has been involved in the development and building of multifamily properties, both affordable rental and condominium sales, along with high-end custom single-family homes. Through membership and involvement in various trade associations, he has received industry awards for many of his properties and programs, including “Developer of the Year 2013” for the Texas Association of Builders. Mr. Sugrue is a sought-after speaker for industry related topics, a past president of the Texas Affiliation of Affordable Housing Providers (TAAHP), a past president of the Rural Rental Housing Association of Texas (RRHA) and a current trustee of the Multifamily Council of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a member of the Housing Credit Group of NAHB. Mr. Sugrue attended American University and served in the U.S. Navy.
Dirk Wallace
Partner
Novogradac & Company LLP
Dirk Wallace is a partner in the Dover, Ohio, office of Novogradac & Company LLP. Mr. Wallace has extensive experience in developer consulting and real estate syndication with an emphasis in real estate partnership audit and taxation. He is experienced in affordable housing developments and specializes in the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC), including properties financed through NAHASDA, and the historic rehabilitation tax credit (HTC). His consulting experience includes the preparation of LIHTC cost certifications for numerous state housing agencies, as well as mortgagers and contractors cost certifications for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Mr. Wallace also leads and coordinates the LIHTC Working Group, a membership organization that provides a platform to address technical programmatic issues surrounding the LIHTC industry. Mr. Wallace is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and seminars on affordable housing industry topics. He received his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Ohio University and is licensed as a certified public accountant in Ohio.