Company:
Meet the Partners
Partners – California
San Francisco
Michael J. Novogradac, CPA
Michael Novogradac is the managing partner in the San Francisco, Calif. office of Novogradac & Company LLP. He has more than 25 years experience specializing in affordable housing, community development and renewable energy. Mr. Novogradac’s focus is in real estate taxation and accounting. He is the author of numerous real estate-related tax and accounting articles and books, including the New Markets Tax Credit Handbook and the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Handbook, and he broadcasts a weekly podcast that focuses on affordable housing, community development and renewable energy tax credit issues. In addition, Mr. Novogradac serves as advisor on industry and governmental affairs for the NMTC Working Group and the LIHTC Working Group. He also serves on the executive committee of the Housing Advisory Group and the boards of directors of the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition, the NMTC Coalition, A Hand Up, Berkeley Chess School, the NH&RA NMTC Steering Committee and the National Trust for Historic Preservation Tax Policy Council. He previously served on the board of governors of the California Housing Consortium, as an advisory board member of the National Leased Housing Association, the Federal Housing Policy Council and the Housing and Development Reporter, and was a member of the California State Treasurer's Housing Finance Advisory Board, as well as a board member and CFO of the Housing Industry Foundation. Mr. Novogradac graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He received an M.B.A. with highest honors from the University of California at Berkeley. Mr. Novogradac is licensed in California, Oregon and Texas as a certified public accountant.
Richard B. Hutchins, CPA
Richard B. Hutchins is a partner in the San Francisco, Calif. office of Novogradac & Company LLP. He specializes in real estate taxation and the taxation of closely held businesses. Prior to joining Novogradac & Company LLP, he was an experienced tax manager with Ernst & Young LLP. He received a bachelor’s degree in accounting and master’s degree in accounting with honors from Brigham Young University. Mr. Hutchins is a member of the Novogradac & Company LLP executive committee and is licensed in California as a certified public accountant.
Jon E. Krabbenschmidt, Esq., CPA
Jon Krabbenschmidt joined Novogradac & Company LLP in 1991 and became a partner in the San Francisco, Calif. office in 1992. Prior to joining Novogradac & Company LLP, Mr. Krabbenschmidt was a tax manager with Arthur Andersen in San Francisco. He also spent five years directing financial product design and taxation for a San Francisco-based financial services company. Mr. Krabbenschmidt received a bachelor’s degree in business management with an emphasis in accounting, graduating with honors in 1976. In 1979, he received his juris doctor from the University of San Francisco. He became a licensed attorney in California in 1979 and a certified public accountant in California in 1982. Mr. Krabbenschmidt is a member of the Novogradac & Company LLP executive committee and is the general counsel for the firm. He has performed expert witness services in California, Florida, Texas, Louisiana and Nevada.
Stephen B. Tracy, CPA
Stephen Tracy is a tax partner in the San Francisco, Calif. office of Novogradac & Company LLP. As the practice leader of the renewable energy practice at Novogradac & Company he has significant experience working directly with system integrators, independent power producers and developers of solar, wind, biogas, geothermal, ethanol and other renewable energy projects. Mr. Tracy also significant experience representing institutional investors and developers by assisting in structuring tax equity financings for renewable energy projects which monetize the subsidies from existing federal and state programs that promote renewable energy development; in particular, the Investment Tax Credit, the Section 1603 Treasury Grant program, the Production Tax Credit, the New Markets Tax Credit along with a host of state and local programs (e.g. rebate programs, production based incentives, feed-in-tariffs, SRECs etc.). He is co-author of the firm's Renewable Energy Tax Credit Handbook, has written many articles on affordable housing and real estate related topics, and is a frequent speaker at various renewable energy industry and affordable housing events. He also serves as chairman of Novogradac & Company's two annual renewable energy conferences. In real estate matters his primary emphasis is in the taxation and syndication of affordable housing investments. In this role he represents real estate developers, syndicators and institutional investors involved in the development, investment and management of affordable housing assets. Prior to joining Novogradac & Company LLP, Mr. Tracy worked at Arthur Andersen in San Francisco, where he served a variety of clients generally concentrated in the real estate, securities and venture capital industries. He received his bachelor's degree in business administration with an emphasis in finance and real estate from San Francisco State University. He is licensed in California as a certified public accountant.
Robert S. Thesman, CPA
Robert Thesman is a partner in the San Francisco, Calif. office of Novogradac & Company LLP. Prior to joining Novogradac & Company LLP in 1994, Mr. Thesman was a senior tax manager with a large local accounting firm in Seattle where he was in charge of the tax department, with clients in the construction, distribution and service industries. Previous to that, Mr. Thesman was a senior tax manager with an international accounting firm in San Francisco and Seattle, where he spent 11 years serving clients in the real estate, retail, software and manufacturing industries. In addition to being a co-author of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Handbook and the Historic Rehabilitation Handbook and the technical editor on low-income housing tax credit content for the monthly Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits, Mr. Thesman is a frequent speaker on historic tax credits and affordable housing issues. He received a degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting from the University of Washington and attended graduate school at Golden Gate University in San Francisco, Calif. Mr. Thesman is licensed in California and Washington as a certified public accountant.
Diane M. Rubin, CPA
Diane Rubin is a partner in the San Francisco, Calif. office of Novogradac & Company LLP. Prior to joining Novogradac & Company LLP, Ms. Rubin owned her own diversified auditing, accounting and tax practice, which was merged with Novogradac & Company LLP in 1996. Prior to that, she was an audit manager with Price Waterhouse in New York and San Francisco, where she specialized in insurance and leasing companies, computer companies, real estate firms, banks and brokerage firms. She was a member of the board of the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) from 1998 to 2007 and served as chairwoman in 2005-2006. Ms. Rubin, who was named by Accounting Today as one of the country’s Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting in 2006 and by NPA Magazine as one of 2006’s Top 100 Most Influential Practitioners, was a member of the Auditing Standards Board from 2004 to 2007 and served as a member of the California Board of Accountancy from 1993 to 2000, including a term as the board's president. She is a frequent speaker at conferences, universities and organizations throughout the country. Ms. Rubin received a bachelor’s degree and an M.B.A. with a concentration in accounting from the University of Washington. She is licensed in California, Washington, New York and Texas as a certified public accountant.
Michael G. Morrison, CPA
Michael Morrison is a partner in the San Francisco, Calif. office of Novogradac & Company LLP. Mr. Morrison has extensive knowledge of real estate including affordable housing, and federal governmental auditing requirements; this includes U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Rural Housing Service (RHS) programs. Mr. Morrison is also the partner in charge of defeasance services for the firm as well as a cofounder of the LIHTC Working Group, a membership organization that addresses industry concerns and technical issues. He serves as the technical editor of the Financial Forecast Model. Mr. Morrison speaks frequently at industry sponsored conferences and workshops and serves as chairperson for Novogradac & Company’s annual housing finance conference in Las Vegas. Mr. Morrison earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of California at Berkeley. He is licensed in California, New York and Oregon as a certified public accountant.
Owen P. Gray, CPA
Owen Gray is a partner in the San Francisco, Calif. office of Novogradac & Company LLP. Mr. Gray has worked extensively in all areas of real estate, with an emphasis in the low-income housing tax credit and the new markets tax credit industries. In addition, he has thorough knowledge of the historic rehabilitation credit and tax-exempt bond financed transactions. He is a frequent speaker at industry sponsored conferences and workshops, serves as chairman of Novogradac & Company’s three annual new markets tax credit conferences, and is the technical editor for the firm’s New Markets Tax Credit Handbook as well as for the new markets tax credit content in the monthly Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits. Mr. Gray earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Golden Gate University after serving in the United States Navy. He is licensed in California as a certified public accountant.
James R. Kroger, CPA
James Kroger is a partner in the San Francisco, Calif. office of Novogradac & Company LLP. Mr. Kroger has extensive experience in consulting for affordable housing projects with financing from low-income housing tax credits and tax-exempt bonds. He conducts workshops regarding tax credit applications, tax-exempt bond applications and tax credit property compliance; and he has created a training program to help property managers become certified in IRS Section 42 tax credit property compliance. Mr. Kroger serves as the technical editor of the firm’s LIHTC Property Management Handbook as well as the technical editor on property compliance issues for the monthly Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits, which includes news, analysis and commentary designed to assist property managers and owners with IRS Section 42 tax credit property compliance. He serves on the board of directors of the California Housing Consortium and is often a speaker at the housing credit conference hosted by the National Council of State Housing Agencies. He received his bachelor’s degree in legal studies from the University of California at Berkeley and his master’s degree in business administration from the University of California at Davis. Mr. Kroger is licensed in California as a certified public accountant.
Paul Charron, CPA
Paul Charron is a partner in the San Francisco, Calif. office of Novogradac & Company, LLP. He specializes in accounting and auditing in the real estate and renewable energy industries. His experience includes accounting and auditing of affordable housing projects and real estate partnerships, limited liability companies and joint ventures for real estate developers, property owners, homebuilders and mortgage banking providers. Within the renewable energy industry, he has experience providing accounting and business advisory services to developers, syndicators and institutional investors that are working at developing projects utilizing the investment tax credit and the production tax credit. He serves as technical editor for the firm’s Tax Exempt Bond Handbook for the low-income housing tax industry. Prior to joining Novogradac & Company LLP, Mr. Charron was an audit senior manager with Ernst & Young LLP, where he served technology companies, and an audit manager with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in Toronto, Canada, where he served a variety of clients in the technology, retail and consumer products, and real estate and tourism industries. Mr. Charron also worked in Switzerland and the Caribbean while at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. He has significant SEC reporting experience, including periodic filings, mergers and acquisitions, and initial public offerings. He received a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada, and is licensed in Delaware as a certified public accountant.
Jonathan C. Adkins, CPA
Jonathan Adkins is a partner in the San Francisco, Calif. office of Novogradac & Company LLP. Mr. Adkins provides audit and tax services for various real estate partnerships, including those subject to the auditing requirements of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). He also works in the loan defeasance industry, working with borrowers to defease their commercial mortgage-backed securities. Mr. Adkins received a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in finance from the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, Calif. He is licensed in California as a certified public accountant.
Long Beach
Diana R. Letsinger, CPA
Diana Letsinger is a partner in the Long Beach, Calif. office of Novogradac & Company LLP. Ms. Letsinger specializes in community development and affordable housing, including the new markets tax credit, low-income housing tax credit, historic rehabilitation credit and renewable energy. Ms. Letsinger works with investors, syndicators and developers on structuring, financing and maximizing the benefits of combined tax credit structures. She is a technical editor for the New Markets Tax Credit Handbook, a frequent speaker at industry sponsored conferences and workshops, and a regular contributor to the New Markets Tax Credit Report, now part of the Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits. Ms. Letsinger graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in business administration. She is licensed in California as a certified public accountant.
Bill Letsinger, CPA
William Letsinger is a partner in the Long Beach, Calif. office of Novogradac & Company LLP. Mr. Letsinger has extensive experience in affordable housing and community development with an emphasis in the low-income housing tax credit and historic rehabilitation credit. He earned his bachelors’ degree in business administration from Loyola Marymount University and his M.S.B.A. with a concentration in accounting from San Francisco State University. Mr. Letsinger is licensed in California as a certified public accountant.
Partners – Washington, D.C.
Brad E. Weinberg, MAI, CCIM
Brad Weinberg is a partner in the metro Washington D.C. office and heads the government consulting and valuation advisory services (GoVal) group nationally for Novogradac & Company LLP. Mr. Weinberg has extensive experience in providing real estate valuation, transaction support, due diligence services and litigation support to both public and private sector interests. Mr. Weinberg has also consulted with a variety of government agencies, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Small business Administration (SBA), The Department of Defense (DoD), as well as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Mr. Weinberg has extensive experience with the low-income housing, new markets and renewable energy tax credit programs and housing subsidy programs such as Section 8, Rural Development and the Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI). His previous experience includes working as a manager in the Washington, D.C. office of Ernst & Young LLP. Mr. Weinberg received a bachelor’s degree in urban planning and a master’s degree in accounting and financial management from the University of Maryland. He is a certified appraiser and is a designated member of both the Appraisal Institute and the Commercial Investment Real Estate Institute.
H. Blair Kincer, MAI, CRE
LEED Green Associate
H. Blair Kincer is a partner in the metro Washington D.C. office of Novogradac & Company LLP in the firm’s government consulting and valuation advisory services (GoVal) group. Mr. Kincer specializes in three primary practice areas: market analysis and appraisal of various types of mixed income and affordable housing projects, consulting in the NMTC industry, and market analysis and appraisal in the alternative energy industry. The real estate appraisal practice has specialized competencies in the HUD MAP program, HUD rent comparability studies and valuation of all tangible and intangible assets involved in the development of affordable housing. In the NMTC arena, Mr. Kincer specializes in various analyses involving evaluating debt and real and financial asset value/appraisal questions. His experience in the alternative energy industry includes appraisals of solar and wind generation facilities and the analyses of the impact of alternative energy services provided to affordable housing. Mr. Kincer, a certified LEED Green Associate, brings to his practice a broad understanding of green building technologies, best practices and the LEED Rating System. Prior to joining Novogradac & Company LLP, Mr. Kincer was vice president of acquisitions for a regional developer where he specialized in financial and economic feasibility analysis. His responsibilities included finding and processing potential acquisitions for rehabilitation using tax credit and tax-exempt bond financing. Mr. Kincer served as a manager with Ernst & Young LLP, where he performed portfolio valuations, market analysis and loan pool performance reviews. His areas of specialization include retail and hospitality. Mr. Kincer received his bachelor’s degree from West Virginia University and his master’s of business administration from Duquesne University. He is a member of the Appraisal Institute and a certified general appraiser in Arizona, Connecticut, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.
Partners – Atlanta, Georgia
Bentley D. Stanton, CPA, CMA
Bentley Stanton is a partner in the metro Atlanta, Ga. office of Novogradac & Company LLP. He specializes in accounting and auditing of affordable housing projects, including those subject to the auditing requirements of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and various state public housing authorities. He performs accounting and audit services for tax credit syndicators, developers and local housing authorities. Prior to joining Novogradac & Company LLP, Mr. Stanton was an audit senior manager with Ernst & Young LLP, with clients in technology, real estate, manufacturing, life sciences and retail. He has significant SEC experience, including periodic filings, mergers and acquisitions and initial public offerings. Mr. Stanton earned an undergraduate degree in business administration, with an emphasis in finance, from Brigham Young University and received a Master of Accountancy from Utah State University. He is licensed in Georgia, California, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Florida and Utah as a certified public accountant.
Tonya Phongsavanh, CPA
Tonya Phongsavanh is a partner in the metro Atlanta, Ga. office of Novogradac & Company LLP. Ms. Phongsavanh specializes in real estate developer consulting, with an emphasis in real estate partnership audit and taxation. She also has extensive experience with equity sponsors, specializing in equity fund audit and tax consulting and has worked extensively with the low-income housing tax credit and the synthetic fuel credit. Ms. Phongsavanh received a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in accounting from North Georgia College and State University and a Masters of Taxation at Georgia State University. She is licensed as a certified public accountant in Georgia.
Brad Elphick, CPA
Brad Elphick is a partner in the metro Atlanta, Ga. office of Novogradac & Company LLP. He has extensive experience in the low-income housing and new markets tax credit programs. Mr. Elphick specializes in developer consulting, with an emphasis in forecasting and partnership taxation. He also works extensively with real estate partnership audits, compliance audits, as well as the structuring of low-income housing and new markets tax credit applications. Mr. Elphick is also the founder of the NMTC Working Group, a membership organization that is highly regarded for the work it does addressing technical programmatic issues surrounding the NMTC industry. He is a regular contributor to the firm’s New Markets Tax Credit Report, now part of the Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits, and is a frequent speaker at industry events. Mr. Elphick received a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in finance from Emory University and a Master of Taxation from Georgia State University. He is licensed in Georgia as a certified public accountant.
Partners – Boston, Massachussetts
Tony Grappone, CPA
Tony Grappone is a partner in the Boston, Mass. office of Novogradac & Company LLP where he specializes in providing accounting, tax and consulting services to developers, syndicators and investors of projects that qualify for the low-income housing tax credit, historic tax credit, new markets tax credit and renewable energy tax credits. Mr. Grappone is a frequent speaker at various renewable energy and housing events and has contributed several articles on renewable energy to the firm’s Journal of Tax Credits and serves as a technical editor of the firm’s Renewable Energy Tax Credit Handbook. Prior to joining Novogradac & Company LLP, Mr. Grappone worked at Ernst & Young LLP specializing in partnership taxation within the affordable housing industry, servicing many of the nation’s largest tax credit syndicators and investors. In addition, he served several leading venture capital firms as well as commercial real estate developers and investors. Mr. Grappone serves as a member on the Northeastern University Undergraduate Accounting Group Advisory Board. He received a bachelor’s degree from Northeastern University in Boston, Mass. and is licensed in Massachusetts and New Hampshire as a certified public accountant.
Jim McGowan, CPA
Jim McGowan is a partner in the Boston, Mass. office of Novogradac & Company LLP. He has more than 25 years of experience in the real estate industry, with an emphasis in affordable housing. This experience includes accounting, auditing and compliance of projects subject to the regulatory requirements of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and various state agencies, as well as projects developed utilizing low income housing tax credits (LIHTC). He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Northeastern University in Boston, Mass. and is licensed in Massachusetts, California and Rhode Island as a certified public accountant.
Charles A. Rhuda III, CPA
Charles Rhuda is a partner in the Boston, Mass. office of Novogradac & Company LLP. He has more than 20 years experience in the real estate industry, predominately in affordable housing and historic rehabilitation. Mr. Rhuda works with tax credit developers, syndicators and investors on structuring, financing and maximizing the benefits of low-income and historic rehabilitation tax credits, in addition to providing traditional audit and tax services. He is a frequent speaker at regional and national seminars on topics in the affordable housing and historic rehabilitation industries. Mr. Rhuda graduated from Pace University with a bachelor’s degree in public accounting. He is licensed in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey as a certified public accountant.
Partners – Kansas City, Missouri
Rebecca S. Arthur, MAI
Rebecca Arthur is a partner with the government consulting and valuation advisory services (GoVal) group and heads up the metro Kansas City, Mo. area office of Novogradac & Company LLP. She has extensive experience in market analysis and appraisal of multifamily developments in the low-income housing tax credit industry and for FHA financing. Additionally, she specializes in consulting for developers and state housing agencies. Prior to joining Novogradac & Company LLP, Ms. Arthur was an analyst with the corporate finance group of Deloitte and Touche LLP, specializing in business valuations and acquisitions. She received her bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. Ms. Arthur is a designated member of the Appraisal Institute, a member of the Kansas City Commercial Real Estate Women organization, a member of the National Council of Affordable Housing Market Analysts, and is a certified general real estate appraiser in Arkansas, California, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, and Texas.
Partners – Ohio
Cleveland
Renee Beaver, CPA
Renee Beaver is a partner in the Cleveland office of Novogradac & Company LLP. She has more than 20 years of experience in the real estate industry, with an emphasis in affordable housing, historic redevelopment and renewable energy. She represents both for-profit and not-for-profit developers. She consults with numerous investors in affordable housing in addition to providing audit and tax services. Her experience includes accounting, auditing, forecasting, and compliance of projects subject to the regulatory requirements of low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC) and of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). She represents developers and investors in structuring a variety of real estate transactions and is a frequent speaker at real estate industry conferences. Ms. Beaver is on the Executive Committee of the Ohio Housing Council and is active in the National Association of Home Builders. She graduated from Cleveland State University in 1988 and is licensed in Ohio and Michigan as a certified public accountant.
Thomas Boccia, CPA
Thomas Boccia is a partner in the Cleveland, Ohio office of Novogradac & Company LLP. Mr. Boccia has for more than 25 years provided audit and tax services to the real estate industry, with an emphasis in commercial and residential development projects. He has extensive experience with the historic rehabilitation tax credit (HTC), tax-exempt bond financed transactions, the low-income housing tax credit, and the auditing requirements of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). He also has experience working with complex financing for community development real estate projects, including using new markets tax credits (NMTC), historic and rehabilitation tax credits, public/private partnerships, and other federal, state and local tax credits and incentives, and has also prepared numerous financial forecasts for HTC and NMTC deals. Mr. Boccia serves as the technical editor for the firm’s Historic Rehabilitation Handbook and for the historic tax credit content of the monthly Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits. Prior to joining the firm, he was a partner in a firm that provided audit and tax services to the real estate industry, which included working with clients involved in real estate partnerships, limited liability companies and joint ventures for residential, retail and hospitality projects. Mr. Boccia received a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in accounting from Bowling Green State University. He is licensed in Ohio as a certified public accountant.
Annette Stevenson, CPA
Annette Stevenson is a partner in the Cleveland, Ohio office of Novogradac & Company LLP. She has more than 15 years of public accounting and business advisory experience, with an emphasis on complex financing for community development real estate projects, including new markets tax credits (NMTC), historic and rehabilitation tax credits, public/private partnerships, and other federal, state and local tax credits and incentives. Ms. Stevenson assists her clients in transaction structuring, financial modeling, NMTC compliance and reporting, due diligence and feasibility, and navigating accounting and tax issues. Her client base includes CDEs, real estate developers, property managers, construction contractors, cities, counties and other governmental entities, Community Development Corporations, financial institutions and non-profit organizations. Additionally, Ms. Stevenson provides a broad range of advisory services to Community Development Entities, including transaction structuring, development and implementation of internal compliance policies and procedures, bookkeeping, monthly loan servicing and asset management, compliance review and CDFI reporting. Ms. Stevenson has become a nationally recognized NMTC expert and speaker, and has presented to audiences across the nation. Prior to joining the firm, she was partner in charge of Cohen & Company CPA’s Real Estate Services Group, where she provided accounting, tax compliance and planning, audit and business advisory services to real estate developers, property owners, not-for-profit organizations, property managers, construction contractors and homebuilders. Ms. Stevenson is the 2006 Past President for the Cleveland Chapter of Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) and was named to Crain’s Cleveland Business “Forty under 40” in 2009. She graduated from Cleveland State University and is licensed in Ohio as a certified public accountant.
Dover
Daniel J. Smith, CPA
Daniel Smith is a partner in the Dover, Ohio office of Novogradac & Company LLP. Mr. Smith has extensive experience in affordable housing, community development and renewable energy, assisting developers and investors in maximizing the benefits of low-income housing, historic rehabilitation, and renewable energy tax credits. He also practices extensively in secondary market transactions with a focus on due diligence, forecasting and consulting to maximize the benefits of such transactions. He is a frequent speaker at industry sponsored conferences and workshops, is a technical editor of the firm's soon-to-be-published Renewable Energy Tax Credit Handbook and serves as the technical editor of the renewable energy tax credit content of the monthly Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits. Mr. Smith earned his bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Akron. He is licensed as a certified public accountant in Ohio.
John Sciarretti, CPA
John Sciarretti is a partner in the Dover, Ohio office of Novogradac & Company LLP, where he specializes in real estate finance and community development, including the low-income housing tax credit, the historic rehabilitation credit, the new markets tax credit and renewable energy credits. Mr. Sciarretti has extensive financial experience working with business, including 16 years in public accounting and three years as an executive financial manager in industry. He consults with tax credit investors, syndicators and developers on structuring, financing and syndicating the low-income housing, new markets and historic rehabilitation tax credits. He also advises clients on accounting, tax and regulatory matters. He has published articles and is a frequent speaker at industry events. Mr. Sciarretti earned a bachelor’s degree in finance and accounting from the University of Dayton and a Masters of Taxation from the University of Akron. He is licensed as a certified public accountant in Ohio.
David L. Conway, CPA
David Conway is a partner in the Dover, Ohio office of Novogradac & Company LLP. Mr. Conway has more than 25 years of experience in the affordable housing industry. Prior to joining Novogradac & Company LLP, he was the chief accounting officer for a large syndicator of affordable housing and new markets investments where he had overall responsibility for corporate, tax credit fund, property accounting, tax and financial reporting functions. In addition, Mr. Conway worked in public accounting for 18 years during which his focus was in accounting, audit, tax and consulting in the affordable housing industry, with an emphasis in low-income housing tax credits. He also has extensive accounting and auditing experience in the areas of state and local governments and not-for-profit organizations. Mr. Conway holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Virginia Tech. He is licensed as a certified public accountant in Ohio and Virginia.
Stacey Stewart, CPA
Stacey Stewart is a partner in the Dover, Ohio office of Novogradac & Company LLP. Ms. Stewart works extensively with institutional investors, syndicators, insurers and real estate developers with an emphasis in the low-income housing tax credit industry. Her experience includes assisting clients with attestation services; tax return preparation; transaction structuring and underwriting; due diligence and feasibility; and consulting on complex tax and accounting issues. Ms. Stewart is a speaker at industry conferences and client sponsored training sessions. Prior to joining the firm in January 2004, Ms. Stewart worked for four years in the tax services practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP during which time she specialized in multistate tax issues, financial institutions and manufacturers. She received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Otterbein College and is licensed in Ohio as a certified public accountant.
Partners – Portland, Oregon
Nicolo R. Pinoli, CPA
Nicolo Pinoli is a partner in the Portland, Ore. office of Novogradac & Company LLP where he specializes in affordable housing and community development, including the low-income housing tax credit, new markets tax credit, historic rehabilitation tax credit and tax-exempt bond financed transactions. Mr. Pinoli has extensive experience in financial statement audits; tax return preparation; transaction underwriting; and consulting on transaction structuring, low-income housing tax credit and new markets tax credit compliance. He has published many articles on various technical issues confronting the affordable housing and community development industries. Mr. Pinoli received a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a Master of Accountancy in professional accounting from Brigham Young University and is licensed in California, Oregon and Washington as a certified public accountant.
Partners – Austin, Texas
George F. Littlejohn, CPA, HCCP
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 and community development. He has extensive experience in the low-income housing tax credit, the historic rehabilitation credit 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 chairperson for Novogradac & Company’s annual housing conference in New Orleans. In addition, Mr. Littlejohn represents the firm as a member of the Housing Credit Group of the National Association of Home Builders. He is currently Second Vice President on the board of directors for the Texas Affiliation of Affordable Housing Providers (TAAHP) where he previously served as treasurer. 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 of Accountancy from the University of South Carolina and is licensed as a certified public accountant in the states of Texas and Georgia.
Susan Wilson, CPA
Susan Wilson is a partner in the Austin, Texas office of Novogradac & Company LLP. Ms. Wilson specializes in accounting and auditing of affordable housing projects, including those subject to the auditing requirements of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and real estate developer consulting. She is a frequent speaker at industry sponsored conferences and serves as chairperson of Novogradac & Company’s annual affordable housing conference in Florida. Prior to joining Novogradac & Company LLP, Ms. Wilson was president of AuditWatch of Texas, a firm specializing in providing training and consulting services to the audit profession and nationally recognized as experts in auditing. Prior to that, she served as a manager for Watkins Uiberall PLLC in Memphis, Tenn., where she specialized in accounting, audit and taxation in the real estate, HUD multifamily, contractor, local government, not-for-profit and manufacturing industries. Ms. Wilson is a member of the board of directors of the National Leased Housing Association. She received a B.B.A. cum laude in accountancy from the University of Memphis and is licensed as a certified public accountant in Texas and Tennessee.
Meet the Principals
Christina Apostolidis, CPA
Christina Apostolidis is a principal in the Cleveland office of Novogradac & Company where she focuses on providing audit and tax services to the real estate industry. Since joining the firm in 2007, she has been involved in the accounting, auditing, forecasting and compliance of projects subject to the regulatory requirements of the low-income housing and historic tax credit programs. She also has worked extensively with equity sponsors specializing in equity fund audit and tax consulting. Ms. Apostolidis received a bachelor's degree in business administration with a major in accounting from Baruch College. She is licensed as a certified public accountant in New York and is working on obtaining her CPA license in Ohio.
Eric Barnett, CPA
Eric Barnett is a principal in the San Francisco, Calif. office of Novogradac & Company LLP. Mr. Barnett provides audit services to numerous organizations, including investment companies, real estate firms, corporations and not-for-profit organizations. Prior to joining Novogradac and Company LLP, Mr. Barnett received a bachelor's degree in business economics with an accounting emphasis from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is licensed in California as a certified public accountant.
Frank R. Buss II, CPA
Frank Buss is a principal in the Dover, Ohio office of Novogradac & Company where he performs numerous services related to the low-income housing tax credit and the new markets tax credit industries, including audit and tax services, forecasting and consulting. He has significant experience in tax and audit engagements involving closely held businesses, high net worth individuals, community development entities, partnerships and not-for-profit organizations. He joined the firm in 2006 after working as an audit supervisor servicing manufacturing, construction and not-for-profit clients for a regional certified public accounting firm in Canton, Ohio. Prior to that, he served as the chief operating officer for a wealth management firm, focusing on financial and transaction analysis, and a wide range of individual and business planning matters. Mr. Buss received a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Akron. He is licensed in Ohio as a certified public accountant.
Elaine Chang
Elaine Chang is a principal in the San Francisco, Calif. office of Novogradac & Company LLP. Ms. Chang has experience in affordable housing and community development, including new markets tax credit and low-income housing tax credit transactions. She has worked extensively on financial statement audits, tax return preparation, final cost certification audits, and new markets tax credit allocation applications. Additionally, she is experienced in providing attestation services via issuance of agreed-upon procedure reports to ascertain whether a QALICB meets the requirements pursuant to the NMTC program, whether a NMTC allocatee meets the operating income distribution test to its owners, and whether a NMTC allocatee meets the substantially all test. Ms. Chang has contributed articles to various publications including the Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits. She received a bachelor's degree in finance from Walsh College.
Gregory Clements, CPA
Gregory Clements is a principal in the Dover, Ohio office of Novogradac & Company LLP where he specializes in the new markets tax credits, renewable energy credits, historic tax credits, and low-income housing tax credits. Since joining the firm in 2004, he has worked closely with real estate developers, community development entities, syndicators, and investors on structuring of new markets tax credit transactions, in addition to providing traditional audit and tax services. Mr. Clements earned a B.A. in accounting and finance from Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio. He is licensed as a certified public accountant in Ohio.
John Cole
John Cole is a principal in the Austin, Texas office of Novogradac & Company where he oversees the Government Consulting and Valuation Advisory Services (GoVal) Group. Mr. Cole has more than 10 years of national commercial real estate experience. His professional background also includes more than five years in the environmental consulting industry. He earned a bachelor's degree in civil and environmental engineering from California Polytechnic State University in 1992 and an M.B.A. with a finance concentration and real estate specialization from the University of Texas at Austin in 1999. Since joining Novogradac & Company he has developed broad expertise in performing market analysis and appraisals of affordable multifamily properties, including LIHTC, HUD subsidized and U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development. Mr. Cole is an associate member of the Appraisal Institute and is a state certified general real estate appraiser in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arizona.
David A. DeMello, CPA (Inactive)
David DeMello is a principal in the San Francisco, Calif. office of Novogradac & Company LLP, responsible for several functional areas involving the firm’s growth, risk management and internal controls. In addition to these project-driven tasks, Mr. DeMello oversees management of the firm's information technology and human resources departments. Mr. DeMello joined Novogradac & Company LLP in 1994 as a tax accountant specializing in corporate taxation. He assumed the controllership position in 1999 and served in that position until his promotion in 2005.
Nick Hoehn, CPA
Nick Hoehn is a principal in the Austin, Texas office of Novogradac & Company LLP. He has more than 10 years of professional experience in affordable housing and provides audit, tax, and consulting services, specializing in real estate partnerships, investment companies and not-for-profit organizations. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Hoehn was a senior accountant with a certified public accounting firm in Chicago, Ill. He received his bachelor's degree in accountancy from Eastern Illinois University. Mr. Hoehn is licensed in Illinois and Texas as a certified public accountant.
Keith LeBlanc, CPA
Keith LeBlanc is a principal in the Boston, Mass. office of Novogradac & Company LLP where he provides tax, accounting and consulting services to developers, syndicators and investors of real estate as well as other tax credit investments. He focuses much of his attention on multi-state reporting issues for some of the largest syndicators of low-income housing tax credits in the industry. Prior to joining the firm he was a director of tax services for a national firm, focusing on servicing real estate clients. Mr. LeBlanc received a bachelor's degree from Bentley College in Waltham, Mass. and is licensed in Massachusetts as a certified public accountant.
Jeffrey Nishita, CPA
Jeffrey Nishita is a principal in the San Francisco, Calif. office of Novogradac & Company LLP and is one of the founders of the firm's LIHTC Working Group, a membership organization that addresses technical issues in the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program. Mr. Nishita performs numerous services in the affordable housing and renewable energy industries, including audit and tax services, consulting, forecasting and training. In addition, he is in charge of maintaining the firm's Financial Forecast Model on CD-ROM. Mr. Nishita also works in the defeasance industry, providing services to borrowers and lenders. He speaks at various affordable housing conferences throughout the year and is a technical editor for the firm's various Special Reports.. Prior to joining Novogradac & Company LLP, Mr. Nishita worked with several start-up companies and small businesses in various executive positions. He graduated at the top of his class from Santa Clara University, receiving an MBA with highest honors with concentrations in operations, entrepreneurship, managing technology and innovation, and finance. He also received a bachelor's degree in economics with a concentration in accounting from the University of California at Santa Barbara. He is licensed in California as a certified public accountant.
Molly O'Dell, CPA
Molly O'Dell is a principal in the San Francisco, Calif. office of Novogradac & Company LLP. She joined Novogradac & Company LLP in January 1999 and provides tax, attestation and consulting services to real estate developers and affordable housing partnerships, including preparing forecasts, tax credit applications, and tax-exempt bond applications for various states. Ms. O’Dell specializes in HUD and A-133 auditing procedures, tax-exempt bond financed rehabilitation projects, and complex tax planning strategies involving purchase accounting and cost segregation. She also has gained experience by working as a controller for a San Jose developer. Ms. O’Dell received her bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California at Los Angeles. She is licensed in California as a certified public accountant.
Lance S. Smith, CPA
Lance Smith is a principal in the San Francisco, Calif. office of Novogradac & Company LLP. Mr. Smith specializes in managing audits, completing tax returns and providing other attestation and consulting services for partnerships in the affordable housing industry, including those subject to the auditing requirements of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and for not-for-profit organizations, including those subject to government auditing standards and U.S. Office Management and Budge Circular A-133, Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations. He is also involved with the firm’s audit quality control. Mr. Smith earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from Brigham Young University. He is licensed in California as a certified public accountant.
Rodney C. Sommers, CPA
Rodney Sommers is a principal in the Dover, Ohio office of Novogradac & Company LLP. Mr. Sommers has more than 18 years of experience with a strong emphasis on audit, specifically not-for-profit and real estate entities. His experience in the real estate industry has emphasized affordable housing projects, including those subject to the auditing requirements of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). He also has experience in a variety of other industries including construction, manufacturing and not-for-profit entities. Prior to joining Novogradac & Company, Mr. Sommers was a director with McGladrey & Pullen LLP and RSM McGladrey Inc. Mr. Sommers graduated from Kent State University and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Ohio Society of CPAs and the Dover Rotary. He is licensed in Ohio as a certified public accountant.
Thomas Stagg, CPA
Thomas Stagg is a principal in the San Francisco office of Novogradac & Company LLP. He specializes in audit and tax services for real estate partnerships and has assisted many partnerships' apply for and obtain the low-income housing tax credit. He also has extensive experience in performing LIHTC compliance testing. Mr. Stagg regularly contributes articles regarding the complexities of IRS Section 42 tax credit property compliance to the Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits, and frequently speaks at industry events. He has taught property compliance and tax credit application workshops at Novogradac & Company affordable housing conferences and to private organizations. Mr. Stagg received his bachelor's degree in accounting from Brigham Young University in 2003 and is licensed in California and Washington as a certified public accountant
Michalena Sukenik
Michalena Sukenik oversees the Government Consulting and Valuation Advisory Services (GoVal) Group in the Metro Atlanta office of Novogradac & Company LLP. She has extensive experience in market analysis and valuation of multifamily developments in the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) industry. She specializes in consulting for developers, syndicators and state housing agencies. She also has extensive experience with city wide housing market studies, housing comprehensive plans and HUD five-year consolidated plans. Prior to joining Novogradac & Company, Ms. Sukenik was a manager with CoStar Group, a commercial real estate research firm. She has a bachelor's degree from Union College in Schenectady, NY.
Robert Tartaglia, CPA
Robert Tartaglia is a principal in the Boston, Mass. office of Novogradac and Company LLP. Mr. Tartaglia has more than 28 years experience servicing clients with low-income housing tax credit projects and others with projects subject to the regulatory requirements of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and various state housing agencies. Mr. Tartaglia provides development consulting, annual audit and tax services, as well as preparation of LIHTC and HUD regulated mortgagor and contractor cost certifications. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Tartaglia was a partner in a firm that specialized in the affordable housing industry. While there, he also served not-for-profit organizations, many with OMB A-133 reporting requirements, and community development corporations and general contractors. Mr. Tartaglia received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Bentley University in Waltham, Mass. He is licensed as a certified public accountant in Massachusetts.
Phong Tran, CPA
Phong Tran is a principal in the Austin, Texas office of Novogradac & Company LLP. Mr. Tran has extensive experience in tax engagements involving real estate developer consulting, with an emphasis in real estate partnership audit and taxation. He works with the low-income housing tax credit and with tax-exempt bonds. Mr. Tran received a bachelor's degree in accountancy from John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio and is licensed in Texas as a certified public accountant.
Kevin Wilson, CPA
Kevin Wilson is a principal in the San Francisco, Calif. office of Novogradac & Company LLP where he provides audit, tax and consulting services. He specializes in real estate partnerships, investment companies and not-for-profit organizations, including those subject to the auditing requirements of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). He joined Novogradac & Company in 2002 and has obtained a wide range of experience with low-income, new markets and solar tax credit transactions. Mr. Wilson received his bachelor's degree in business economics with an accounting emphasis from the University of California at Santa Barbara. He is licensed in California as a certified public accountant.