A. Pre-Application
Submission. Each Project must undergo a mandatory Pre-Application review by
MaineHousing to assess its feasibility, suitability for housing, and
eligibility for Credit. Applicants must submit the information and documents
set forth in
Appendix B with the pre-application fee specified in
Section
4. C. to
MaineHousing by Wednesday, July 3, 2024 for the 2025 round and by Thursday,
July 3, 2025 for the 2026 round. An Applicant will not be eligible for Credit
if
1. it fails to provide a complete
Pre-Application submission in accordance with this subsection, or
2. there is any material change in the
Project between the Pre-Application submission and the Application unless
required by MaineHousing.
B. Application. Applications are subject to
the following limitations, conditions and requirements:
1. Existing Housing.
a) Acquisition and Rehabilitation Projects.
Projects that involve the acquisition and rehabilitation of Affordable Housing
must include the addition of at least 20 new units, or meet the requirements of
the Preservation Set-Aside in Section
3. B.
b) Demolition of Existing Housing. Demolition
of existing housing that has not been condemned or declared blight by a
municipality is not eligible unless approved by MaineHousing.
2. Deadline. The deadlines for
submitting Applications are Thursday, September 19, 2024 for the 2025 State
Ceiling and Thursday, September 18, 2025 for the 2026 State Ceiling.
3. Format. The Application must be completed
and submitted electronically in the form and manner prescribed by MaineHousing.
Submitted exhibits must include documentation such as grant award letters,
signed documentation on letterhead or evidence of official municipal action to
provide evidence of all funding sources and official approvals. MaineHousing
may require the Applicant to submit additional information.
C. Fees. Applicants must pay the
following fees when due. All fees are non-refundable.
Type of Fee
|
Amount
|
Due Date
|
Pre-application Fee
|
$2,000
|
By Pre-application deadline in Section
4. A.
|
Application Fee
|
$2,500
|
Postmarked for delivery by Application deadline in
Section 4. B.2
|
Allocation Fee
|
7.5% of Credit
|
Earlier of Carryover Allocation (Section
8. B.) or Final Allocation (Section
8. A.)
|
Monitoring Fee*
|
$1,000 per Credit Unit
|
Final Allocation (Section
8. A.)
|
*MaineHousing may charge an additional monitoring fee to
cover any increased costs due to income averaging or other extraordinary
monitoring requirements during the Compliance Period.
D. Ineligible Applicants. An Application will
be deemed ineligible if one or more of the following has occurred:
1. The Applicant, any Principal thereof, or
Affiliates of either
a) has an uncorrected IRS
Form 8823 in connection with any LIHTC Project to the extent it is correctable
unless previously waived by MaineHousing;
b) has been declared in default or has been
60 calendar days or more delinquent on any loan with MaineHousing, unless the
default or delinquency has been cured or there is an approved payment or
workout plan in good standing prior to the Application deadline;
c) has ever been the owner of any project in
which MaineHousing has foreclosed a mortgage interest or received a
deed-in-lieu of foreclosure of a mortgage interest unless previously waived by
MaineHousing;
d) is presently
debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment, or excluded from participation in
any federal or state programs;
e)
has sought to achieve early termination of an Extended Use Agreement through
the written request to a housing credit agency to present a Qualified
Contract;
f) has in the last 10
years either commenced or had commenced against it any proceeding in or for
bankruptcy, receivership, reorganization or any other arrangement for relief
from creditors commenced against it that affected a MaineHousing-funded project
that was not dismissed within 90 calendar days; or
2. The tax credit syndicator, investor, or
Affiliates of either
a) transferred its
interest in any LIHTC Project after March 25, 2014 in violation of the
Ownership Transfer Rule;
b) failed
to make any required capital contributions with respect to any LIHTC Project,
and has not corrected such actions prior to the Application deadline;
c) has sought to achieve early termination of
an Extended Use Agreement through the written request to a housing credit
agency to present a Qualified Contract; or
d) has sought to undermine the exercise of a
right of first refusal or purchase option with respect to any LIHTC Project by:
(i) refusing to honor a right of first
refusal or purchase option; or
(ii)
involvement in a lawsuit challenging the exercise of a right of first refusal
or purchase option.
MaineHousing may reject the Application if it determines the
deficiencies are not addressed. MaineHousing may also require financial
statements from the Applicant, Principal thereof, or Affiliates of
either.
E. Notice to Local Jurisdiction. Upon receipt
of an Application, MaineHousing will notify the Chief Executive Officer of the
municipality with jurisdiction over the location of the proposed Project. The
notice will provide for a 15-day comment period. MaineHousing will consider any
comments received.
F. Selection
Process. Applications for the State Ceiling with the highest scores will be
awarded Credit until the applicable State Ceiling is fully awarded.
1. The preservation set-aside is limited to
one Project. If the set-aside is not sufficient to complete the Project
proposed in the highest scoring eligible Application, MaineHousing may allocate
additional Credit, allocate the Credit under the set-aside to the next
highest-scoring eligible Application that does not need more than the set
aside, or not allocate any Credit under the preservation set-aside. All
Applications that participate in the preservation set-aside and do not win will
be placed on a waiting list.
2. The
highest scoring Qualified Nonprofit Organization will be the winner of the
nonprofit set-aside regardless of its ranking among other Applicants. If the
set-aside is not fully awarded to the highest scoring eligible Applicant,
MaineHousing may allocate additional Credit to the next highest scoring
eligible Applicant for the set-aside, not fully allocate Credit under the
set-aside, or require an Applicant that has not indicated that it is
participating in the set-aside to participate in the set-aside. MaineHousing
may, if necessary, require the Applicant to change its ownership structure. All
Applications that participate in the nonprofit set-aside and do not win will be
scored with the other Applications.
3. Except as set forth above, MaineHousing
will make awards in score order to select threshold-eligible Applications. If
the last Application selected for an award of Credit needs more Credit than
remains under the applicable State Ceiling, MaineHousing may elect to either
(a) not award the remaining Credit to any Application, or (b) award additional
Credit under the next annual State Ceiling to the Application. All threshold-
eligible Applications that are not selected will be placed on a waiting list.
Any Credit that is returned or is otherwise unused will be made available to
waiting list Applications using this process.
G. Notice to Proceed. MaineHousing will meet
with each Applicant selected for a Credit award. If the Applicant accepts the
Credit award conditions, MaineHousing will issue a Notice to Proceed.
Applicants must execute and return the Notice within the time period
specified.
H. Credit Allocation.
Upon receipt of the fully executed Notice to Proceed, MaineHousing will
evaluate the Application pursuant to Section
7 to determine the amount of Credit, if
any, to be allocated.
I.
Termination of Application or Notice to Proceed. MaineHousing will deem an
Application withdrawn and any Notice to Proceed cancelled if one or more of the
following occur without MaineHousing's written approval after the Application
is submitted:
1. The Application or the Notice
to Proceed is assigned or the Applicant or any Principal thereof
changes;
2. The location of the
Project changes from the location identified in the Application;
3. There is any change which would result in
a net reduction in the Application's score;
4. There is a change in the Project's design
or financing from what was in the Application which results in a substantial
increase in the amount of Credit or other MaineHousing funding
required;
5. The Project's TDC
Index exceeds the TDC Index Cap;
6.
Failure to meet the threshold requirements in Section 5;
7. Any event in Section
4. D. occurs and is not cured within
any applicable cure period; or
8.
There is any other material or substantive amendment or change to the
Application.