Title of Regulation: 13VAC10-180. Rules and Regulations for Allocation of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (adding 13VAC10-180-120).

Statutory Authority: § 36-55.30:3 of the Code of Virginia.

Public Hearing Information:

May 26, 2009 - 10 a.m. - Virginia Housing Development Authority, 601 S. Belvidere Street, Richmond, VA

Public Comments: Public comments may be submitted until 5 p.m. on May 26, 2009.

Agency Contact: J. Judson McKellar, Jr., General Counsel, Virginia Housing Development Authority, 601 S. Belvidere Street, Richmond, VA 23220, telephone (804) 343-5540, FAX (804) 783-6701, or email judson.mckellar@vhda.com.

Summary:

The proposed amendments to the authority's rules and regulations for the allocation of low-income housing tax credits will add a new section to the regulations that will govern the award of funds made available to the authority pursuant to the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009, PL-155, to low-income housing tax credit developments. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (i) includes funds to be allocated to the authority from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under a program called the tax credit assistance program to facilitate the production of developments awarded low-income housing tax credits in federal fiscal years 2007, 2008 and 2009 and (ii) permits the authority to monetize credits by exchanging eligible credits for cash grants, which can be used by the authority to finance the construction or acquisition and rehabilitation of qualified low-income buildings.

13VAC10-180-120. Application for Tax Credit Assistance Funds and Credit Exchange Funds.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), PL 111-5 (i) includes funds to be allocated to housing credit agencies from HUD under a program called the tax credit assistance program (TCAP) to facilitate the production of developments awarded low-income housing tax credits in fiscal years 2007, 2008, and 2009, and (ii) permits the authority to monetize credits by exchanging eligible credits for cash grants, which can be used by the authority to finance the construction or acquisition and rehabilitation of qualified low-income buildings.

Application for TCAP funds and credit exchange funds shall be filed with the authority on such form or forms as the executive director may from time to time prescribe or approve, together with such documents and additional information as may be requested by the authority in order to comply with the Recovery Act, the IRC, and this chapter and to make an award of TCAP funds or credit exchange funds in accordance with this chapter. The executive director may establish criteria and assumptions to be used by the applicant in the calculation of the amounts of tax credits, TCAP funds, and credit exchange funds in the application; and any such criteria and assumptions may be indicated on the application form or instructions made available by the authority to applicants. Each applicant for TCAP funds and credit exchange funds shall commit in the application to comply with all federal requirements applicable to such funds.

The executive director may divide the amount of TCAP funds into separate pools and each separate pool may be further divided into separate tiers. The division of such pools and tiers may be based upon one or more of the following factors: geographical areas of the state; types or characteristics of housing, construction, financing, owners, occupants, or source of credits; or any other factors deemed appropriate to best meet the housing needs of the Commonwealth. Proposed developments to be financed by certain tax-exempt bonds and eligible to receive credits pursuant to 13VAC10-180-100 that apply for TCAP funds will be scored and ranked pursuant to the requirements of 13VAC10-180-60 with all other applications applying for TCAP funds and credits. Such developments may be placed in pools with other applicants for TCAP funds or may be put in their own separate pool as the executive director deems appropriate.

For each application that may receive an award of tax credits and either TCAP funds or credit exchange funds or both, the executive director shall determine the amount, as of the date of the deadline for submission of applications for such funds, to be necessary for the financial feasibility of the development and its viability as a qualified low-income development throughout the credit period under the IRC. The executive director may substitute TCAP funds for some or all of the credit exchange funds in the application or credit exchange funds for some or all of the TCAP funds requested in the application in such amounts as determined by the executive director to maximize the number of developments or units that are expected to benefit from the equity provided by tax credit investors. Any TCAP funds and credit exchange funds awarded to a proposed development shall be in the form of a grant or, if requested by the borrower, a loan. Such grant or loan shall (i) be subordinate to all other unrelated third-party financing for the construction or acquisition and rehabilitation of the development; (ii) be secured by a deed of trust for the full amount of the grant or loan during the compliance period; and (iii) provided no conditions exist that would result in default under the deed of trust, be forgiven by the authority in part each year on a pro rata basis based upon the length of the extended use period.

Any tax credit developments that have received a reservation of tax credits pursuant to 13VAC10-180-60 in calendar years 2007 and 2008 may request the authority to exchange their tax credit allocation for credit exchange funds in an amount not to exceed the lesser of (i) $.85 per $1.00 of credit exchanged or (ii) the tax credit equity amount shown in their allocation application.

The executive director may place conditions and limitations on the availability and use of the grant or loan deemed necessary to comply with the provisions of the Recovery Act and the IRC. The executive director may also prescribe such deadlines for accomplishing certain milestones established by the executive director in the acquisition, construction or rehabilitation of the developments deemed necessary or desirable to ensure full use of TCAP funds and credit exchange funds within the timeframes established by the Recovery Act.