HUD released guidance for states to use when allocating Housing Trust Funds for FY-2016.

If the State plans to select applications submitted by eligible recipients, the HTF allocation plan must include the application requirements and the criteria for the selection of applicants to meet the following required funding priorities.

  1. Refinancing Existing Debt. The HTF allocation plan must describe the conditions under which the HTF grantee will allow the use of HTF funds to refinance existing debt secured by rental housing units that are being rehabilitated with HTF funds. Under the regulation at § 93.201(b)(1), refinancing costs are only permitted when:
  2. Limitation on Beneficiaries or Preferences. The State may limit the beneficiaries or give preferences to a particular segment of the extremely low- or very low-income population only if described in the plan. Any limitation or preference must not violate nondiscrimination requirements in § 93.350. The State must not limit or give preferences to students. The State may permit rental housing owners to limit tenants or give a preference in accordance with § 93.303(d)(3) only if the limitation or preference is described in the plan.
  3. Affordable Homeownership Limits. If the State plans to use HTF funds for homebuyer assistance, and does not use the HTF affordable homeownership limits provided by HUD, it must determine 95 percent of the median area purchase price for single family housing and set forth the information in its HTF allocation plan in accordance with § 93.305(a)(2).
  4. Resale and Recapture Provisions. If the State plans to use HTF funds to assist firsttime homebuyers, the plan must set forth the guidelines for resale or recapture. As required in § 93.304(f), the resale or recapture guidelines must be reviewed and approved in writing by HUD separately from the review and approval of the consolidated plan and/or annual action plan.
  5. Rehabilitation Standards. The plan must include the State’s rehabilitation standards (required by § 93.301(b)(1)) for HTF-assisted housing. The standards must be described in sufficient detail to determine the required rehabilitation work, including methods and materials.
  6. Maximum Per-unit Development Subsidy Limits. The plan must establish the maximum per-unit development subsidy limit for housing assisted with HTF funds, adjusted for the number of bedrooms and based upon the geographic location of the units. If the State chooses to use subgrantees, the subgrantees must use the maximum per-unit development subsidy amounts established by the State.
  7. Performance Goals and Benchmarks. The HTF allocation plan must establish the performance goals and benchmarks against which progress will be measured. The performance goals and measures must be consistent with the goals established in the affordable housing section of the strategic plan (§ 91.315(b)(2)).
  8. Eligible Recipients. The HTF allocation plan must describe eligibility requirements for recipients, (specified by the definition of recipient at § 93.2).
  9. Eligible Activities. If the State plans to select applications submitted by eligible recipients, the HTF allocation plan must require the application to describe the eligible activities to be conducted with HTF funds (as provided in § 93.200) and contain a certification by the eligible recipient that HTF-assisted housing units will comply with all HTF requirements.
  10. Leveraging. The priorities must include the extent to which the application makes use of non-Federal funding sources.
  11. Priority Housing Needs of the State. The plan must provide priority for funding based on the merits of the application in meeting the priority housing needs established by the State. Examples of other State priority housing needs might include: housing accessible to transit or employment centers; housing with green building and sustainable development features; or housing that serves special needs populations.
  12. Duration of Affordability Period. In accordance with § 93.302(d), all HTF units in rental housing projects, must have affordability requirements for a minimum of 30 years. The funding priority in the HTF allocation plan should consider how project underwriting supports the financial feasibility of the project beyond the required 30-year period.
  13. Project-based Rental Assistance. In the case of rental housing projects, the HTF allocation plan must include a funding priority that considers the extent to which the project has Federal, State, or local project-based rental assistance so that rents are affordable to extremely low-income families.
  14. Applicant Capacity. The applicant’s ability to obligate HTF funds and undertake eligible activities in a timely manner.
  15. Geographic Diversity. The HTF allocation plan must provide priority for funding based on geographic diversity, as defined by the HTF grantee (such as urban and rural). The State’s geographic distribution priorities must be consistent with the State’s certification that it will affirmatively further fair housing and any applicable Analysis of Impediments.
    • rehabilitation is the primary eligible activity
    • refinancing is necessary to reduce the overall housing cost and to make the
    • housing more affordable and is proportional to the number of HTF-assisted units in the rental project; and
    • the rehabilitation cost attributable to the HTF units is greater than the amount of debt to be refinanced that is attributable to the HTF units.

The HTF allocation plan must, at minimum, include refinancing guidelines to ensure that rehabilitation is the primary eligible activity.