The West Virginia Housing Development Fund released its 2019 and 2020 QAP and Tax Credit Manual. Below is a summary of the incorporated changes made to the 2019 and 2020 QAP in response to public comments on the draft QAP:

1. Definitions, Concerted Community Revitalization Plan or CRP (page 1) – The final portion of the definition was changed to read:

A document will not be considered a CRP (a) unless it was initially approved at least six months prior to the date of the submission of the property’s Reservation Request or an approved CRP’s development began at least six months prior to the date of the submission of the property’s Reservation Request or (b) if the Fund determines, in its sole discretion, that the document is a “single property” narrowly focused document, or that the document was approved solely for the awarding of such points.

2. Selection and Preference Criteria, Ability to Produce a Qualified Low-Income Residential Rental Property, General Partner Portfolio Occupancy Rate (pages 30 and 31) – The Fund has decided to reduce the required occupancy percentage from 95% to 93%.  This correlates with the Fund’s underwriting standards of an acceptable vacancy percentage between 5% and 7%.

3. Selection and Preference Criteria, Energy Efficiency and Quality of Housing, Energy Star Certified Appliances (pages 57-58) – To clarify the note added to this section, the Fund changed the wording to the following:

Note: Although not required for scoring, either a recirculating range hood (can be non-vented or duct free) or a recirculating over-the-range microwave is required for each residential rental unit.

4. Selection and Preference Criteria, Energy Efficiency and Quality of Housing, Laundry Closet with Energy Star Certified Washer and Energy Star Certified Dryer or Hookup Only (pages 59 and 60) – The Fund increased the points available for “a laundry closet containing a washer and dryer hookup” from 5 points to 10 points.

5. Selection and Preference Criteria, Property Location and Housing Needs Characteristics, Un-Met Housing Need (pages 37 and 38) – The Note relating to an updated Statewide Housing Needs Assessment was amended as follows:

Note: If an updated Statewide Housing Needs Assessment becomes available prior to the 2020 application rounds, the Fund will provide an update on the Fund website (www.wvhdf.com), will email information to the Fund LIHTCP mailing list, and provide an updated WVHDF Form 1040 which will adjust scoring for each county based upon the updated assessment. This may include changing the scoring criterion from county-based to census tract-based.