The North Dakota Housing Finance Agency (NDHFA) has released a draft version of its 2013 Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP). The draft contains several proposed revisions, including:
- NDHFA may reject an application if the proposed project site or an adjacent site is deemed unsuitable, unless a remediation plan is included. The draft includes a list of unsuitable sites and provides the Agency with the authority to determine other detrimental characteristics that could qualify a property as ineligible.
- The draft includes a new threshold requirement for all applicants to provide evidence that the appropriate utilities (water, sewer, electricity natural gas) are available to the project site.
- NDHFA will require extensive documentation for projects seeking points under the “Preserve Existing Properties” scoring category. These documents include: a HAP contract, loan documents, at least three market comparables for each bedroom size to indicate potential market rent levels without the federal assistance restrictions, and a narrative describing the deterioration of the current ownership/management entity capacity.
- The draft contains a new scoring category for “Committed Leverage.” Projects may receive between 2-3 points by providing evidence of signed, firm commitments for contributions or incentives from local governments, private parties, and/or philanthropic, religious, or charitable organizations.
NDHFA will hold a public hearing on December 3, 2012 to discuss the proposed changes to the QAP. The hearing will be held at NDHFA’s headquarters, located at 2624 Vermont Avenue, Bismark, ND, 58504. Those who are unable to attend may submit written comments by November 29, 2012. The Agency anticipates releasing the final QAP on its website by late December, 2012.
To read the proposed draft QAP, click here.
