HUD Office of Recapitalization

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HUD recently issued a set of answers to frequently asked questions to provide further guidance on a new method of disposing of public housing in conjunction with a RAD conversion (the “FAQ”).   Earlier this year, HUD issued Notice PIH 2018-04 (HA) (the “PIH Notice”) addressing a number of public housing demolition and disposition issues.  In particular, Section 3.A.3.c of the PIH Notice permits a housing authority implementing a Rental Assistance Demonstration (“RAD”) project that involves new construction or substantial rehabilitation (defined as involving hard construction costs inclusive of general requirements, overhead and profit, and payment and performance bonds exceeding 60% of the HUD-published Housing Construction Costs) without the benefit of a 9% low-income housing tax credit financing.

For such projects, HUD will allow up to 25% of the units within the RAD project to be disposed under Section 18 of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 (the “Housing Act”) and eligible for Section 8 tenant-protection vouchers with a means of project-basing the vouchers to be administered pursuant to 24 CFR Part 983 (the “PBV”).  At least 75% of the units within the project are to convert in accordance with RAD. The PIH Notice relies on the RAD definition of “project” (defined as “a structure or group of structures that in HUD’s determination are appropriately managed as a single asset. In determining whether a combination of structures constitute a project, HUD will take into account types of  buildings, occupancy, location, market influences, management organization, financing structure or other factors as appropriate. For a RAD PBV conversion, the definition of ‘project’ in 24 CFR § 983.3 continues to apply for all references to the term in 24 CFR § 983.”)  The total number of replacement units created through the combination of the RAD and Section 18 disposition processes must also satisfy RAD’s “substantial conversion of assistance” standards, meaning that conversions may not result in a reduction of the number of assisted units, except by a de minimis amount.

The FAQ offers examples and explanations of opportunities that could further enhance the viability of a RAD conversion, including the following:

  • The “substantial conversion of assistance” requirements, for example, could be applied in a manner that would designate more than 25% of the units within a project as regular PBV units under 24 CFR part 983 by placing both the TPVs realized under the Section 18 disposition process, together with the 5 units or 5% RAD de minimis allowance under the regular PBV HAP (FAQ 5).
  • A RAD/Section 18 project would utilize two HAPs – the RAD form of HAP (using the CHAP rents to be adjusted annually pursuant to the Operating Cost Adjustment Factor or OCAF) and the standard Part 983 AHAP/HAP (with rents determined based on the lesser of reasonable rent and up to 110% of the fair market rent subject to annual adjustment) (FAQ # and Initial Processing Instructions).
  • TPVs issued for the public housing units removed pursuant to Section 18 of the Housing Act can be directly project-based when the property “substantially meets Housing Quality Standards” (FAQ 3).
  • The application of relocation protections for all residents across a project regardless of the type of unit occupied by the resident (FAQ 6).
  • While conversion of public housing under RAD does not trigger eligibility for the housing authority to receive Demolition Disposition Transition Funding (i.e., formerly known as Replacement Housing Factor funding) or Asset Repositioning Fee, the housing authority would have access to such funds for the portion of the units removed through Section 18 (FAQ 7).

 

On Thursday, November 9, 2017 HUD hosted a live webinar to provide an overview and discussion of the recently developed Completion Certification and the RAD Minority Concentration Analysis Tool. A video of the webinar can be found here along with slides from the presentation.

Construction Completion Certification. Once construction or rehabilitiation is complete, Section 1.13(B)(6) of the RAD Notice requires that Owners submit a completion certification including a cost certification and other information about compliance with requirements of the RCC.  The Office of Recapitalization recently created a module on the RAD Resource Desk entitled the “Rehab/Construction Completion Milestone” and also posted instructions on completing the certification.   Submitting the Completion of the Rehab/Construction Milestone information should be done no later than 45 days after completion of the work. The new module requires owners to provide information related to the completion of work, residents’ right of return, and Section 3 hiring achieved.  Owners should become familiar with the requested information regardless of where they are in the RAD conversion process to understand what data will be needed to complete the certification, including some information that dates back to the issuance of the CHAP.

RAD Minority Concentration Analysis Mapping Tool. HUD has released the RAD Minority Concentration Analysis Tool (the “Tool”) in order to help housing authorities assess whether a proposed site for new construction under RAD may be in an area of minority concentration.  The Tool will create a report of data required by the RAD Fair Housing and Civil Rights Notice (H/PIH 2016-17), including minority data from the Census for: 1) the Housing Market Area; 2) the census tract; 3) the area comprised of the census tract of the site together with all adjacent census tracts; and 4) an alternative geography if proposed by the housing authority. The Tool is available at https://www.huduser.gov/portal/maps/rad/home.html and requires creating a user account.

As we head into the fourth quarter, HUD sent out an e-mail reminder Friday afternoon about flexibility when establishing Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) contract effective dates in Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) transactions. The January 2017 revision to the RAD Notice at Section 1.13(B)(5) gives Project Owners the ability to establish a HAP contract effective date of either 1) the first day of the month after closing, or 2) the first day of the second month following closing.  For example, this flexibility allows RAD transactions that close in October to have a HAP effective date of either November 1 or December 1.

The fourth quarter has historically been the busiest time for closing RAD transactions, and HUD made this policy change to try to relive come pressure from the November closing schedule. In the reminder, HUD suggested that those with hard November closing deadlines should consider closing in October but maintaining a December HAP effective date. HUD strongly encouraged working toward an October closing if a December 1 HAP effective date is critical to the transaction.

The HUD reminder also reiterated the milestones established by HUD in March for yearend closings:

 

Step

 Deadline to close by Nov. 30, 2017 Deadline to close by Dec. 31, 2017
Receive a RAD Conversion Commitment (RCC) August 16 September 15
Submit complete closing package September 1 October 1
All RAD documents approved and ready for HUD signatures November 16 December 14

HUD’s methodology for prioritizing yearend closings are based on several factors, including:

  • Adherence to the deadlines set forth in the table above.
  • Prioritization categories for CHAP processing listed in Section 1.11 of the RAD Notice.
  • Critical deadlines beyond the control of the PHA and its development team (note that HUD will require documentation of these deadlines when considering this factor).
  • Lower priority will be given to transactions when the original RCC expiration date has been extended past 90 days from issuance.

Ballard Spahr will continue to monitor any further guidance issued by HUD regarding yearend RAD closings and update our readers.

Last week, Ballard Spahr in conjunction with CSG Advisors hosted its 7th Annual Western Housing Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. The Conference brought together a wide range of public and private housing professionals facilitating a dynamic conversation on current developments in government-assisted housing.

The Conference opened with a “Washington Update” – a discussion on housing policy under the Trump Administration. Panelists Emily Cadik, Director of Public Policy at Enterprise Community Partners, and Peter Lawrence, Director of Public Policy and Government Relations at Novogradac & Company LLP, brought extensive insight into the political priorities driving forthcoming changes to government-assisted housing programs.

Significant takeaways from the discussion included:

  • The concern over a predicted decrease in HUD’s budget by $6 million, as outlined by the Washington Post on March 8th. Since the panel occurred, the Trump administration’s budget blueprint for fiscal year 2018 budget was released. Housing Plus posted a blog providing an overview of the budget blueprint on March 16, 2017.
  • The elimination of one or more of the tax credit programs, private activity bonds and/or the reduction of the corporate tax rate through tax reform will have significant impacts on the availability of equity financing needed to at least sustain affordable housing development at its current levels.
  • An infrastructure bill that includes housing may be an opportunity to meet any deficits created by HUD budget cuts to the Public Housing Capital Fund and Community Development Block Grant programs.
  • The spending caps under the existing Budget Control Act also pose a threat to government-assisted housing programs, especially in light of the proposed increases in defense spending and the resulting offsets that would be needed from non-defense discretionary spending.
  • Stakeholders should continue to invite legislators and members of Congress to ribbon cuttings and site visits in their districts. These visits are critical in gaining Congressional support for government-assisted housing programs.

The second session of the Conference focused on lessons learned from implementing the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program. Nicole Ferreira, Vice President for Development at the New York City Housing Authority, and Jenny Scanlin, Director of Development at the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, each provided a case study from which they described the benefits and limitations of the program and the financial structures making each deal work. Beverly Rudman, Director of the Closing/Post Closing Department in HUD’s Office of Recapitalization, provided an update on the program and described particular challenges facing her office, which oversees the RAD program. The panel highlighted the following as effective tools for successfully underwriting a RAD deal and securing community and tenant buy-in: (1) Tenant Protection Vouchers, (2) the demolition and disposition process under Section 18 of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937, (3) seller take back financing from the Housing Authority and (4) federal and local redevelopment grants.

Panelists Tom Capp, Chief Operating Officer of Gorman & Company, C.J. Eisenbarth Hager, Director of Healthy Community Polices at Vitalyst Health Foundation, and Keon Montgomery, Housing Manager for the City of Phoenix Housing Department, then provided a local perspective on how private/public partnerships can be used to create sustaining change in communities. The panel emphasized the use of health studies in the predevelopment process to generate academic research on the specific needs of the impacted community and solicit funding from public and private partners to address those needs.

The last panel focused on the changes in the affordable housing finance market. Monty Childs, Director of Loan Origination and Structuring at Freddie Mac, John Ducey, Manager of Multifamily Affordable Housing-Credit at Fannie Mae, Sarah Garland, Senior Vice President at PNC Bank, Catalina Velma, Vice President of Public Housing at the National Equity Fund, and Cody Wilson, Director at Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, each provided a unique perspective on the impact of recent and prospective economic changes (e.g. tax reform, HUD budget cuts and rises in interest rates) on the equity, bond and lending markets, as well as the increased challenge in financing small and rural projects. The panel also discussed financing tools like Tax-Exempt Loans (Freddie Mac), Reduced Occupancy Affordable Rehab (ROAR) Execution (Fannie Mae) and FHA 221(d)(4) Loans (HUD), which have been found to address some of the challenges faced in the market.

A copy of the conference materials can be found here.

If you have any questions regarding the information above, or want more information on how to register for next year’s conference, please contact Jennifer Boehm at boehmj@ballarspahr.com.

HUD’s Office of Recapitalization recently released a memo to all CHAP awardees setting forth closing deadlines for CY 2017 RAD transactions. Awardees should be especially  mindful of these intermediate deadlines to ensure that their RAD projects can be promptly processed.

 

Step

 Deadline to close by June 30, 2017 Deadline to close by Nov. 30, 2017 Deadline to close by Dec. 31, 2017
Upload all required Financing Plan documents Completed June 15 July 15
Receive a RAD Conversion Commitment (RCC) Completed August 15 September 15
Submit complete closing package April 15 September 1 October 1
All RAD documents approved and ready for HUD signatures June 22 November 16 December 14

Other key takeaways from the memo include the following:

  • Projects that wish to have RAD rents funded with Section 8 subsidy beginning in January 1, 2018 must close by November 30, 2017.
  • In addition to the priority categories listed in Section 1.11 of the RAD Notice, HUD will prioritize projects adhering to the deadlines and those with demonstrable critical deadlines beyond the control of the housing authority and its development team.
  • HUD may require an update to the Financing Plan and re-issuance of the RAD Conversion Commitment (RCC) if the RCC has aged over 6 months.

 

In an announcement on January 12th, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published a significant third revision to the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) Notice (PIH 2012-32/ H 2017-03 Rev-3). According to HUD, the RAD notice was revised in order to maintain the increased pace of RAD transactions in a manner that is consistent and flexible. The revised notice is effective upon its forthcoming publication in the Federal Register, though several eligibility criteria will remain subject to a 30-day public comment period. Some of the substantive changes to the RAD Notice include the following:

  • Project-Based Voucher (PBV) Unit Cap

The revised RAD notice eliminates the standard 25% limit so that there is no longer any cap on the number of units in a project that may receive PBV assistance.  Before this latest modification, RAD allowed up to 50% of the units in a project to receive PBV assistance; provided 100% of the units could receive such assistance if at least 50% of the units were occupied by (i) elderly or non-elderly disabled households or (ii) families receiving supportive services.

  • Resident Notification

The revised RAD notice expanded the notification requirements public housing authorities (PHAs) must give residents at a project identified for conversion. Most significantly, before submitting a RAD application, PHAs must now disclose to residents any preliminary intent to (i) include a transfer of assistance; (ii) partner with a third party entity that will have a general partner/managing member interest in the new project owner; (iii) make changes in the number or configuration of any assisted units; (iv) impose any  change potentially impacting the household’s ability to reoccupy the unit; (v) the scope of work; and (vi) implement any deminimis reduction of units vacant for more than 24 months at the time of the RAD application. PHAs must issue a RAD Information Notice and General Information Notice (if required) according to the RAD Fair Housing, Civil Rights, and Relocation Notice (H/PIH 2016-17)  to inform residents of their rights in connection with the conversion. PHAs are also required to have an additional resident meeting prior to submitting its Financing Plan, and conduct subsequent meetings with residents to discuss any material changes to utility allowance calculations or substantial changes to the conversion plan.

  • Right to Return & Rescreening

Under the new RAD notice, existing public housing residents at a project converting to RAD who will occupy non-RAD PBV units or non-RAD PBRA units following conversion are protected against post-conversion occupancy exclusion due to revised rescreening, income eligibility, or income targeting policies.  Thus, even those public housing residents that will reside in non-RAD units post-conversion will preserve this right to return.

  • Use of PHA Acquisition Proceeds

Any cash acquisition proceeds a PHA receives in excess of seller take-back financing must be used for “Affordable Housing Purposes.” The definition of “Affordable Housing Purposes” is now set out in the definitions section of the Notice and applies in more instances.  The revised RAD Notice defines “Affordable Housing Purposes” as those activities that support the predevelopment, development, or rehabilitation of other RAD conversions, public housing, Section 8, Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) or other federal or local housing programs that either (i) serve households with incomes at or below 80% of the area median income or (ii) provide services or amenities that will be used primarily by low-income households as defined by the United States Housing Act of 1937.

  • Expanded Criteria for Ownership or Control Requirement

The latest revisions to the RAD Notice describes further circumstances under which a public or non-profit entity acting directly or through a wholly owned affiliate can meet the ownership or control requirements, including if it (i) holds a fee simple interest in the land; (ii) is the ground lessor pursuant to a ground lease with the project owner; (iii) has legal authority to direct the financial and legal interests of the project owner with respect to the RAD units; (iv) owns 51% or more of the general partner/managing member interest in a limited partnership or limited liability company; (v) owns less than 51% of a general partner/managing member interest but holds certain HUD-approved control rights; (vi) owns 51% or more of the total ownership interests and holds certain HUD-approved control rights; or (vii) enters other ownership and control arrangements as approved by HUD.

  • Maximum Developer Fee

For LIHTC transactions, undeferred portions of earned developer fee are now capped at the greater of (a) 15% of total development costs less acquisition payments to the PHA, developer fees and reserves; and (b) the lesser of (i) $1 million and (ii) 15% of the total development costs without any offsets for acquisition payments to the PHA, developer fees and reserves. Developer fee limits applicable under the prior version of the RAD Notice continue in effect for all transaction in which the RAD Conversion Commitment (RCC) was issued within 60 days following the current revisions to the Notice and which close prior to the later of 60 days after the revised Notice and 60 days after the RCC.

Developer fee remains subject to the LIHTC allocating agency’s schedule for payment. For non-LIHTC deals, the total earned developer fee can be up to 10% of total development costs less any acquisition costs, reserves, or developer fee payments. The revised RAD Notice also states that earned developer fee is also not subject to any federal restrictions, whereas RAD Notice Rev-2 only stated that it was not to be counted as program income.

  • Capital Needs Assessment (CNA) Exemptions

The revised RAD Notice allows HUD to exempt projects from the need to conduct a Capital Needs Assessment where the total number of RAD and other PBV-assisted units constitute less than 20% of total units at project, or a higher amount at HUD’s discretion. It is also important to note that under this revision, all CNA exemptions listed are discretionary not automatic, and must be confirmed with the assigned RAD Transaction Manager for the project conversion.

To review additional changes made in the latest version of the RAD Notice, HUD has also offered a blackline comparison to Revision 2.  

Earlier this week HUD issued the following memo, which sets deadlines for RAD closing in CY2016. For efficient closing of RAD transactions in November and December, public housing authorities and developers should remain mindful of these processing deadlines. Planning ahead and incorporating the following issuance dates into operating schedules will help ensure your projects advance in a timely manner:

TO: CHAP Awardees

FROM: Thomas R. Davis, Director, Office of Recapitalization

DATE: May 3, 2016

RE: Schedule Requirements for Closing RAD Transactions in 2016


Schedule Requirements for Closing RAD Transactions in 2016

This memo is to inform you of the Office of Recapitalization’s schedule for processing and closing RAD transactions before the end of the 2016 calendar year. If you intend to close your RAD transaction by November 30, 2016 (in order to have an effective HAP date of December 1, 2016) or by December 31, 2016, you must meet or beat the following schedule. We are providing advance notice of these dates to ensure that you plan accordingly to lead to a successful closing.

To close by 11/30/16

Complete this step on or before

 To close by 12/31/16 Complete this step on or before
Upload all required Financing Plan documents* July 1 August 1
Receive a RAD Conversion Commitment (RCC) September 1 October 1
Submit complete closing package September 15 October 15
All RAD documents approved and ready for HUD signatures November 18 December 16

*Note: For FHA-insured financing, the FHA application should also be submitted on or before the date associated with the Financing Plan submission.  Make plans with your FHA lender to keep your financing on track.

Please note that adherence to these dates does not guarantee that HUD will be able to accommodate your November or December closing. We expect those months to be the program’s busiest-to-date.  If transaction volume exceeds our processing capacity, as we expect it will, HUD may prioritize our processing of transaction documents based on several factors, including:

  • The prioritization categories for CHAP processing listed in Section 1.11 of the RAD Notice.
  • Critical deadlines beyond the control of the PHA and its development team. Note that HUD will require documentation of these deadlines when considering this factor.
  • De-prioritization of transactions in which the PHA has needed an extension of the original RCC expiration date.

We strongly recommend working toward closings prior to October to reduce the risk of potential delay due to increased volume in the final months of the year.

If you have any questions regarding these matters, please contact your Transaction Manager.

Thanks,

RAD Team

StopwatchFor efficient closing of RAD transactions by December 31, 2015, public housing authorities and developers should remain mindful of the Office of Recapitalization’s recently released processing deadlines. Planning ahead and incorporating the following issuance dates into operating schedules will help ensure your projects advance in a timely manner:

  • Upload all required Financing Plan documents no later than September 18, 2015.
    • To avoid delays in the review process, be sure that Financing Plan submissions contain all required documentation.
  •  Receive a RAD Conversion Commitment (“RCC”) no later than November 2, 2015.
    • Submit FHA financing applications by August 1, 2015, to ensure that FHA firm commitments will be ready with the RCC for processing.
  • Submit counter-signed RCC no later than November 9, 2014.
  • Submit complete closing package no later than November 9, 2014.
    • For a HAP effective date of December 1, transactions must close in November.
    • For a HAP effective date of January 1, transactions must close in December.

Considering the expansion of the RAD program, along with the usual bevvy of holidays, the Office of Recapitalization expects to be unprecedentedly busy in the last two months of the calendar year. Plan to avoid late-December closings within project planning milestones.

Housing Plus and Ballard Spahr’s RAD Team would be happy to address any questions or comments regarding RAD transaction closings and the schedule outlined above.

 

Community TopographyBefore a robust crowd at the recent Best of the West in Affordable Housing Development and Finance conference sponsored by Ballard Spahr and CSG Advisors in San Francisco, the value and evolution of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program was a common point of discussion among panelists. Lydia Ely from the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development, Daniel Nackerman of the Housing Authority of the County of San Bernadino and Starla Warren of the Housing Authority of the County of Monterey offered a cross-cutting review of the types of RAD conversions that support deals of various sizes and rely on a mix of structures using private developers, housing authority expertise and/or collaborations with city agencies.  Catalina Vielma, a branch chief on the RAD team within the HUD Office of Recapitalization, offered pointers about working with HUD and Terry Wellman of PNC Real Estate brought the lender and investor perspective to our RAD-focused panel.

Key insights arising from the discussion included:

  • HUD is working hard to build on lessons learned through the approval process and has issued a Welcome Guide for New Awardees: RAD 1st Component using insights learned from the focus groups HUD hosted earlier this year.  The Welcome Guide provides further detail on certain points of the approval process that may not be readily apparent in the RAD Notice or in other places on the RAD Resource Desk;
  • Ely provided an overview of the RAD waiver HUD recently granted for San Francisco, a critical piece in providing clarity in the combination of properties approved for conversion under RAD and those approved for disposition by HUD under the traditional Section 18 approval process. The waiver allows the RAD tenant protections to be applied the “Applicable Alternative Tenanting Requirements” (allowing certain Section 8 waivers on the percentage of a housing authority’s budget authority that can be project-based and the percentage of units within a project that may receive project-based vouchers, along with additional resident protections) to all of the units within projects that contain RAD units;
  • It is key for the parties within a transaction, including HUD, to have a shared understanding of the “true” closing deadline for the deal;
  • HUD will be issuing a new notice this Spring covering the RAD process for all of the applicants added to the RAD queue above the initial 60,000 unit limit.  However, the CHAP milestones will not begin to run for these applicants until the later of the date of the RAD award or the publication of the new notice.  Those RAD awardees that received CHAPs under the 60,000 cap will continue to be governed by the existing RAD notice;
  • RAD is a preservation tool with perpetual use restrictions that survive foreclosure and resident protections carrying over to the converted projects.