The New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (NJHMFA) will not make any changes to its 2021 nine percent LIHTC round. The timeline for the 2021 round is available here. Projects seeking construction and/or permanent financing from NJHMFA should contact the Multifamily Supportive Housing and Lending Division as soon as possible. Applicants seeking a conditional financing commitment at the July 1, 2021 meeting of the NJHMFA Board must submit a financing application by no later than May 13, 2021. Applicants seeking a conditional financing commitment at the August 12, 2021 meeting of the NJHMFA Board must submit a financing application by no later than June 24, 2021.

MFPHPP and Section 811:

Sponsors that wish to apply for $75,000 per unit capital subsidy through the Money Follows the Person Housing Partnership Program (MFPHPP) and Section 811 Project Rental Assistance (Sect. 811 PRA) in their nine percent applications must submit applications for MFPHPP and Section 811 by May 13, 2021 if they are seeking a conditional financing commitment at the July 1, 2021 meeting of the NJHMFA Board and no later than June 24, 2021 if they are seeking a conditional commitment at the August 12, 2021 meeting of the NJHMFA Board.

Please submit applications for MFPHPP to the Multifamily Supportive Housing and Lending Division and Sect. 811 PRA applications to the Asset Management Division.

Underwriting Guidelines:

No equity range will be established for the 2021 nine percent round. Applicants should underwrite at pricing based upon a commitment from their equity investor. Applications without a firm commitment from an equity investor shall be underwritten at $0.90.

Average Income Set-Aside:

Please be advised that nine percent Applicants will not be permitted to underwrite assuming the new “Average Income” or “Income Averaging” federal minimum set-aside election in 2021 applications.

All 2021 applicants must select either the 20 percent at 50 percent or 40 percent at 60 percent minimum set aside and adhere to current underwriting parameters (units underwritten above 60 percent of Area Median Income will be treated as market rate or unrestricted). After award, owners should notify the Agency of any substantive changes to the project, including a requested change in minimum set aside by no later than carryover/binding commitment.

Inclusionary Reviews:

All nine and four percent LIHTC applications involving the development of new affordable units, including 100 percent affordable, mixed-income and mixed-use development, must undergo an Inclusionary Review. Applicants are strongly encouraged to complete Step One in advance of submitting an application for either Agency financing and/or LIHTC. In the event Step One is not completed prior to submission, the Inclusionary Review must be submitted and completed as part of the application review. However, be advised that it is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that all applicable steps are completed. Failure to complete the necessary steps in a timely fashion may result in an extended delay or an application being declared incomplete.

Applicants can submit the Step One information to the Tax Credit Division (as applicable) via the LIHTC mailbox: NJHMFAtaxcredits@njhmfa.gov. No hard copies of the material are required. For more information, review the Agency’s Inclusionary Policy.

Submission:

Submit one electronic copy of your application through LeapFile to the LIHTC mailbox by the deadline (noon on August 31) – no paper applications will be accepted. Please separate your application into four distinct files/folders and label accordingly (Part I, Part II, Part III and Part IV), LeapFile instructions can be found on the LIHTC Resources and FAQs page.

Application Fee:

The nine percent application fee is $4,000. Payment of the application fee is required in order for a nine percent application to be considered complete. For wire payments, please contact Johanna Peña at jpena@njhmfa.gov.