Section 10-B3904. CERTIFICATION CRITERIA FOR DEFERRAL AND FORGIVENESS OF INDEBTEDNESS OWED TO THE DISTRICT

 

3904.1A vacant rental housing accommodation which has been rehabilitated may be eligible for consideration of deferral or forgiveness of any indebtedness owed to the District including, but not limited to, any outstanding tax liens, real property taxes, and unpaid water and sewer fees.

 

3904.2The granting of deferral or forgiveness shall be based on a determination by DHCD that such action is in the best interest of the District, and consistent with District's rental housing needs in terms of its location, type and variety of sizes of rental units, as specified in this section.

 

3904.3The DHCD shall review each application for deferral or forgiveness of indebtedness for financial feasibility, based on commonly accepted underwriting criteria established by the Department and disclosed to applicants as part of the application package for the program. The DHCD review shall establish the amounts of deferral or forgiveness which create the minimum financial loss to the District and also make the project financially feasible.

 

3904.4In determining specific amounts of deferral or forgiveness, DHCD shall use the following order of priorities:

 

(a)Deferral of some or all real estate taxes only;

 

(b)Some deferral and some forgiveness of real estate taxes only;

 

(c)Forgiveness of all real estate taxes;

 

(d)Forgiveness of all real estate taxes and deferral of some or all water and sewer fees;

 

(e)Forgiveness of all real estate taxes plus some deferral and some forgiveness of water and sewer fees; and

 

(f)Forgiveness of all real estate taxes and all water and sewer fees.

 

3904.5Applicants for projects financed under a multi-family housing program of the D.C. Housing Finance Agency may be certified by DHCD for deferral or forgiveness of indebtedness; Provided, that the following has occurred:

 

(a)The project has a firm written commitment of financing from the D.C. Housing Finance Agency;

 

(b)The D.C. Housing Finance Agency has certified in writing to the Director of DHCD that the project will be financially infeasible without the granting of deferral or forgiveness to the District in the amounts and under the terms and conditions proposed by the D.C. Housing Finance Agency, which are consistent with this chapter; and

 

(c)The Director of DHCD has not received any information pursuant to the provisions of §§3901.5 and 3901.6 which would cause him or her to determine that the granting of deferral or forgiveness of any indebtedness would not be in the best interest of the District.

 

3904.6All other applicants may be certified by DHCD for deferral and/or forgiveness of indebtedness; Provided, that the following requirements are met:

 

(a)At least fifteen percent (15%) of the units in the project shall be made available at rents affordable by lower and moderate income households, as defined in §3902.3 of this chapter (in determining the number of units for compliance with the fifteen percent (15%) requirement, any fraction of a whole number shall be rounded down to the next lowest whole number);

 

(b)The project meets the requirements of §§ 3902.6 through 3902.9 of this chapter, except that the waiver allowed in § 3902.10 may be allowed;

 

(c)The applicant shall make a binding written commitment to make an equity investment in the project of not less than ten percent (10%) of the projected overall costs of developing the project;

 

(d)The DHCD determines that the applicant is able to make the required equity investment;

 

(e)The DHCD has made a determination that the project is infeasible without the deferral or forgiveness, based on the feasibility analysis under § 3904.3; and

 

(f)The Director of DHCD has not received any information pursuant to the provisions of §§ 3901.5 and 3901.6 of this chapter which would cause him or her to determine that the granting of deferral or forgiveness of any indebtedness would not be in the best interest of the District.

 

source

Final Rulemaking published at 34 DCR 980, 987 (February 6, 1987).