POLICY UPDATES

October 23, 2019

The following changes to the Bank’s AHP Implementation Plan are effective immediately.

WISH and IDEA Programs

Reservation of Funds (Section III. A. 7. a.)

To provide participating members with equal and immediate access to funds from the WISH and IDEA homeownership programs, we have revised the annual reservation of funds process. Currently, members reserve and are allocated funds annually that they disburse to first-time homebuyers throughout the year. The revised process will make funds available for members to disburse to homebuyers on a first-come, first-served basis. The new process will eliminate the need for members to accurately estimate the number of homebuyers they will be assisting annually and for the Bank to redistribute unused funds among participating members throughout the year.

Competitive AHP

Application Scoring: Sponsorship by a Not-For-Profit Organization or Government Entity (Attachment B, Section II)

To streamline this points category and better align with the affordable housing industry, we have revised the scoring requirements in the following ways. 

• We changed the nonprofit status of an organization from a 1-point scoring element to a threshold criterion. Since an organization must have an ownership interest in the project to qualify as a rental project sponsor, this ensures that points are not awarded before confirming a project sponsor’s ownership interest.
  • For rental projects, we reallocated this point to the ownership interest section of the scoring category.
  • For owner-occupied projects, we reallocated this point to the integral responsibilities section of the scoring category.
• We updated the ownership section of the scoring category so that a majority nonprofit ownership interest receives 4 points, and a greater than 30% interest receives 2 points.
• We eliminated voting interest as a consideration for point allocation.

In addition to changing the scoring as described above, we:

• clarified that a sponsor’s ownership interest must be through the 15-year retention period;
• clarified that points will not be awarded for commitments that are made contingent on receipt of AHP funding;
• clarified that a sponsor must have been engaged in fostering affordable housing for three years;
• added language confirming that the Bank has discretion in determining whether a nonprofit sponsor meets the category threshold requirements; and
• clarified the form of documentation that may be provided to verify developer fee percentage commitments.

Application Scoring:  Community Stability (Attachment B, Section IX)

Revitalizing Neighborhoods by Optimizing Project Site Use – Development of an Infill Site

1. We clarified documentation requirements by stating that if a photo is provided, it must be a dated aerial photo of the site showing the outline of the entire site.

Revitalizing Neighborhoods by Optimizing Project Site Use – Demolition or Substantial Rehabilitation of Vacant, Abandoned, or Substandard Residential Buildings

1. We clarified documentation requirements by stating that a demolition contract is not required, but that documentation must clearly show the condition of existing buildings to qualify for demolition points.

A redline version of the IP outlining changes from the prior version is available. For questions about IP revisions, please email ahp@fhlbsf.com.