To qualify as Affordable Housing, a rental Multi-family housing project financed with a CMF award must have at least 20 percent of the housing units occupied by Low-Income, Very Low-Income, or Extremely Low-Income Families and must comply with the rent limits set forth herein.
(a) Rent limitation. The maximum rent is a rent that does not exceed:
(1) For an Eligible-Income Family, 30 percent of the annual income of a family whose annual income equals 120 percent of the area median income, with adjustments for smaller and larger families, as determined by HUD;
(2) For a Low-Income Family, 30 percent of the annual income of a family whose annual income equals 80 percent of the area median income, with adjustments for smaller and larger families, as determined by HUD;
(3) For a Very Low-Income Family, 30 percent of the annual income of a family whose annual income equals 50 percent of the area median income, with adjustments for smaller and larger families, as determined by HUD; or
(4) For an Extremely Low-Income Family, 30 percent of the annual income of a family whose annual income equals 30 percent of the area median income, with adjustments for smaller and larger families, as determined by HUD.
(b) Nondiscrimination against rental assistance subsidy holders. The Awardee shall require that the owner of a rental unit cannot refuse to lease the unit to a Section 8 Program certificate or voucher holder (24 CFR Part 982, Section 8 Tenant-Based Assistance: Unified Rule for Tenant-Based Assistance under the Section 8 Rental Certificate Program and the Section 8 Rental Voucher Program) or to the holder of a comparable document evidencing participation in a HOME tenant-based rental assistance program because of the status of the prospective tenant as a holder of such certificate, voucher, or comparable HOME tenant-based assistance document.
(c) Initial rent schedule and utility allowances. The Awardee shall ensure that the housing adheres to the applicable Participating Jurisdiction's maximum monthly allowances for utilities and services (excluding telephone). If the Participating Jurisdiction's allowances have not been determined or are otherwise unavailable, the Awardee shall rely upon the utility and services allowances established by the applicable city, county or State public housing authority.
(d) Periods of Affordability. Housing under Sec. 1807.401 must meet the affordability requirements for not less than 10 years, beginning after Project Completion and at initial occupancy. The affordability requirements apply without regard to the term of any loan or mortgage or the transfer of ownership and must be imposed by deed restrictions, covenants running with the land, or other recordable mechanisms, except that the affordability restrictions may terminate upon foreclosure or transfer in lieu of foreclosure. Other recordable mechanisms must be approved in writing and in advance by the CDFI Fund. The affordability restrictions shall be revived according to the original terms if, during the original affordability period, the owner of record before the foreclosure, or deed in lieu of foreclosure, or any entity that includes the former owner or those with whom the former owner has or had family or business ties, obtains an ownership interest in the project or property.
(e) Subsequent rents during the affordability period. Any increase in rent for a CMF-funded unit requires that tenants of those units be given at least 30 days prior written notice before the implementation of the rent increase.
(f) Tenant income determination.
(1) Each year during the period of affordability the tenant's income shall be re-examined; tenant income examination is the responsibility of the Awardee. Annual income shall include income from all household members.
(2) One of the following three definitions of ``annual income'' must be used to determine whether a family is income eligible:
(i) Annual income as reported under the Census long-form for the most recent available decennial Census. This definition includes:
(A) Wages, salaries, tips, commissions, etc.;
(B) Self-employment income from owned non-farm business, including proprietorships and partnerships;
(C) Farm self-employment income;
(D) Interest, dividends, net rental income, or income from estates or trusts;
(E) Social Security or railroad retirement;
(F) Supplemental Security Income, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, or other public assistance or public welfare programs;
(G) Retirement, survivor, or disability pensions;
(H) Any other sources of income received regularly, including Veterans' (VA) payments, unemployment compensation, and alimony; and
(I) Any other sources of income the CDFI Fund may deem appropriate;
(ii) Adjusted gross income as defined for purposes of reporting under Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 1040 series for individual Federal annual income tax purposes; or
(iii) ``Annual Income'' as defined at 24 CFR 5.609 (except that when determining the income of a homeowner for an owner-occupied rehabilitation project, the value of the homeowner's principal residence may be excluded from the calculation of net family assets).
(3) Although any of the above three definitions of ``annual income'' are permitted, in order to calculate adjusted income, exclusions from income set forth at 24 CFR 5.611 shall be applied.
(4) The CDFI Fund reserves the right to deem certain government programs, under which a Low-Income family is a recipient, as income eligible for purposes of meeting the tenant income requirements under this subsection.
(g) Over-income tenants. (1) CMF-funded units continue to qualify as Affordable Housing despite a temporary noncompliance caused by increases in the incomes of existing tenants if actions satisfactory to the CDFI Fund are being taken to ensure that all vacancies are filled in accordance with this section until the noncompliance is corrected.
(1) CMF-funded units continue to qualify as Affordable Housing despite a temporary noncompliance caused by increases in the incomes of existing tenants if actions satisfactory to the CDFI Fund are being taken to ensure that all vacancies are filled in accordance with this section until the noncompliance is corrected.
(2) Tenants whose incomes no longer qualify must pay rent no greater than the lesser of the amount payable by the tenant under State or local law or 30 percent of the family's annual income, except that tenants of units that have been allocated low-income housing tax credits by a housing credit agency pursuant to section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, I.R.C. section 42, must pay rent governed by section 42. Tenants who no longer qualify as Eligible-Income are not required to pay as rent an amount that exceeds the market rent for comparable, unassisted units in the neighborhood.
(3) If the income of a tenant of a CMF-funded unit no longer qualifies, the Awardee may designate another unit, in the CMF-funded project, as a replacement unit that meets the affordability qualifications for Eligible-Income, Low-Income, Very Low-Income, or Extremely Low-Income Families and as set forth in the Awardee's Assistance Agreement. If there is not an available replacement unit, the Awardee must fill the first available vacancy with a tenant that meets the affordability qualifications for Eligible-Income, Low-Income, Very Low-Income, or Extremely Low-Income Families as necessary to maintain compliance with the CMF requirements and the Assistance Agreement.