Funding Opportunities: Capital Magnet Fund; 2021 Funding Round, 50773-50789 [2021-19598]

Agencies

• Community Development Financial Institutions Fund
• DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 173 (Friday, September 10, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50773-50789]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-19598]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Community Development Financial Institutions Fund


Funding Opportunities: Capital Magnet Fund; 2021 Funding Round

    Funding Opportunity Title: Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) 
inviting Applications for the fiscal year (FY) 2021 Funding Round of 
the Capital Magnet Fund (CMF).
    Announcement Type: Announcement of funding opportunity.
    Funding Opportunity Number: CDFI-2021-CMF.
    Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 21.011.
    Dates:

              Table 1--FY 2021 Capital Magnet Fund Funding Round Critical Deadlines for Applicants
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Description                     Deadline         Time (eastern time-ET)       Submission method
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last day to create an Awards         October 12, 2021......  11:59 p.m. ET.........  Electronically via Awards
 Management Information System                                                        Management Information
 (AMIS) Account (if Applicant                                                         System (AMIS).
 doesn't have one).
Last day to enter or update the EIN  October 12, 2021......  11:59 p.m. ET.........  Electronically via AMIS.
 and DUNS numbers in AMIS (all
 Applicants).
Last day to submit SF-424 Mandatory  October 12, 2021......  11:59 p.m. ET.........  Electronically via
 Form (Application for Federal                                                        Grants.gov.
 Assistance).
Last day to contact Capital Magnet   November 4, 2021......  5:00 p.m. ET..........  Submit Service Request via
 Fund Staff.                                                                          AMIS; call CDFI Fund
                                                                                      Helpdesk: 202-653-0421; or
                                                                                      email [email protected].

[[Page 50774]]

 
Last day to submit CMF Application   November 9, 2021......  5:00 p.m. ET..........  Electronically via AMIS.
 and Required Attachments.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Executive Summary: The Capital Magnet Fund (CMF) is administered by 
the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund). 
Through the CMF, the CDFI Fund provides financial assistance grants to 
Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and to qualified 
Nonprofit Organizations that have the development or management of 
affordable housing as one of their principal purposes. All awards 
provided through this Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) are subject 
to funding availability.

I. Program Description

    A. Authorizing Statute and Regulation: The CMF was established 
through the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA), which 
added section 1339 to the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety 
and Soundness Act of 1992. For a complete understanding of the program, 
the CDFI Fund encourages Applicants to review the CMF interim rule (12 
CFR part 1807) as amended February 8, 2016 (the CMF Interim Rule); this 
NOFA; the CDFI Fund's environmental quality regulation (12 CFR part 
1815); the CMF funding application (referred to hereafter as the 
``Application,'' meaning the application submitted in response to this 
NOFA); and the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, 
and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (2 CFR part 1000), which is 
the Department of the Treasury's codification of the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) government-wide framework for grants 
management at 2 CFR part 200 (Uniform Administrative Requirements or 
UAR). Each capitalized term used in this NOFA, but not defined herein, 
shall have the respective meanings assigned to them in the CMF Interim 
Rule, the Application, or the Uniform Administrative Requirements. 
Details regarding Application content requirements are found in the 
Application and related materials at www.cdfifund.gov/cmf.
    B. History: The CDFI Fund was established by the Riegle Community 
Development Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994 to promote 
economic revitalization and community development through investment in 
and assistance to CDFIs. The CMF made its first awards in FY 2010, with 
subsequent funding rounds beginning in FY 2016 and occurring annually 
thereafter. To date, more than $740 million has been awarded under the 
CMF Program.
    C. Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit 
Requirements for Federal Awards (2 CFR part 1000): The Uniform 
Administrative Requirements codify financial, administrative, 
procurement, and program management standards that Federal award-making 
agencies must follow. Per the Uniform Administrative Requirements, when 
evaluating award Applications, awarding agencies must evaluate each 
Applicant's merits, eligibility, and any risks to the program posed by 
each Applicant. These requirements are designed to ensure that 
Applicants for Federal assistance receive a fair and consistent review 
prior to an award decision. This review will assess items such as the 
Applicant's financial stability, quality of management systems, history 
of performance, and single audit findings. In addition, the Uniform 
Administrative Requirements include guidance on audit requirements and 
other award compliance requirements for award Recipients.
    D. Priorities: The purpose of the CMF is to attract private capital 
for and increase investment in the Development, Preservation, 
Rehabilitation, or Purchase of Affordable Housing for primarily 
Extremely Low-Income, Very Low-Income, and Low-Income Families, as well 
as Economic Development Activities, which, In Conjunction With 
Affordable Housing Activities, implement a Concerted Strategy to 
stabilize or revitalize a Low-Income Area or Underserved Rural Area. To 
pursue these objectives, the CDFI Fund has established the following 
priorities for the FY 2021 Funding Round: (i) Applications where at 
least 20% of all rental Affordable Housing units that will be financed 
and/or supported with FY 2021 CMF Awards are targeted to Very Low-
Income Families and/or at least 20% of all Homeownership Affordable 
Housing units that will be financed and/or supported with FY 2021 CMF 
Awards are targeted to Low-Income Families; (ii) Applications where 
rental Affordable Housing units are located in either Areas of Economic 
Distress (AED) \1\ or High Opportunity Areas (HOA) \2\; and (iii) 
Applications where Homeownership Affordable Housing is either located 
in an AED (targeted to Eligible-Income Families; 120% AMI and below) or 
is targeted to Low-Income Families (80% AMI or below); and (iv) 
Applications proposing to use the CMF Award to leverage private capital 
to finance and/or support Affordable Housing Activities and Economic 
Development Activities. Additionally, the CDFI Fund seeks to fund 
Applications serving geographically diverse Areas of Economic Distress, 
including Metropolitan Areas and Underserved Rural Areas. In 
particular, the priority for geographic diversity includes funding 
highly qualified Applications that serve territories not included in 
the Service Areas of Recipients in the past two CMF rounds (FY 2019 and 
FY

[[Page 50775]]

2020): American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. 
Virgin Islands.
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    \1\ Areas of Economic Distress: Areas of Economic Distress are 
census tracts: (a) Where at least 20% of households that are Very 
Low-Income (50% of AMI or below) spend more than half of their 
income on housing; or (b) that are designated Qualified Opportunity 
Zones under 26 U.S.C 1400Z-1; or (c) that are Low-Income Housing Tax 
Credit Qualified Census Tracts; or (d) where greater than 20% of 
households have incomes below the poverty rate and the rental 
vacancy rate is at least 10%; or (e) where greater than 20% of the 
households have incomes below the poverty rate and the homeownership 
vacancy rate is at least 10%; or (f) are Underserved Rural Areas as 
defined in the CMF Interim Rule (as amended February 8, 2016; 12 CFR 
part 1807). The CDFI Fund will publish a dataset on its website 
indicating which census tracts are designated as Areas of Economic 
Distress for the FY 2021 Round.
    \2\ High Opportunity Area: The CMF Program uses the definition 
of High Opportunity Area found in the Federal Housing Finance 
Agency's Duty to Serve Rule for this term: (a) An area designated by 
the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as a 
``Difficult Development Area'' during any year covered by an 
Enterprise's Underserved Markets Plan (Plan) or in the year prior to 
a Plan's effective date, whose poverty rate falls below 10% (for 
Metropolitan areas) or below 15% (for Non-Metropolitan areas); or 
(b) an area designated by a state or local Qualified Allocation Plan 
(QAP) as a high opportunity area whose poverty rate falls below 10% 
(for Metropolitan areas) or 15% (for Non-Metropolitan areas). The 
CDFI Fund will publish a dataset on its website indicating which 
census tracts are designated as High Opportunity Areas for the FY 
2021 Round.
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    E. Funding limitations: The CDFI Fund reserves the right to fund, 
in whole or in part, any, all, or none of the Applications submitted in 
response to this NOFA.

II. Federal Award Information

    A. Funding Availability: The CDFI Fund plans to award up to $380.2 
million in grants for the CMF FY 2021 Round under this NOFA. Eligible 
organizations of all sizes are encouraged to apply, including new and 
previous Applicants, past CMF Recipients, and Applicants focused on 
Homeownership, Rental housing, or both. HERA prohibits the CDFI Fund 
from obligating more than 15% of the aggregate available in CMF Awards 
to any Applicant, its Subsidiaries and Affiliates in the same funding 
round. In past rounds, the CDFI Fund has typically provided awards 
smaller than the statutory cap. For example, for the FY 2020 funding 
round, awards ranged from $750,000 to $8,000,000, with an average award 
of $3.7 million. Given the larger amount of funding available for the 
FY 2021 CMF round compared with the FY 2020 CMF round, the CDFI Fund 
will consider award requests that significantly exceed the maximum 
award amounts made in past rounds. In addition, the CDFI Fund 
anticipates issuing more awards at various award sizes, including 
smaller awards. Given the administrative and compliance 
responsibilities for Recipients, the CDFI Fund will not accept 
Applications for the FY 2021 CMF Round that request less than $500,000 
and will not provide awards below $500,000 to any CMF Award Recipient 
for the FY 2021 CMF Round.
    The CDFI Fund reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to 
provide a CMF Award in an amount other than that which the Applicant 
requests. However, the Award amount will not exceed the Applicant's 
Award request as stated in its Application, nor will the Award amount 
be less than the Applicant's minimum Award request if one is provided 
in the Application. An Applicant may receive only one Award through the 
FY 2021 CMF Round, though one or more Affiliates of an Applicant, if 
eligible, may separately apply and be awarded.
    B. Types of Awards: The CDFI Fund will provide CMF Awards in the 
form of grants. CMF Awards must be used to support the eligible 
activities as set forth in 12 CFR 1807.301. A CMF Award Recipient may 
not distribute the CMF Award to any Affiliate, Subsidiary, or third-
party entity in any manner that would create a Subrecipient 
relationship (as defined in the Uniform Administrative Requirements) 
without the CDFI Fund's prior written consent. The Recipient of a CMF 
Award must retain all obligations related to the Award. This 
restriction does not prevent a Recipient from using its CMF Award to 
loan to or invest directly in an Affiliate (separate legal entity) or 
in a specific Project being undertaken by an Affiliate, unless the 
Affiliate received a CMF Award in the same funding round.
    C. Limitations on using CMF Awards in conjunction with other CDFI 
Fund awards/allocations: 1. A CMF Award Recipient may not use its CMF 
Award for any project that also receives funding from other CDFI Fund 
program awards or allocations the Recipient (or any of its Affiliates) 
has received, except when the CMF Award dollars are used to finance/
support a different ``phase'' of development in the same Project than 
that financed by other CDFI Fund awards or allocations. The separate 
phases of development financing are: (1) Predevelopment; (2) 
acquisition; (3) site work (preconstruction); (4) construction/
rehabilitation; (5) permanent financing; and (6) bridge financing 
between two or more phases. Additionally, one or more Affiliated 
entities may not use CMF Award funds from the same funding round to 
finance/support the same Project, regardless of whether the funds are 
used in different phases of the Project.
    The phase restriction above does not apply to the Recipient's prior 
CMF Awards. The Recipient may combine its multiple CMF Awards to 
provide financing on any Project, including financing the same phase of 
any Project. However, the Recipient may not deem the same costs as 
Eligible Project Costs under multiple CMF Awards and must prorate the 
unit production performance across its multiple CMF Awards. Similarly, 
Affiliates with CMF Awards from different rounds may only use those 
Awards to finance the same Project if they prorate Eligible Projects 
and unit production performance among the Affiliates (i.e., Affiliates 
may not use the same Eligible Project Costs or housing units to meet 
Assistance Agreement requirements under separate CMF Awards).
    If providing Homeownership assistance, a CMF Award may be used in 
conjunction with awards/allocations from other CDFI Fund programs only 
if the Project can be divided into such phases, and the CMF Award is 
used in a different phase from the other CDFI Fund program awards/
allocations. To clarify, a CMF Award cannot be used for a Homeownership 
property that is permanently financed (or supported) by both the 
Recipient's (or any of its Affiliates') CMF Award and an award/
allocation from another CDFI Fund program (e.g., down payment 
assistance funded from CMF Award may not be combined with a permanent 
mortgage funded from another CDFI Fund program).
    2. Costs financed and/or supported by the Recipient's other awards/
allocations from CDFI Fund programs, including awards from prior CMF 
rounds, may not be counted or reported as Leveraged Costs for the CMF 
Award pursuant to this NOFA as further set forth in the Assistance 
Agreement. While the Recipient may combine its CMF Award pursuant to 
this NOFA with prior issued CMF Awards to finance/support the same 
Project, each CMF Award must separately meet the program requirements 
as outlined in the applicable Assistance Agreement and the CMF Interim 
Rule (12 CFR part 1807).
    In all cases, the CMF Award remains subject to the following 
restriction imposed by the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program: Award funds 
received under any CDFI Fund program cannot be used by any participant 
of the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program, including Qualified Issuers, 
Eligible CDFIs, and Secondary Borrowers, to pay principal, interest, 
fees, administrative costs, or issuance costs (including Bond Issuance 
Fees) related to the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program, or to fund the Risk 
Share Pool for a Bond Issue (all capitalized terms used in this 
sentence, other than ``CMF Award,'' shall have the meanings ascribed to 
them in the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program regulations and applicable 
guidance).
    D. Anticipated Start Date and Period of Performance: The CDFI Fund 
anticipates the period of performance for the FY 2021 CMF Round to 
begin in early 2022. The period of performance for each CMF Award 
begins with the date that the CDFI Fund announces the Recipients of FY 
2021 CMF Awards and continues until the end of the ten-year period of 
affordability for all Projects financed and/or supported with the CMF 
Award, as set forth at 12 CFR 1807.401(d) and 12 CFR 1807.402, and as 
further set forth in the Assistance Agreement, during which time the 
Recipient must meet certain Performance Goals.
    E. Eligible Activities: A CMF Award must support or finance 
activities that attract private capital for and increase investment in 
(i) the Development, Preservation, Rehabilitation, or Purchase of 
Affordable Housing for primarily Low-, Very Low-, and

[[Page 50776]]

Extremely Low-Income Families, and (ii) Economic Development 
Activities. CMF Awards may only be used as follows: (i) To provide Loan 
Loss Reserves, (ii) to capitalize a Revolving Loan Fund, (iii) to 
capitalize an Affordable Housing Fund, (iv) to capitalize a fund to 
support Economic Development Activities, (v) for Risk-Sharing Loans, or 
(vi) to provide Loan Guarantees. No more than 30% of a CMF Award may be 
used for Economic Development Activities. For the FY 2021 CMF Round, 
the CDFI Fund will allow all Recipients to use up to 5% of their CMF 
Award for Direct Administrative Expenses. The amount available for 
Direct Administrative Expenses may only be used for direct costs (as 
defined by the Uniform Administrative Requirements) incurred by the 
Recipient and related to the financing and/or support of a Project. The 
CDFI Fund considers the tracking of impacts and outcomes associated 
with Projects financed and/or supported by a CMF Award to fall under 
Direct Administrative Expenses. Any portion of the amount available for 
Direct Administrative Expenses may be used for direct costs related to 
the effective tracking and evaluation of program or evidence-based 
outcomes for Projects.

III. Eligibility Information

    A. Eligible Applicants: In order to be eligible to apply for a CMF 
Award, an Applicant must either be a Certified CDFI or a Nonprofit 
Organization, as defined in 12 CFR 1807.104. Table 2 indicates the 
criteria that each category of Applicant must meet in order to be 
eligible for a CMF Award pursuant to this NOFA. Note: A Certified CDFI 
that is also a Nonprofit Organization only needs to meet the Certified 
CDFI eligibility criteria described in Table 2, below, in order to be 
eligible for a CMF Award.

               Table 2--Applicant Eligibility Requirements
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           Category                     Eligibility requirements
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Certified CDFI...............   Has been in existence as a
                                legally formed entity for at least 3
                                years prior to the AMIS Application
                                deadline under this NOFA;
                                Has been determined by the CDFI
                                Fund to meet the CDFI certification
                                requirements set forth in 12 CFR
                                1805.201 and as verified in the CDFI's
                                AMIS account as of the publication date
                                of this NOFA; and
                                Has not been notified in writing
                                by the CDFI Fund that its certification
                                has been terminated.
                                In cases where the CDFI Fund has
                                provided a Certified CDFI with written
                                notification that it no longer meets one
                                or more certification standards and has
                                been given an opportunity to cure, the
                                CDFI Fund will continue to consider this
                                Applicant to be a Certified CDFI until
                                it has received a final determination
                                letter that its certification has been
                                terminated.
                                Has audited financial statements
                                encompassing its two most recently
                                completed fiscal years prior to the
                                publication date of this NOFA. A
                                Regulated Institution that files call
                                reports to its regulator is exempt from
                                this requirement and must attach call
                                reports for its two most recently
                                completed fiscal years in lieu of
                                audited financial statements.
Nonprofit Organization.......   Has been in existence as a
                                legally formed entity for at least 3
                                years prior to the AMIS Application
                                deadline under this NOFA;
                                Meets the definition of
                                Nonprofit Organization set forth in 12
                                CFR 1807.104.
                                Demonstrates, through articles
                                of incorporation, by-laws, or other
                                board-approved documents, that the
                                development or management of affordable
                                housing are among its principal
                                purposes; and
                                Demonstrates by providing an
                                attestation in the Application that at
                                least 33.3% of its total assets are
                                dedicated to the development or
                                management of affordable housing.
                                Has audited financial statements
                                encompassing its two most recently
                                completed fiscal years prior to the
                                publication date of this NOFA. A
                                Regulated Institution that files call
                                reports to its regulator is exempt from
                                this requirement.
Debarment/Do Not Pay            The CDFI Fund will conduct a
 Verification.                  debarment check and reserves the right,
                                in its sole discretion, to not consider
                                an Application submitted by an Applicant
                                (or Affiliate of an Applicant) as
                                eligible if the Applicant and/or
                                Affiliate is delinquent on any Federal
                                debt.
                                The Do Not Pay Business Center
                                was developed to support Federal
                                agencies in their efforts to reduce the
                                number of improper payments made through
                                programs funded by the Federal
                                government. The Do Not Pay Business
                                Center provides delinquency information
                                to the CDFI Fund to assist with the
                                debarment check.
System for Award Management     Each Applicant, including
 (SAM).                         Affiliated Applicants, must have its own
                                active SAM registration in order to
                                submit the required Application
                                materials through Grants.gov.
                                SAM is a web-based, government-
                                wide application that collects,
                                validates, stores, and disseminates
                                business information about the federal
                                government's trading partners in support
                                of the contract awards, grants, and
                                electronic payment processes. See
                                SAM.gov for more information.
                                Applicants must have a login.gov
                                account to sign into SAM. Applicants
                                must also have a DUNS number and an EIN
                                in order to register in SAM.
                                Applicants must complete
                                registration in SAM in order to be able
                                to complete the Grants.gov registration
                                and submit an SF-424.
                                The CDFI Fund reserves the right
                                to deem an Application ineligible if the
                                Applicant's SAM account expires during
                                the Application evaluation period, or is
                                set to expire before March 1, 2022, and
                                the Applicant does not re-activate or
                                renew (as applicable) the account within
                                the deadlines that the CDFI Fund
                                communicates to affected Applicants
                                during the Application evaluation
                                period.
Application type and            Each Applicant must submit the
 submission method through      required Application documents listed in
 Grants.gov and Awards          Table 4.
 Management Information
 System (AMIS).
                                The CDFI Fund will only accept
                                Applications that use the official
                                Application templates provided on the
                                Grants.gov and AMIS websites.
                                Applications submitted with alternative
                                or altered templates will not be
                                considered.

[[Page 50777]]

 
                                Applicants undergo a two-step
                                process that requires the submission of
                                Application documents by two separate
                                deadlines in two different locations:
                                (1) The SF-424 in Grants.gov and (2) all
                                other Required Application Documents in
                                AMIS.
                                Grants.gov and the SF-424
                                Mandatory form:
                               [cir] Applicants must submit the Office
                                of Management and Budget (OMB)-approved
                                Standard Form (SF) 424 Mandatory
                                (Application for Federal Assistance)
                                form in Grants.gov.
                               [cir] All Applicants must register in the
                                Grants.gov system to successfully submit
                                an Application. The Grants.gov
                                registration process can take 30 days or
                                more to complete. The CDFI Fund strongly
                                encourages Applicants to register as
                                early as possible to meet the deadlines
                                in Table 1.
                               [cir] The SF-424 must be submitted in
                                Grants.gov before the other Application
                                materials are submitted in AMIS.
                                Applicants are strongly encouraged to
                                submit their SF-424 as early as possible
                                via the Grants.gov portal.
                               [cir] Because the SF-424 is part of the
                                Application, if the SF-424 is not
                                accepted by Grants.gov by the applicable
                                deadline, the Applicant will not be able
                                to submit the AMIS Application.
                               [cir] The SF-424 must be submitted under
                                the FY 2021 CMF Funding Opportunity
                                Number.
                               [cir] The CDFI Fund will not extend the
                                SF-424 application deadline for any
                                Applicant that started the Grants.gov
                                registration process on, before, or
                                after the date of the publication of
                                this NOFA, but did not complete it by
                                the deadline, except in the case of a
                                Federal government administrative or
                                technological error that directly
                                resulted in a late submission of the SF-
                                424.
                                AMIS:
                               [cir] Applicants must submit all other
                                required Application materials in AMIS.
                               [cir] AMIS is the CDFI Fund's enterprise-
                                wide information technology system that
                                will be used to submit and store
                                organization and Application information
                                with the CDFI Fund.
                               [cir] Applicants are only allowed one
                                Capital Magnet Fund.
                               [cir] Application submission per funding
                                round in AMIS.
                               [cir] Affiliated entities must submit
                                every component of the Application
                                separate from its Affiliates.
                               [cir] Each Application in AMIS must be
                                signed by an Authorized Representative.
                                The Authorized Representative is an
                                employee or officer of the Applicant,
                                authorized to sign legal documents on
                                behalf of the organization. Consultants
                                working on behalf of the organization
                                may not be designated as Authorized
                                Representatives.
                               [cir] Only an Authorized Representative
                                or Application Point of Contact included
                                in the Application may submit the
                                Application in AMIS.
                               [cir] All Required Application Documents
                                must be submitted in AMIS on or before
                                the deadline specified in Table 1.
                               [cir] The CDFI Fund will not extend the
                                deadline for any Applicant except in the
                                case of a Federal government
                                administrative or technological error
                                that directly resulted in the late
                                submission of the Application in AMIS.
Employer Identification         Each Applicant must have a
 Number (EIN).                  unique EIN assigned by the Internal
                                Revenue Service (IRS).
                                The CDFI Fund will reject an
                                Application submitted with the EIN of a
                                parent or Affiliate of the Applicant.
                                The EIN in the Applicant's AMIS
                                account must match the EIN on the SF-424
                                submitted through Grants.gov and the EIN
                                in the Applicant's System for Award
                                Management (SAM) account. The CDFI Fund
                                reserves the right to reject an
                                Application if the EIN in the
                                Applicant's AMIS account does not match
                                the EIN on the SF-424 and/or its SAM
                                account.
                                The EIN of the Applicant must be
                                entered into the AMIS organization
                                profile by the applicable deadline in
                                Table 1.
DUNS number..................   Pursuant to OMB guidance (68 FR
                                38402), an Applicant must apply using
                                its unique DUNS number in Grants.gov.
                                The CDFI Fund will reject an
                                Application submitted with the DUNS
                                number of a parent or Affiliate of the
                                Applicant.
                                The DUNS number of the Applicant
                                must be entered into the AMIS
                                organization profile by the applicable
                                deadline in Table 1.
                                The DUNS number in the
                                Applicant's AMS account must match the
                                Applicant's DUNS number on the SF-424
                                submitted through Grants.gov and its
                                SAM.gov account. The CDFI Fund reserves
                                the right to reject an Application if
                                the DUNS number in the Applicant's AMIS
                                account does not match the DUNS number
                                on the SF-424 and/or SAM.gov accounts.
AMIS Account.................   Each Applicant, including
                                Affiliated Applicants, must register as
                                an organization in AMIS and submit all
                                required Application materials through
                                the AMIS portal.
                                If the Applicant does not fully
                                register its organization in AMIS by the
                                deadline set forth in Table 1, its
                                Application will be rejected without
                                further consideration.
                                The Authorized Representative
                                and Application Point of Contact must be
                                included as ``users'' in the Applicant's
                                AMIS account.
                                An Applicant that fails to
                                properly register and update its AMIS
                                account may miss important
                                communications from the CDFI Fund or not
                                be able to successfully submit an
                                Application.
501(c)(4) status.............   Pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 1611, any
                                501(c)(4) organization that engages in
                                lobbying activities is not eligible to
                                apply for or receive a CMF Award.
Compliance with                 An Applicant may not be eligible
 Nondiscrimination and Equal    to receive an award if proceedings have
 Opportunity Statutes,          been instituted against it in, by, or
 Regulations, and Executive     before any court, governmental agency,
 Orders.                        or administrative body, and a final
                                determination, issued within the last 3
                                years as of the publication date of this
                                NOFA, indicates the Applicant has
                                violated any of the following laws:
                                Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of
                                1964, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2000d);
                                Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of
                                1973 (29 U.S.C. 794); the Age
                                Discrimination Act of 1975 (42 U.S.C.
                                6101-6107); Title VIII of the Civil
                                Rights Act of 1968, as amended (42
                                U.S.C. 3601 et seq.); Executive Order
                                13166, Improving Access to Services for
                                Persons with Limited English
                                Proficiency, and Title IX of the
                                Education Amendments of 1972.

[[Page 50778]]

 
Depository Institution          In the case where a CDFI
 Holding Company Applicant.     Depository Institution Holding Company
                                Applicant intends to carry out the
                                activities of its award through its
                                Subsidiary CDFI Insured Depository
                                Institution, the Application must be
                                submitted by the CDFI Depository
                                Institution Holding Company and reflect
                                the activities and financial performance
                                of the Subsidiary CDFI Insured
                                Depository Institution.
                                The Authorized Representative of
                                the Depository Institution Holding
                                Company Applicant must certify that the
                                information included in the Application
                                represents that of the Subsidiary CDFI
                                Insured Depository Institution, and that
                                the Award will be used to support the
                                Subsidiary CDFI Insured Depository
                                Institution for the eligible activities
                                outlined in the Application.
Regulated Institutions \3\...   To be eligible for an Award,
                                each Regulated Institution Applicant
                                must have a CAMELS/CAMEL composite
                                rating (rating for banks and credit
                                unions, respectively), by its Federal
                                regulator of at least ``3.''
                                Organizations with CAMELS/CAMEL
                                composite ratings of ``4'' or ``5'' will
                                not be eligible for awards.
                                Organizations with a Prompt
                                Corrective Action directive from its
                                regulator will not be eligible for
                                awards.
                                The CDFI Fund will also evaluate
                                material concerns identified by the
                                Appropriate Federal Banking Agency in
                                determining eligibility of Regulated
                                Institution Applicants.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Any Applicant that does not meet the criteria in Table 2 is 
ineligible to apply for a CMF Award under this NOFA. Further, Section 
III.B describes additional considerations applicable to prior 
Recipients and/or allocatees under any CDFI Fund program.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ Regulated Institutions include Insured Credit Unions, 
Insured Depository Institutions, State-Insured Credit Unions, and 
Depository Institution Holding Companies.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    B. Prior Award Recipients: Eligibility determinations in prior 
funding rounds have no bearing on and do not guarantee eligibility in 
this round. Prior CMF Award Recipients and prior award recipients of 
other CDFI Fund programs will be eligible to apply under this NOFA if 
they meet the eligibility criteria in Table 2, except as noted in Table 
3.

 Table 3--Eligibility Requirements for Applicants Which Are Prior Award/
                          Allocation Recipients
------------------------------------------------------------------------
           Criteria                           Description
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pending resolution of           If an Applicant (or Affiliate of
 noncompliance.                 an Applicant) that is a prior recipient
                                or allocatee under any CDFI Fund
                                program: (i) Has demonstrated it has
                                been in noncompliance with a previous
                                assistance agreement, award agreement,
                                allocation agreement, bond loan
                                agreement, or agreement to guarantee and
                                (ii) the CDFI Fund has yet to make a
                                final determination as to whether the
                                entity is in noncompliance with or
                                default of its previous agreement, the
                                CDFI Fund will consider the Applicant's
                                Application under this NOFA pending full
                                resolution, in the sole determination of
                                the CDFI Fund, of the noncompliance.
Default or Noncompliance        The CDFI Fund will not consider
 status.                        an Application submitted by an Applicant
                                that is a prior CDFI Fund award
                                recipient or allocatee under any CDFI
                                Fund program if, as of the AMIS
                                Application deadline of this NOFA, the
                                CDFI Fund has made a final determination
                                in writing that such Applicant (or
                                Affiliate of such Applicant) is in
                                noncompliance with or default of a
                                previously executed assistance
                                agreement, award agreement, allocation
                                agreement, bond loan agreement, or
                                agreement to guarantee.
                                Such entities will be ineligible
                                to apply for an Award pursuant to this
                                NOFA if the CDFI Fund has provided
                                written notification that such entity is
                                ineligible to apply for or receive any
                                future CDFI Fund awards or allocations.
                                Such entities will be ineligible to
                                submit an application for such time
                                period as specified by the CDFI Fund in
                                writing.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    C. Contacting the CDFI Fund: Applicants that are prior Recipients 
and/or allocatees under any CDFI Fund program are advised to comply 
with requirements specified in an Assistance Agreement, allocation 
agreement, bond loan agreement, or agreement to guarantee, and to 
ensure their Affiliates are in compliance with any agreements. All 
outstanding reporting and compliance questions should be directed to 
the Office of Certification, Compliance Monitoring, and Evaluation help 
desk by AMIS Service Requests (select ``Capital Magnet Fund'' for 
``Program''), via email [email protected], or by telephone at (202) 
653-0421. For general questions, organizations with an AMIS account are 
strongly encouraged to submit a Service Request in AMIS using ``Capital 
Magnet Fund'' for the Service Request program. Members of the public 
that do not have AMIS accounts can contact Capital Magnet Fund staff 
via email at [email protected] The CDFI Fund will not respond to 
Applicants' reporting, compliance, or disbursement telephone calls or 
email inquiries that are received after 5:00 p.m. ET on November 4, 
2021 until after the Application deadline. The CDFI Fund will respond 
to technical issues related to AMIS Accounts through 5:00 p.m. ET on 
November 9, 2021, via AMIS Service Requests, or at [email protected], 
or by telephone at (202) 653-0422.
    D. Cost sharing or matching funds requirements: Not applicable.
    E. Other Eligibility Criteria:
    1. Affiliates: As part of the Application review process, the CDFI 
Fund considers whether Applicants are Affiliates, as such term is 
defined in 12 CFR1807.104. Affiliates may submit separate Applications 
under this NOFA. However, each Affiliate submitting an Application must 
meet all of the eligibility requirements on its own behalf and may not 
rely on any other organization for eligibility purposes. Moreover, an 
Applicant must propose a substantially different strategy than its 
Affiliate(s) applying under this NOFA. It must also present a distinct 
project pipeline and rely on its own track record and not the track 
record of any Affiliate also submitting an Application under this NOFA. 
If the CDFI Fund deems that the Applications submitted

[[Page 50779]]

by Affiliates contain overlapping or substantially similar pipelines or 
strategies, the CDFI Fund may, at its discretion, reject all such 
Applications received or select only one of the submitted Applications 
to deem eligible, assuming that Application meets all other eligibility 
criteria in Section III of this NOFA. Collectively, all Affiliates may 
not request more than 15% of the total amount available under this 
NOFA.
    2. An Applicant will not be eligible to receive a CMF Award if the 
Applicant fails to demonstrate in the Application that its CMF Award 
would result in Eligible Project Costs (Leveraged Costs plus those 
costs funded by the CMF Award) that equal at least 10 times the amount 
of the CMF Award. Note that no costs attributable to Direct 
Administrative Expenses may be considered Eligible Project Costs.

IV. Application and Submission Information

    A. Address to Request Application Package: Application materials 
can be found on Grants.gov and the CDFI Fund's website at 
www.cdfifund.gov/cmf. If an Applicant is unable to access Grants.gov or 
the CDFI Fund's website, an Applicant may request a paper version of 
any Application material by contacting the CDFI Fund Help Desk by email 
at [email protected] or by phone at (202) 653-0421.
    B. Content and Form of Application Submission: The CDFI Fund will 
post to its website, at www.cdfifund.gov/cmf, instructions for 
accessing and submitting an Application. Detailed Application content 
requirements are found in the Application and related guidance 
documents. All Applications must be prepared in English and 
calculations must be made in U.S. dollars. Table 4 lists the required 
funding Application documents for the FY 2021 CMF Round. Applicants 
must submit all required documents for the Application to be deemed 
complete. Please be aware that an Applicant that fails to submit 
audited financial statements for its two most recently completed fiscal 
years will be deemed as not having a complete Application and will be 
considered ineligible. A Regulated Institution that submits call 
reports for its two most recently completed fiscal years is exempted 
from this requirement. The CDFI Fund reserves the right to request and 
review other pertinent or public information that has not been 
specifically requested in this NOFA or the Application. Information 
submitted by the Applicant that the CDFI Fund has not specifically 
requested will not be reviewed or considered as part of the 
Application. Information submitted must accurately reflect the 
Applicant's activities and/or its Subsidiary Insured Depository 
Institution, in the case where the Applicant is an Insured Depository 
Institution Holding Company.

                                     Table 4--Funding Application Documents
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 Application document                        Submission format                Required?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Standard Form (SF) 424 Mandatory Form................  Fillable PDF in Grants.gov..  Required for all
                                                                                      Applicants.
CMF Application......................................  AMIS........................  Required for all
                                                                                      Applicants.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         ATTACHMENTS TO THE APPLICATION
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Audited financial statements for the most recently     PDF in AMIS.................  Required for all
 completed 2 fiscal years. Regulated Institutions may                                 Applicants.
 submit call reports in lieu of audited financial
 statements.
Any Management Letters, if applicable, related to the  PDF in AMIS.................  Required for all
 audited financial statements for the most recently                                   Applicants.
 completed 2 fiscal years. The Management Letter is
 prepared by the Applicant's auditor and provides
 communication on internal control over financial
 reporting, compliance, and other matters.\4\ If no
 Management Letter was issued for either of the two
 most recently completed fiscal years, the Applicant
 must attach a document explicitly stating such.
State Charter, Articles of Incorporation, authorizing  PDF in AMIS.................  Required only for
 statute, or other establishing documents designating                                 Applicants that are not
 that the Applicant is a nonprofit or not-for-profit                                  Certified CDFIs.
 entity under the laws of the organization's State of
 formation.
A certification demonstrating tax exempt status from   PDF in AMIS.................  Required only for
 the IRS. Only Applicants that are governmental                                       Applicants that are not
 instrumentalities, and are unable to provide such                                    Certified CDFIs.
 determination from the IRS and meet all other
 eligibility requirements, must submit a legal
 opinion from counsel, in form and substance
 acceptable to the CDFI Fund, opining that the
 Applicant is exempt from Federal income tax.
Articles of incorporation, by-laws, authorizing        PDF in AMIS.................  Required only for
 statute, or other documents demonstrating that the                                   Applicants that are not
 Applicant has a principal purpose of managing or                                     Certified CDFIs.
 developing affordable housing.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The CDFI Fund has a sequential, two-step process that requires the 
submission of Application documents in separate systems with two 
separate deadlines. The SF-424 must be submitted through Grants.gov and 
all other Application documents through the AMIS portal. The CDFI Fund 
will not accept Applications via email, mail, facsimile, or other forms 
of communication, except in extremely rare circumstances that have been 
pre-approved by the CDFI Fund. The separate Application deadlines for 
the SF-424 and all other Application materials are listed in Tables 1 
and 6. Only the Authorized Representative for the Organization or 
Application Point of Contact designated in AMIS may submit the 
Application through AMIS.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ The Management Letter may include suggestions for improving 
identified weaknesses and deficiencies and/or best practice 
suggestions for items that may not be considered to be weaknesses or 
deficiencies. The Management Letter may also include items that are 
not required to be disclosed in the annual audited financial 
statements. The Management Letter is distinct from the auditor's 
Opinion Letter, which is required by Generally Accepted Accounting 
Principles (GAAP). Management Letters are not required by GAAP and 
are sometimes provided by the auditor as a separate letter from the 
audit itself.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit the SF-424 as early as 
possible through Grants.gov in order to provide

[[Page 50780]]

sufficient time to resolve any potential submission issues. Applicants 
should contact Grants.gov directly with questions related to the 
registration or submission process, as the CDFI Fund does not 
administer the Grants.gov system.
    The CDFI Fund strongly encourages Applicants to start the 
Grants.gov registration process as soon as possible, as it may take 
several weeks to complete (refer to the following link: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/register.html). An Applicant that has 
previously registered with Grants.gov must verify that its registration 
is current and active. If an Applicant has not previously registered 
with Grants.gov, it must first successfully register in SAM.gov, as 
described in Section IV.D below.
    C. Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS): 
Pursuant to the Uniform Administrative Requirements, each Applicant 
must provide as part of its Application submission a valid Dun & 
Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number. Any Applicant 
without a DUNS number will not be able to register in SAM or register 
and submit an Application in the Grants.gov system. Please allow 
sufficient time for Dun & Bradstreet to respond to inquiries and/or 
requests for DUNS numbers.
    D. System for Award Management (SAM): Any entity applying for 
Federal grants or other forms of Federal financial assistance through 
Grants.gov must be registered in SAM before submitting its Application 
materials through that platform. When accessing SAM.gov, users will be 
asked to create a login.gov user account (if they don't already have 
one). Going forward, users will use their login.gov username and 
password every time when logging into SAM.gov. The SAM registration 
process can take four weeks or longer to complete so Applicants are 
strongly encouraged to begin the registration process upon publication 
of this NOFA in order to avoid potential Application submission issues. 
An original, signed notarized letter identifying the authorized entity 
administrator for the entity associated with the DUNS number is 
required by SAM and must be mailed to the Federal Service Desk. This 
requirement is applicable to new entities registering in SAM or on 
existing registrations where there is no existing entity administrator. 
Existing entities with registered entity administrators do not need to 
submit an annual notarized letter. Applicants without DUNS and/or EIN 
numbers should allow for additional time as an Applicant cannot 
register in SAM without those required numbers. Applicants that have 
previously completed the SAM registration process must verify that 
their SAM accounts are current and active.
    Applicants are required to maintain a current and active SAM 
account at all times during which it has an active Federal award or an 
Application under consideration for an award by a Federal awarding 
agency.
    The CDFI Fund will not consider any Applicant that fails to 
properly register or activate its SAM account and, as a result, is 
unable to submit the SF-424 in Grants.gov or the Application by the 
applicable Application deadline. Applicants must contact SAM directly 
with questions related to registration or SAM account changes, as the 
CDFI Fund does not maintain this system. For more information about 
SAM, please visit https://www.sam.gov or call 866-606-8220.

            Table 5_Grants.gov Registration Timeline Summary
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       Estimated minimum
              Step                      Agency         time to complete
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Obtain a DUNS number............  Dun & Bradstreet..  One Week *
Obtain an EIN Number............  Internal Revenue    Two Weeks *
                                   Service (IRS).
Register in SAM.gov.............  System for Award    Four Weeks *
                                   Management (SAM).
Register in Grants.gov..........  Grants.gov........  One Week **
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Applicants are advised that the stated duration are estimates only and
  represent minimum timeframes. Actual timeframes may take longer. The
  CDFI Fund will not consider any Applicant that fails to properly
  register or activate its SAM account, has not yet received a DUNS
  number, and/or fails to properly register in Grants.gov.
** This estimate assumes an Applicant has a DUNS number, an EIN number,
  and is already registered in SAM.gov.

    E. Submission Dates and Times:
    1. Submission Deadlines: Table 6 lists the deadlines for submission 
of the documents related to the FY 2021 CMF Funding Round:

                                  Table 6--FY 2021 CMF Deadlines for Applicants
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
               Document                        Deadline         Time--eastern time (ET)     Submission method
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SF-424 Mandatory form................  October 12, 2021.......  11:59 pm ET............  Electronically via
                                                                                          Grants.gov.
Create AMIS Account (if the Applicant  October 12, 2021.......  11:59 pm ET............  Electronically via
 does not already have one).                                                              AMIS.
CMF Application and Required           November 9, 2021.......  5:00 pm ET.............  Electronically via
 Attachments.                                                                             AMIS.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    2. Confirmation of Application Submission in Grants.gov and AMIS: 
Applicants are required to submit the SF-424 Mandatory Form through the 
Grants.gov system under the FY 2021 Capital Magnet Fund Funding 
Opportunity Number (listed at the beginning of this NOFA). All other 
required Application materials must be submitted through the AMIS 
website. Application materials submitted through each system are due by 
the applicable deadline listed in Table 6. Applicants must submit the 
SF-424 by an earlier deadline than that of the other required 
Application materials in AMIS. If a valid SF-424 is not submitted 
through Grants.gov by the corresponding deadline, the Applicant will 
not be able to submit the additional Application materials in AMIS, and 
the Application will be deemed ineligible. Thus, Applicants are 
strongly encouraged to submit the SF-424 as

[[Page 50781]]

early as possible in the Grants.gov portal, given that potential 
submission issues may impact the ability to submit a complete 
Application. Applicants must also ensure that their AMIS account 
contains the correct EIN and DUNS numbers by the deadline listed in 
Table 1 of this NOFA.
    (a) Grants.gov Submission Information: Each Applicant will receive 
an initial email from Grants.gov immediately after submitting the SF-
424, confirming that the submission has entered the Grants.gov system. 
This email will contain a tracking number for the submitted SF-424. 
Within 48 hours, the Applicant will receive a second email which will 
indicate if the submitted SF-424 was either successfully validated or 
rejected with errors. However, Applicants should not rely on the email 
notification from Grants.gov to confirm that their SF-424 was 
validated.
    Applicants are strongly encouraged to use the tracking number 
provided in the first email to closely monitor the status of their SF-
424 by checking Grants.gov directly. The Application materials 
submitted in AMIS are not accepted by the CDFI Fund until Grants.gov 
has validated the SF-424. In the Grants.gov Workspace function, please 
note that the Application package has not been submitted if you have 
not received a tracking number.
    (b) AMIS Submission Information: AMIS is a web-based portal where 
Applicants will directly enter their Application information and add 
required attachments listed in Table 4. Each Applicant must register as 
an organization in AMIS in order to submit the required Application 
materials through this portal. AMIS will verify that the Applicant 
provided the minimum information required to submit an Application. 
Applicants are responsible for the quality and accuracy of the 
information in the Application and in the attachments included in the 
Application submitted in AMIS. The CDFI Fund strongly encourages the 
Applicant to allow sufficient time to confirm the Application content, 
review the material submitted, and remedy any issues prior to the 
Application deadline. Applicants can only submit one Application in 
AMIS. Upon submission, the Application will be locked and cannot be 
resubmitted, edited, or modified in any way. The CDFI Fund will not 
unlock or allow multiple AMIS Application submissions.
    Prior to submission, each Application in AMIS must be signed by an 
Authorized Representative. An Authorized Representative is an employee 
or officer that has the authority to legally bind and make 
representations on behalf of the Applicant; consultants working on 
behalf of the Applicant cannot be designated as Authorized 
Representatives. The Applicant may include consultants as Application 
point(s) of contact, who will be included on any communication 
regarding the Application and will be able to submit the Application 
but cannot digitally sign the Application. The Authorized 
Representative and/or Application point(s) of contact must be included 
as ``Contacts'' in the Applicant's AMIS account. The Authorized 
Representative must also be a ``user'' in AMIS. An Applicant that fails 
to properly register and update its AMIS account may miss important 
communications from the CDFI Fund or fail to submit an Application 
successfully. Only an Authorized Representative for the organization or 
an Application point of contact can submit the Application in AMIS. 
After submitting its Application, the Applicant will not be permitted 
to revise or modify its Application in any way.
    3. Multiple Application Submissions: Each Applicant is only 
permitted to submit one complete Application in AMIS. However, the CDFI 
Fund does not administer Grants.gov, which does allow for multiple 
submissions of the SF-424. If an Applicant submits multiple SF-424 
Applications in Grants.gov, the CDFI Fund will only review the SF-424 
Application submitted in Grants.gov that is attached to the AMIS 
Application.
    4. Late Submission: The CDFI Fund will not accept an Application if 
a valid SF-424 is not submitted by Grants.gov by the SF-424 deadline. 
Additionally, the CDFI Fund will not accept an Application if it is not 
signed by an Authorized Representative and submitted in AMIS by the 
Application deadline. In either case, the CDFI Fund will not review any 
material submitted and the Application will be deemed ineligible, 
except where the submission delay was a direct result of a Federal 
government administrative or technological error. This exception 
includes any errors associated with Grants.gov, SAM.gov, AMIS, or any 
other applicable government system. Please note that this exception 
does not apply to errors arising from obtaining a DUNS number from Dun 
& Bradstreet, which is not a government entity. An Applicant unable to 
make timely submission of its Application due to any errors in the 
process of obtaining a DUNS number will not be allowed to submit its 
Application after the Application deadline has passed.
    (a) SF-424 Late Submission: In cases where a Federal government 
administrative or technological error directly resulted in the late 
submission of the SF-424, the Applicant must submit a Service Request 
in AMIS for acceptance of the late SF-424 submission and include 
documentation of the error no later than two business days after the 
SF-424 deadline. The CDFI Fund will not respond to requests for 
acceptance of late SF-424 submissions after that time period. 
Applicants must submit late SF-424 submission requests to the CDFI Fund 
via an AMIS service request to the CMF Program with a subject line of 
``CMF Late SF-424 Submission Request.''
    (b) Application Late Submission: In cases where a Federal 
government administrative or technological error directly resulted in a 
late submission of the Application in AMIS, the Applicant must submit a 
Service Request in AMIS for acceptance of the late Application 
submission and include documentation of the error no later than two 
business days after the Application deadline. The CDFI Fund will not 
respond to requests for acceptance of late Application submissions 
after that time period. Applicants must submit late Application 
submission requests to the CDFI Fund via an AMIS service request to the 
CMF Program with a subject line of ``CMF Late Application Submission 
Request.''
    5. Intergovernmental Review: Not Applicable.
    6. Funding Restrictions: CMF Awards are limited by the following:
    (a) A Recipient shall use CMF Award funds only for the eligible 
activities set forth in 12 CFR 1807.301 and as described in Section 
II.C and Section II.E of this NOFA and its Assistance Agreement.
    (b) A Recipient may not disburse CMF Award funds to an Affiliate, 
Subsidiary, or any other entity in any manner that would create a 
Subrecipient relationship (as defined in the Uniform Administrative 
Requirements) without the CDFI Fund's prior written approval.
    (c) CMF Award dollars shall only be paid to the Recipient.
    (d) The CDFI Fund, in its sole discretion, may pay CMF Awards in 
amounts, or under terms and conditions, which are different from those 
requested by an Applicant. However, the CDFI Fund will not grant an 
Award in excess of the amount requested by the Applicant.

[[Page 50782]]

V. Application Review Information

    A. Criteria: All complete and eligible Applications will be 
reviewed in accordance with the criteria and procedures described in 
the CMF Interim Rule, this NOFA, the Application guidance, and the 
Uniform Administrative Requirements. As part of the review process, the 
CDFI Fund reserves the right to contact the Applicant by telephone, 
email, mail, or through an on-site visit for the sole purpose of 
clarifying or confirming Application information at any point during 
the review process. The CDFI Fund reserves the right to collect such 
additional information from Applicants as it deems appropriate. If 
contacted, the Applicant must respond within the time period 
communicated by the CDFI Fund or its Application may be rejected. For 
the sake of clarity, specific Application evaluation criteria are 
described in the context of the overall Application review and 
selection process described in Section V.B. below.
    B. Review and Selection Process: The CDFI Fund will evaluate each 
complete and eligible Application using the multi-phase review process 
described in this Section. For the first part of the review process, 
the External Review, the Applications will be grouped into two 
categories depending on their approach: (1) Financing entities and (2) 
affordable housing developers/managers. All Applicants will be able to 
select whether they are applying with a financing entity approach or 
with an affordable housing developer/manager approach. However, all 
eligibility requirements, as either a certified CDFI or Nonprofit 
Organization, must be met. In most cases, CDFIs will select the 
financing entity approach; however, a CDFI that is applying with a 
strategy to act as an affordable housing developer and has a track 
record as an affordable housing developer, can select the affordable 
housing developer/manager entity approach. The Applications of these 
two groups will be evaluated based on the criteria listed in this 
section. Where appropriate, the CDFI Fund will use different criteria 
in order to evaluate the financial health, capacity, portfolio 
performance, and projected activities of the Applicant based on these 
distinct approaches. These differences are noted in the following 
sections and the Application Instructions.
    1. External Review and Quantitative Assessment: All eligible 
Applications will be evaluated through a Quantitative Assessment and 
External Review. The Quantitative Assessment evaluates the 
Application's quantitative factors and is performed automatically in 
AMIS. In the External Review, Applications will be separately scored by 
two or more external non-Federal reviewers who are selected based on 
criteria that include: A professional background in affordable housing 
or in community and economic development finance with experience with 
affordable housing. These reviewers must complete the CDFI Fund's 
conflict of interest process and be approved by the CDFI Fund. 
Reviewers will be assigned a set number of Applications to review, 
consisting of either Applicants with a financing entity approach or 
Applicants with an affordable housing developer/manager approach. The 
reviewer will provide a score for each of the Applications assessed in 
accordance with the scoring criteria outlined in Section V.B.2 of this 
NOFA and the Application materials.
    The external reviewer's evaluation, in combination with the 
quantitative assessment factors, will result in the Application being 
awarded up to 100 points for each review scorecard. The majority of the 
score will be based on the external reviewer's evaluation. These points 
will be distributed across three sections: Business and Leveraging 
Strategy (40 possible points), Community Impact (35 possible points), 
and Organizational Capacity (25 possible points). As each Application 
is evaluated by two external reviewers, the maximum score each 
Application can receive is 200 points (100 points x 2 Reviewers).
    (a) Business and Leveraging Strategy (40 points): In the Business 
and Leveraging Strategy section, the Applicant will address: (i) The 
needs of communities and persons in the areas it proposes to serve with 
a CMF Award and the extent to which the proposed strategy addresses 
these needs; (ii) the affordable housing, economic development, and 
financing gaps addressed by its business strategy; (iii) the projected 
CMF activities and relevant track record; (iv) the role CMF will play 
in its project financing strategy; (v) its strategy for leveraging 
private capital with a CMF Award; and (vi) its strategy for leveraging 
its CMF Award at the Enterprise-level, through re-investments, and/or 
at the Project-level (as applicable).
    An Applicant will generally score more favorably in the criteria 
evaluated by the external review and by the quantitative assessment 
factors to the extent that it: (i) Clearly aligns its proposed CMF 
Award activities with the affordable housing needs and financing gaps 
it identifies; (ii) demonstrates that its CMF Award activities will 
result in more favorable financing rates and terms to Projects; (iii) 
demonstrates that its projected activities are achievable based on the 
Applicant's strategy and track record; (iv) describes a process for 
selecting projects that have a clear need for CMF financing; (v) has a 
credible pipeline of projects or can demonstrate clear demand for its 
proposed financial products from borrowers; (vi) has a clear strategy 
for and track record of leveraging private capital resulting in a 
higher multiplier of private leverage; (vii) has a clear strategy for 
attracting capital and demonstrates a track record of leveraging funds 
at the Enterprise-level, through re-investments, and/or at the Project-
level (as applicable); and (viii) whether the Application is proposing 
to serve American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, or the 
U.S. Virgin Islands.
    (b) Community Impact (35 points): In the Community Impact Section, 
the Applicant will address: (i) The extent to which the Applicant's 
strategy is likely to result in the selected Affordable Housing and/or 
Economic Development Activities impacts and its plan to track relevant 
outcome metrics; (ii) for rental housing, (a) its strategy for and 
track record of financing and/or supporting rental housing units 
located in Areas of Economic Distress or High Opportunity Areas; and 
(b) its strategy for and track record of financing rental housing units 
targeted to Very Low-Income (VLI) Families (50% of AMI or below); (iii) 
for Homeownership housing, its strategy for and track record of 
financing Homeownership units targeted to Low-Income (LI) Families (80% 
of AMI or below) or units located in Areas of Economic Distress ; (iv) 
if applicable, its strategy for and track record of financing and/or 
supporting Economic Development Activities and how the projected 
activities will align with a Concerted Strategy and will benefit the 
residents of nearby Affordable Housing; and (v) commitment to and track 
record of serving Rural Areas.
    An Applicant will generally score more favorably in the criteria 
evaluated by the external reviewer and by the quantitative assessment 
factors to the extent that it: (i) Demonstrates a clear strategy for 
achieving the selected Affordable Housing and/or Economic Development 
Activities impacts identified in the Application and it presents a 
clear and effective plan to track metrics related to relevant outcomes; 
(ii) if rental housing is proposed, demonstrates a compelling strategy 
for and track record of financing and/or supporting rental housing 
units located in Areas of Economic Distress and/or High Opportunity 
Areas; (iii) if

[[Page 50783]]

rental housing is proposed, demonstrates a compelling strategy for and 
track record of financing and/or supporting rental housing units 
targeted to Very Low-Income (VLI) Families (50% of AMI or below), with 
the maximum score available to Applications that propose to target at 
least 45% of units to Very Low-Income Families; (iv) if Homeownership 
is proposed, demonstrates a compelling strategy for financing and/or 
supporting up to 100% of CMF Award to Homeownership units either 
targeted to Low-Income Families (80% of AMI or below) or Homeownership 
units targeted to Eligible-Income Families (120% of AMI or below) 
located in AEDs, with the Applicant's track record supporting their 
ability to execute this strategy; (v) if proposing Economic Development 
Activities, demonstrates how its proposed Economic Development 
Activities fit within a Concerted Strategy and will benefit the 
residents of the nearby Affordable Housing; and (vi) makes a commitment 
to invest at least 10% of the CMF Award in Rural Areas and presents a 
corresponding track record of serving Rural Areas.
    (c) Organizational Capacity (25 points): In the Organizational 
Capacity section, the Applicant will discuss: (i) Its management team 
and key staff; (ii) the roles and responsibilities of those staff in 
managing the proposed CMF Award; (iii) its past experience managing 
Federal awards; (iv) its financial health; and (v) lending or property 
portfolio (as applicable).
    An Applicant will generally score more favorably in the criteria 
evaluated by the external reviewer and by the quantitative assessment 
factors to the extent that it demonstrates: (i) Strong qualifications 
of its key personnel with respect to their skills and experience in 
identifying investments, underwriting or developing similar projects 
(as applicable), and managing a portfolio of similar activities and 
ensuring compliance with program requirements; (ii) a strong ability to 
successfully manage Federal awards based on experience managing prior 
Federal Awards or administering state or local government awards, 
foundation grants, or other programs with complex compliance 
requirements; (iv) strong financial health, including but not limited 
to strong capitalization, sound operating performance, and strong 
liquidity; (iv) favorable audit results (e.g., opinion other than 
unqualified/unmodified) with no negative findings, including lack of a 
``going concern paragraph'', lack of repeat findings of reportable 
conditions, lack of material weaknesses in internal controls, lack of 
delinquencies on obligations to investors or lenders, and not having 
filed for bankruptcy or defaulted on financial obligations; and (iv) 
solid portfolio performance (property portfolio or loan/investment 
portfolio, as applicable). CMF Program encourages first-time 
Applicants. Prior CMF Recipients will not receive a scoring advantage 
solely for having received a prior CMF Award.
    (d) Scoring anomaly: If, in the case of a particular Application, 
the reviewers' total External Review scores vary significantly from 
each other, the CDFI Fund may, in its sole discretion, obtain the 
evaluation and numeric scoring of an additional reviewer to determine 
whether the anomalous score should be replaced with the score of the 
additional reviewer.
    2. Internal Review: At the conclusion of the External Review phase, 
the CMF Program Manager will determine the overall number of 
Applications that will be initially forwarded for Internal Review. Each 
group of Applications (financing entity approach and affordable housing 
developer/manager approach) will be ranked separately based on their 
External Review score. The CMF Program Manager may initially forward an 
amount up to the highest scoring 50% of Applications from the External 
Review to the Internal Review, as long as the forwarded Applications 
reflect, within no more than 5% variance, the proportion of financing 
entity approach Applications to affordable housing developer/manager 
approach Applications in the overall Application Pool. Such 
Applications will be forwarded for Internal Review in descending order 
of External Review score. The forwarded Applications will be drawn from 
the financing entity approach and affordable housing developer/manager 
approach groups in proportion to each group's representation in the 
overall Application pool. This approach will ensure that the percentage 
of Applicants with a financing entity approach and affordable housing 
developer approach forwarded to Internal Review reflects the proportion 
of these entity strategies within the overall Application pool, with no 
more than 5% variance.
    These forwarded Applications will constitute the highly qualified 
pool. During the Internal Review, CDFI Fund staff will prioritize the 
Applications in the highly qualified pool for an Award based on a 
combination of the following criteria: (i) Final External Review score; 
(ii) alignment with CMF statutory and policy priorities; (iii) the 
overall quality of the Applicant's strategy; and (iv) the Applicant's 
organizational capacity and financial health. The CDFI Fund will not 
attempt to ensure any specific balance of Applicants with a financing 
entity approach and Applicants with an affordable housing developer 
approach in the final Award pool.
    In assessing the Applicant's organizational capacity, CDFI Fund 
staff will consider the following factors, including, but not limited 
to the Applicant's overall organizational and financial capacity, 
including (a) its financial strength and ability, and its resources to 
weather changing conditions and risks; (b) its organizational strength 
as demonstrated by good management practices, risk management, and 
internal controls; (c) key personnel with relevant experience and 
capacity; and (d) relevant experience and capacity demonstrating 
ability to meet federal award management standards (including 
performance with prior CDFI Fund awards). The CDFI Fund will also 
review OMB-designated repositories of government-wide eligibility 
qualification and financial integrity information, as part of the 
assessment of organizational capacity. In the case of an Applicant that 
has received awards from other Federal programs, the CDFI Fund reserves 
the right to contact officials from the appropriate Federal agency or 
agencies to determine whether the Recipient is in compliance with 
current or prior award agreements as well as to review the results of 
any Federal Single Audit, and to take such information into 
consideration before making a CMF Award.
    In assessing the Application's alignment with CMF statutory and 
policy priorities, CDFI Fund staff will consider the following factors, 
including, but not limited to: (a) The likelihood of the Applicant to 
reach a minimum overall leverage multiplier of 10 times the Award 
amount or more; (b) the amount of private capital it will leverage 
relative to the CMF Award; (c) if rental housing is proposed, the 
Applicant's approach, track record and ability to finance/support a 
significant portion (up to 45%) of its rental housing for Very Low-
Income Families; (d) if rental housing is proposed, the Applicant's 
approach, track record and ability to finance/support a significant 
portion of rental housing located in Areas of Economic Distress (AED) 
and/or High Opportunity Areas (HOA) as a percentage of its CMF rental 
portfolio; (e) if Homeownership is proposed, the Applicant's approach, 
track record and ability to successfully finance/support up to 100% of 
its Homeownership units for Low-Income Families (80% AMI or

[[Page 50784]]

below) and/or in Areas of Economic Distress as a percentage of its CMF 
Homeownership portfolio; and f) the number of Affordable Housing units 
expected to be generated as a result of the Award.
    In assessing the quality of the Applicant's strategy, the CDFI Fund 
staff will consider the following factors, including, but not limited 
to: (a) The effectiveness and cohesiveness of the Applicant's strategy; 
(b) how well the proposed financing activities will help close the 
financing gaps in their market, including more favorable rates and 
terms than are currently available in its Service Area; (c) the 
Applicant's ability to execute its strategy and support its 
projections; (d) how adaptable the Applicant's strategy is to changing 
market conditions; (e) the alignment between the proposed activities 
and strategy and the selected impacts and outcomes; and (f) for 
Applicant's proposing Economic Development Activities (EDA), the extent 
the activities are part of a Concerted Strategy, whether activities 
will benefit affordable housing residents, and the track record and 
capacity of the Applicant to carry out EDA.
    In addition to the criteria outlined above, the Applicant's ability 
to deploy the CMF Award in a timely manner will be a key determinant in 
funding recommendation. Deployment considerations may include the 
Applicant's track record of activities compared with projections, the 
Applicant's progress in committing and/or deploying past CMF Awards, 
and whether the Applicant received a FY 2021 CDFI/NACA Program award 
for a similar business strategy as the proposed use of the CMF Award. 
The CDFI Fund may also consider the number of geographies served when 
determining funding recommendations.
    3. Selection: Once Applications have been internally evaluated and 
preliminary award determinations have been made, the Applications will 
be forwarded to a selecting official for a final award determination. 
After preliminary award determinations are made, the selecting official 
will review the list of potential Recipients to determine whether the 
Recipient pool meets the following statutory objectives:
    (a) The potential Recipients' proposed Service Areas collectively 
represent broad geographic coverage throughout the United States; and
    (b) The potential Recipients' proposed activities equitably 
represent both Metropolitan Areas and Rural Areas. For the purposes of 
the FY 2021 CMF Round, the term Rural Areas is defined per 12 CFR 
1282.1 (Enterprise Duty To Serve Final Rule) as (i) A census tract 
outside of a Metropolitan Statistical Area as designated by the Office 
of Management and Budget; or (ii) A census tract in a Metropolitan 
Statistical Area as designated by the Office of Management and Budget 
that is outside of the Metropolitan Statistical Area's Urbanized Areas, 
as designated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural-
Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) Code #1, and outside of tracts with a 
housing density of over 64 housing units per square mile for USDA's 
RUCA Code #2.
    As Rural Areas data for the Enterprise Duty to Serve Rule is not 
available for American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and 
the U.S. Virgin Islands, all census tracts in these territories will be 
deemed as Rural census tracts for Awards issued under this NOFA. The 
CDFI Fund will publish a dataset indicating which census tracts are 
designated as Rural Areas for the FY 2021 Round on its website.
    In the event the preliminary Recipient pool does not reflect the 
geographic coverage or representation of Metropolitan and Rural Areas 
present in the overall Applicant pool, the CDFI Fund reserves the right 
to modify CMF Award amounts and/or the CMF Recipient pool if deemed 
necessary to achieve either of these statutory objectives. For the 
purposes of conducting this analysis, the CDFI Fund will classify 
Applications as addressing Rural Areas if they propose to use 20% or 
more of their award in Rural Areas, and as addressing Metropolitan 
Areas if they propose to use less than 20% of their Award in Rural 
Areas.
    In order to evaluate the geographic coverage of the potential CMF 
Recipient pool, Applicants will be asked to designate one of the 
following two Service Area types in their Applications: Statewide or 
Multi-State. These Service Area types are further defined in the 
Application. Applicants planning to serve communities below the state 
level (cities and municipalities, counties, regions) and within one 
state should designate their Service Area as Statewide.
    Similarly, an Applicant that is planning to serve communities below 
the state level, but in more than one state, should designate their 
Service Area as Multi-State. The smallest Service Area an Applicant can 
request is one state or U.S. territory; the largest Service Area an 
Applicant can propose is a 15 state Multi-State Service Area. 
Applicants should indicate in the narrative portions of their 
Application if they plan to concentrate their CMF activities in a 
subset (e.g., a county or a Metropolitan Area) of their broader Service 
Area. If necessary to achieve proportional activity in Rural Areas and/
or broader geographic coverage, the CDFI Fund may award Applications 
not in the preliminary Recipient pool, including Applications outside 
of the highly qualified pool, in the order of their Internal Review 
scoring ranking. During the selection process, the CDFI Fund also 
reserves the right to modify or place restrictions on the Service Area 
requested in any Application in order to further these statutory 
objectives.
    In cases where the selecting official's award determination varies 
significantly from the initial CMF Award amount recommended by the CDFI 
Fund staff review, the CMF Award recommendation will be forwarded to a 
reviewing official for final determination. The CDFI Fund, in its sole 
discretion, reserves the right to reject an Application and/or adjust 
CMF Award amounts as appropriate, based on information obtained during 
the review process.
    4. Insured Depository Institution Applicants: In the case of 
Applicants that are Insured Depository Institutions or Insured Credit 
Unions, the CDFI Fund will consider safety and soundness information 
from the Appropriate Federal Banking Agency or Appropriate State 
Agency, as applicable. If the Applicant is a CDFI Depository 
Institution Holding Company, the CDFI Fund will consider information 
provided by the Appropriate Federal Banking Agency and Appropriate 
State Agency about both the CDFI Depository Institution Holding Company 
and the CDFI Insured Depository Institution that will expend and carry 
out the Award. If the Appropriate Federal Banking Agency or Appropriate 
State Agency identifies safety and soundness concerns, the CDFI Fund 
will assess whether the concerns warrant that the Applicant is 
incapable of undertaking the activities for which funding has been 
requested.
    5. Right of Rejection: The CDFI Fund reserves the right to reject 
an Application if information (including administrative errors) comes 
to the attention of the CDFI Fund that adversely affects an Applicant's 
eligibility for an Award, adversely affects the CDFI Fund's evaluation 
or scoring of an Application, or indicates fraud or mismanagement on 
the Applicant's part, including mismanagement of another Federal award. 
If the CDFI Fund determines that any portion of the Application is 
incorrect in any material respect, the CDFI Fund reserves the right, in 
its sole discretion, to reject the Application. The

[[Page 50785]]

CDFI Fund reserves the right to change its eligibility and evaluation 
criteria and procedures, if the CDFI Fund deems it appropriate. If said 
changes materially affect the CDFI Fund's Award decisions, the CDFI 
Fund will provide information regarding the changes through the CDFI 
Fund's website. There is no right to appeal the CDFI Fund's Award 
decisions. The CDFI Fund's Award decisions are final.
    6. Anticipated Award Announcement: The CDFI Fund anticipates making 
CMF Award announcements in early 2022.

VI. Federal Award Administration Information

    A. Award Notification: Each successful Applicant will receive 
notification from the CDFI Fund stating that its Application has been 
approved for an Award. Each Applicant not selected for an Award will 
receive notification and be provided a debriefing document in its AMIS 
account.
    B. Administrative and Policy Requirements Prior to Entering into an 
Assistance Agreement: The CDFI Fund may, in its discretion and without 
advance notice to the Recipient, terminate the Award or take other 
actions as it deems appropriate if, prior to entering into an 
Assistance Agreement, information (including an administrative error) 
comes to the CDFI Fund's attention that adversely affects the 
following: The Recipient's eligibility for an Award; the CDFI Fund's 
evaluation of the Application; the Recipient's compliance with any 
requirement listed in the Uniform Requirements; or indications of fraud 
or mismanagement on the Recipient's part, including mismanagement of 
another Federal award.
    If the Recipient's certification status as a CDFI changes prior to 
entering into an Assistance Agreement, the CDFI Fund reserves the 
right, in its sole discretion, to re-evaluate the CMF Award, or modify 
the Assistance Agreement based on the Recipient's non-CDFI status.
    By receiving notification of a CMF Award, the Recipient agrees 
that, if the CDFI Fund becomes aware of any information (including an 
administrative error) prior to the Effective Date of the Assistance 
Agreement that either adversely affects the Recipient's eligibility for 
an CMF Award, adversely affects the CDFI Fund's evaluation of the 
Recipient's Application, or indicates fraud or mismanagement on the 
part of the Recipient, the CDFI Fund may, in its discretion and without 
advance notice to the Recipient, rescind the notice of award or take 
other actions as it deems appropriate.
    The CDFI Fund reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to 
rescind an Award if the Recipient fails to return the Assistance 
Agreement, signed by an Authorized Representative of the Recipient, 
and/or provide the CDFI Fund with any other requested documentation, 
within the CDFI Fund's deadlines.
    In addition, the CDFI Fund reserves the right, in its sole 
discretion, to terminate and rescind the Assistance Agreement and the 
award made under this NOFA for any criteria described in Table 7:

    Table 7--Requirements Prior to Executing an Assistance Agreement
------------------------------------------------------------------------
         Requirement                            Criteria
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Failure to meet reporting       If an Applicant received a prior
 requirements.                  award or allocation under any CDFI Fund
                                program and is not current on the
                                reporting requirements set forth in the
                                previously executed assistance, award,
                                allocation, bond loan agreement(s), or
                                agreement to guarantee, as of the date
                                of the notice of award, the CDFI Fund
                                reserves the right, in its sole
                                discretion, to delay entering into an
                                Assistance Agreement and/or to delay
                                making a Payment of CMF Award, until
                                said prior Recipient or allocatee is
                                current on the reporting requirements in
                                the previously executed assistance,
                                award, allocation, bond loan
                                agreement(s), or agreement to guarantee.
                                If such a prior Recipient or
                                allocatee is unable to meet this
                                requirement within the timeframe set by
                                the CDFI Fund, the CDFI Fund reserves
                                the right, in its sole discretion, to
                                terminate and rescind the notice of
                                award and the CMF Award made under this
                                NOFA.
                                Please note that automated
                                systems employed by the CDFI Fund for
                                receipt of reports submitted
                                electronically typically acknowledge
                                only a report's receipt; such
                                acknowledgment does not warrant that the
                                report received was complete, nor that
                                it met reporting requirements. If said
                                prior Recipient or allocatee is unable
                                to meet this requirement within the
                                timeframe set by the CDFI Fund, the CDFI
                                Fund reserves the right, in its sole
                                discretion, to terminate and rescind the
                                notice of Award and the CMF Award made
                                under this NOFA.
Failure to maintain CDFI        A Recipient must be a Certified
 Certification (if              CDFI or an eligible Nonprofit
 applicable) or eligible        Organization, as each is defined in the
 Nonprofit Organization         CMF Interim Rule and this NOFA, prior to
 status (if applicable).        entering into an Assistance Agreement.
                                If, at any time prior to
                                entering into an Assistance Agreement
                                under this NOFA, an Applicant that is a
                                Certified CDFI has submitted reports (or
                                failed to submit an annual certification
                                report as instructed by the CDFI Fund)
                                to the CDFI Fund that demonstrate
                                noncompliance with the requirements for
                                certification, but the CDFI Fund has yet
                                to make a final determination regarding
                                whether or not the entity is Certified,
                                the CDFI Fund reserves the right, in its
                                sole discretion, to delay entering into
                                an Assistance Agreement and/or to delay
                                making a Payment of CMF Award, pending
                                full resolution, in the sole
                                determination of the CDFI Fund, of the
                                noncompliance.
                                If the Applicant is unable to
                                meet this requirement, in the sole
                                determination of the CDFI Fund, the CDFI
                                Fund reserves the right, in its sole
                                discretion, to terminate and rescind the
                                notice of award and the CMF Award made
                                under this NOFA.
Pending resolution of           The CDFI Fund will delay
 noncompliance.                 entering into an Assistance Agreement
                                with a Recipient that has pending
                                noncompliance issues with any of its
                                previously executed CDFI Fund award(s),
                                allocation(s), bond loan agreement(s),
                                or agreement(s) to guarantee.
                                If said prior Recipient or
                                allocatee is unable to satisfactorily
                                resolve the compliance issues, the CDFI
                                Fund reserves the right, in its sole
                                discretion, to terminate and rescind the
                                notice of award and the CMF Award made
                                under this NOFA.

[[Page 50786]]

 
Default or Noncompliance        If, at any time prior to
 status.                        entering into an Assistance Agreement,
                                the CDFI Fund determines that an
                                Applicant (or an Affiliate of the
                                Applicant) that is a prior CDFI Fund
                                Recipient or allocatee under any CDFI
                                Fund program is noncompliant or found in
                                default with any previously executed
                                CDFI Fund award or Assistance
                                agreement(s) and the CDFI Fund has
                                provided written notification that the
                                Applicant is ineligible to apply for or
                                receive any future awards or allocations
                                for a time period specified by the CDFI
                                Fund in writing, the CDFI Fund may, in
                                its sole discretion, delay entering into
                                an Assistance Agreement with Applicant
                                until the Recipient has cured the
                                noncompliance by taking actions the CDFI
                                Fund has specified in writing within
                                such specified timeframe. If the
                                Recipient is unable to cure the
                                noncompliance within the specified
                                timeframe, the CDFI Fund may modify or
                                rescind all or a portion of the CMF
                                Award made under this NOFA.
Compliance with Federal civil   The CDFI Fund will terminate and
 rights requirements.           rescind the Assistance Agreement and the
                                CMF Award made under this NOFA if, prior
                                to entering into an Assistance Agreement
                                under this NOFA, the Recipient receives
                                a final determination, made within the
                                last 3 years of the publication date of
                                this NOFA, in any proceeding instituted
                                against the Recipient in, by, or before
                                any court, governmental, or
                                administrative body or agency, declaring
                                that the CMF Award Recipient has
                                violated the following laws: Title VI of
                                the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended
                                (42 U.S.C. 2000d); Section 504 of the
                                Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C.
                                794); the Age Discrimination Act of 1975
                                (42 U.S.C. 6101-6107); Title VIII of the
                                Civil Rights Act of 1968, as amended (42
                                U.S.C. 3601 et seq.); Executive Order
                                13166, Improving Access to Services for
                                Persons with Limited English
                                Proficiency, and Title IX of the
                                Education Amendments of 1972.
Debarment/Do Not Pay.........   The CDFI Fund reserves the
                                right, in its sole discretion, to
                                rescind an award if the Recipient (or
                                Affiliate of Recipient) is identified as
                                being delinquent on any Federal debt in
                                the Do Not Pay database.
                                The Do Not Pay Business Center
                                was developed to support Federal
                                agencies in their efforts to reduce the
                                number of improper payments made through
                                programs funded by the Federal
                                government. The Do Not Pay Business
                                Center provides delinquency information
                                to the CDFI Fund to assist with the
                                debarment check.
Safety and soundness.........   If it is determined that the
                                Recipient is or will be incapable of
                                meeting its CMF Award obligations, the
                                CDFI Fund will deem the Recipient to be
                                ineligible or require it to improve
                                safety and soundness conditions prior to
                                entering into an Assistance Agreement.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    C. Assistance Agreement: Each Applicant that is selected to receive 
an award under this NOFA must enter into an Assistance Agreement with 
the CDFI Fund in order to become a Recipient and receive Payment. Each 
CMF Award under this NOFA generally will have a period of performance 
that begins with the announcement date of the Award and continues until 
the end of the period of affordability, as set forth at 12 CFR 
1807.401(d) and 12 CFR 1807.402, and as further set forth in the 
Assistance Agreement.
    1. The Assistance Agreement will set forth certain required terms 
and conditions of the CMF Award, which will include, but not be limited 
to:
    (a) The amount of the award;
    (b) The approved uses of the award;
    (c) The approved Service Area in which the award may be used. 
Applicants selected for a CMF Award will be allowed to use up to 15% of 
the award amount outside of their approved Service Area at their 
discretion. Moreover, they will be able to reinvest Program Income from 
the CMF Award anywhere in the United States, including the U.S. 
territories.
    (d) Performance goals and measures;
    (e) Reinvestment requirements for Program Income; and
    (f) Reporting requirements for all Recipients.
    2. Prior to executing the Assistance Agreement, the CDFI Fund may, 
in its discretion, allow Recipients to request changes to the Service 
Area of the Award and certain performance goals and measures. The CDFI 
Fund, in its sole determination, may approve or reject these requested 
changes or propose other modifications, including a reduction in the 
Award amount. The CDFI Fund will only approve performance goals and 
measures or Service Area changes if it determines that such requested 
changes do not undermine the competitive process upon which the CMF 
Award determination was made. The CDFI Fund may also, in its 
discretion, provide Recipients the opportunity to add states to their 
Service Area in order to serve states not already covered in the Award 
pool and to further HERA's goal that the CMF serve geographically 
diverse areas of every state. The CDFI Fund may also, in its 
discretion, provide Recipients the opportunity to add states to its 
approved Service Area in order to serve geographies for which: (i) The 
President issued a ``major disaster declaration,'' and (ii) the major 
disaster declaration makes such geographies eligible for both 
``individual and public assistance.'' The major disaster declaration 
must be made after the publication date of this NOFA and prior to the 
execution of the Recipient's Assistance Agreement. In these cases, the 
CDFI Fund may allow a Recipient to exceed the maximum 15 state Service 
Area, if applicable. Any modifications agreed upon prior to the 
execution of the Assistance Agreement will become a condition of the 
Award.
    3. The Assistance Agreement shall provide that, prior to any 
determination by the CDFI Fund that a Recipient has failed to comply 
substantially with the Act, the CMF Interim Rule, or the environmental 
quality regulations, the CDFI Fund shall provide the Recipient with 
reasonable notice and opportunity to be heard. If the Recipient fails 
to comply substantially with the Assistance Agreement, the CDFI Fund 
may:
    (a) Require changes in the performance goals set forth in the 
Assistance Agreement;
    (b) Reduce or terminate the CMF Award; or
    (c) Require repayment of any CMF Award that has been distributed to 
the Recipient.
    4. The Assistance Agreement shall also provide that, if the CDFI 
Fund determines noncompliance with the terms and conditions of the 
Assistance Agreement on the part of the Recipient, the CDFI Fund may:
    (a) Bar the Recipient from reapplying for any assistance from the 
CDFI Fund; or
    (b) Take such other actions as the CDFI Fund deems appropriate or 
as set forth in the Assistance Agreement.
    5. In addition to entering into an Assistance Agreement, each 
Applicant selected to receive a CMF Award must furnish to the CDFI Fund 
a certificate of good standing from the jurisdiction in which it was 
formed. The CDFI Fund may, in its sole discretion or in lieu of

[[Page 50787]]

a certificate of good standing, also require the Applicant to furnish 
an opinion from its legal counsel, the content of which may be further 
specified in the Assistance Agreement, and which, among other matters, 
opines that:
    (a) The Recipient is duly formed and in good standing in the 
jurisdiction in which it was formed and the jurisdiction(s) in which it 
transacts business;
    (b) The Recipient has the authority to enter into the Assistance 
Agreement and undertake the activities that are specified therein;
    (c) The Recipient has no pending or threatened litigation that 
would materially affect its ability to enter into and carry out the 
activities specified in the Assistance Agreement;
    (d) The Recipient is not in default of its articles of 
incorporation or formation, bylaws or operating agreements, other 
organizational or establishing documents, or any agreements with the 
Federal government;
    (e) The CMF affordability restrictions that are to be imposed by 
deed restrictions, covenants running with the land, or other CDFI Fund 
approved mechanisms that are recordable and enforceable under the laws 
of the State and locality where the Recipient will undertake its CMF 
activities;
    (f) If applicable, the Recipient is exempt from Federal Income 
taxation pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and
    (g) If applicable, the Recipient is designated as a nonprofit or 
not for profit entity under the laws of the organization's State of 
formation.
    6. Closing and Payment of the Award: Pursuant to the Assistance 
Agreement, there will be an initial closing at which point the 
Assistance Agreement and related documents will be properly executed 
and delivered, and a Payment of the CMF Award is made. Recipients of 
CMF FY 2021 Awards will have the option to choose Payment of the Award 
in a single, lump sum payment or in two payment tranches, each no more 
than one year apart, and as set forth in the Assistance Agreement. If 
the Applicant is electing to receive Payment in two tranches, the first 
Payment amount will be based on the Applicant's estimated amount of the 
Award that will be Committed in the first year, though the first 
Payment amount can be modified at the Recipients request prior to 
closing the Assistance Agreement. The date of Payment will affect the 
required date of Commitment of the Award, two years subsequent to each 
Payment, but will not affect or change any other performance goal or 
requirement set forth in the Assistance Agreement, including the 
requirement that all Projects must achieve Project Completion within 
five years of the effective date of the Assistance Agreement.
    Following the initial closing of the Assistance Agreement, there 
may be subsequent closings involving additional award Payments. Any 
documentation in addition to the Assistance Agreement that is connected 
with such subsequent closings and Payments shall be properly executed 
and timely delivered by the Recipient to the CDFI Fund.
    D. Paperwork Reduction Act: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 
U.S.C. chapter 35), an agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection 
of information, and an individual is not required to respond to a 
collection of information, unless it displays a valid OMB control 
number. If applicable, the CDFI Fund may inform Applicants that they do 
not need to provide certain Application information otherwise required. 
Pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Capital Magnet Fund 
Application has been assigned the following control number: 1559-0036.
    E. Reporting: The CDFI Fund will require each Recipient that 
receives a CMF Award through this NOFA to account for and report to the 
CDFI Fund on the use of the CMF Award. This will require Recipients to 
establish administrative controls, subject to the Uniform 
Administrative Requirements and other applicable OMB guidance. The CDFI 
Fund will collect information from each such Recipient on its use of 
the CMF Award annually, following Payment and more often if deemed 
appropriate by the CDFI Fund in its sole discretion. The CDFI Fund will 
provide guidance to Recipients outlining the format and content of the 
information required to be provided to describe how the funds were 
used.
    The CDFI Fund may collect information from each Recipient 
including, but not limited to, an annual report with the components 
listed in Table 8:

                   Table 8--Reporting Requirements \5\
------------------------------------------------------------------------
           Criteria                           Description
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Single Audit (if applicable).  A non-profit Recipient must complete an
                                annual Single Audit pursuant to the
                                Uniform Requirements (2 CFR 200.501) if
                                it expends $750,000 or more in Federal
                                awards in its fiscal year, or such other
                                dollar threshold established by OMB
                                pursuant to 2 CFR 200.501. If a Single
                                Audit is required, it must be submitted
                                electronically to the Federal Audit
                                Clearinghouse (FAC) (see 2 CFR Subpart F-
                                Audit Requirements in the Uniform
                                Requirements) and optionally through
                                AMIS.
Financial Statement Audit....  For-profit and nonprofit Recipients must
                                submit a Financial Statement Audit (FSA)
                                report in AMIS, along with the
                                Recipient's statement of financial
                                condition audited or reviewed by an
                                independent certified public accountant.
Performance Report...........  The Recipient must submit a performance
                                report not less than annually, which is
                                a progress report on the Recipient's use
                                of the CMF Award towards meeting its
                                performance goals, Affordable Housing
                                outcomes, and the Recipient's overall
                                performance. The CMF Performance Report
                                covers the Announcement Date through the
                                Investment Period for the CMF Award and
                                the ten-year Affordability Period for
                                each Project. The Investment Period
                                shall mean the period beginning with the
                                Effective Date of the Assistance
                                Agreement and ending not earlier than
                                the fifth year anniversary of the
                                Effective Date, or as otherwise
                                established in the Assistance Agreement.
                                The Affordability Period shall mean, for
                                each Project, the period beginning on
                                the date when the Project is placed into
                                service and consisting of the full ten
                                consecutive years thereafter, or as
                                otherwise established in the Assistance
                                Agreement.
                               If the Recipient fails to meet a
                                performance goal or reporting
                                requirements, it must submit an
                                explanation of noncompliance via AMIS.

[[Page 50788]]

 
Environmental Review.........  The Recipient shall submit the
                                Environmental Review Notification Report
                                each time the Recipient identifies a new
                                proposed CMF project for which (i) a
                                categorical exclusion does not apply and/
                                or (ii) the Recipient determines that
                                the proposed project does involve
                                actions that normally require an
                                Environmental Impact Statement, as
                                described in 12 CFR Part 1815. The
                                Environmental Review Notification Report
                                must be submitted to the CDFI Fund no
                                later than one hundred eighty (180) days
                                prior to the date that the funds are
                                Committed to a Project.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is information, which if
  lost, compromised, or disclosed without authorization, could result in
  substantial harm, embarrassment, inconvenience, or unfairness to an
  individual. Although Applicants are required to enter addresses of
  homes and other properties in AMIS, Applicants should not include the
  following PII for the individuals who received the financial products
  or services in AMIS or in the supporting documentation (i.e., name of
  the individual, Social Security Number, driver's license or state
  identification number, passport number, Alien Registration Number,
  etc.). This information should be redacted from all supporting
  documentation (if applicable).

    Each Recipient is responsible for the timely and complete 
submission of the annual reporting documents. The CDFI Fund will use 
such information to monitor each Recipient's compliance with the 
requirements set forth in the Assistance Agreement and to assess the 
impact of the CMF. The CDFI Fund reserves the right, in its sole 
discretion, to modify these reporting requirements if it determines it 
to be appropriate and necessary; however, such reporting requirements 
will be modified only after notice to Recipients.
    F. Financial Management and Accounting: The CDFI Fund will require 
Recipients to maintain financial management and accounting systems that 
comply with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions 
of the CMF Award. These systems must be sufficient to permit the 
preparation of reports required by general and program specific terms 
and conditions, including the tracing of funds to a level of 
expenditures adequate to establish that such funds have been used in 
accordance with the Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and 
conditions of the CMF Award.
    The cost principles used by Recipients must be consistent with 
Federal cost principles, must support the accumulation of costs as 
required by the principles, and must provide for adequate documentation 
to support costs charged to the CMF Award. In addition, the CDFI Fund 
will require Recipients to: Maintain effective internal controls; 
comply with applicable statutes and regulations, the Assistance 
Agreement, and related guidance; evaluate and monitor compliance; take 
action when not in compliance; and safeguard personally identifiable 
information.

VII. Agency Contacts

    A. Availability: The CDFI Fund will respond to questions and 
provide support concerning this NOFA and the Application between the 
hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. ET, starting on the date of the 
publication of this NOFA until the close of business on the third 
business day preceding the Application deadline. The CDFI Fund will not 
respond to questions or provide support concerning the Application that 
are received after 5:00 p.m. ET on said date, until after the 
Application deadline. CDFI Fund IT support will be available until 5:00 
p.m. ET on date of the Application deadline. Applications and other 
information regarding the CDFI Fund and its programs may be obtained 
from the CDFI Fund's website at https://www.cdfifund.gov/cmf. The CDFI 
Fund will post on its website responses to questions of general 
applicability regarding the CMF.

B. The CDFI Fund's Contact Information is Listed in Table 9

                                          Table 9--Contact Information
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                         Telephone
            Type of question                   Preferred method         number (not         Email addresses
                                                                        toll free)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CMF.....................................  Submit a Service Request      202-653-0421  [email protected].
                                           in AMIS.
CDFI Certification......................  Submit a Service Request      202-653-0423  [email protected]
                                           in AMIS.
Compliance Monitoring and Evaluation....  Submit a Service Request      202-653-0423  [email protected]
                                           in AMIS.
Information Technology Support..........  Submit a Service Request      202-653-0422  [email protected].
                                           in AMIS.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The preferred method of contact is to submit a Service Request 
within AMIS. For a CMF Application question, select ``Capital Magnet 
Fund'' for the program. For a CDFI Certification question, select 
``Certification.'' For a Compliance question, select ``Compliance & 
Reporting.'' For Information Technology, select ``Technical Issues.'' 
Failure to select the appropriate program for the Service Request could 
result in delays in responding to your question.
    C. Communication with the CDFI Fund: The CDFI Fund will use AMIS to 
communicate with Applicants and Recipients, using the contact 
information maintained in their respective AMIS accounts. Therefore, 
the Recipient and any Subsidiaries, signatories, and Affiliates must 
maintain accurate contact information (including contact persons and 
Authorized Representatives, email addresses, fax numbers, phone 
numbers, and office addresses) in its AMIS account(s). For more 
information about AMIS please see the Help documents posted at https://amis.cdfifund.gov/s/Training.
    D. Civil Rights and Diversity: Any person who is eligible to 
receive benefits or services from the CDFI Fund or Recipients under any 
of its programs is entitled to those benefits or services without being 
subject to prohibited discrimination. The Department of the Treasury's 
Office of Civil Rights and Diversity enforces various Federal statutes 
and regulations that prohibit discrimination in financially assisted 
and conducted programs and activities of the CDFI Fund. If a person 
believes that s/he has been subjected to discrimination and/or reprisal 
because of membership in a protected group, s/he may file a complaint 
with: Associate Chief Human Capital Officer, Office of Civil Rights, 
and Diversity, 1500

[[Page 50789]]

Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20220 or (202) 622-1160 (not a 
toll-free number).
    E. Statutory and National Policy Requirements: The CDFI Fund will 
manage and administer the Federal award in a manner so as to ensure 
that Federal funding is expended and associated programs are 
implemented in full accordance with the U.S. Constitution, Federal Law, 
statutory, and public policy requirements: Including, but not limited 
to, those protecting free speech, religious liberty, public welfare, 
the environment, and prohibiting discrimination.

VIII. Other Information

    None.
    Authority: Public Law 110-289. 12 U.S.C. 4701, 12 CFR part 1805, 12 
CFR part 1807, 12 CFR part 1815, 12 U.S.C. 4502.

Jodie L. Harris,
Director, Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.
[FR Doc. 2021-19598 Filed 9-9-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-70-P