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HOME Frequently Asked Questions

• What Non-Development Programs are Available?
• What is the difference between the Reservation System and a Contract Award?
• What is Match?
• How much Match must be provided?
• How much funding may I apply for? How many Households will that serve?
• What are the application requirements?
• What happens if my Application has an error or I forgot to include an attachment?
• Are there funds to pay for the Contract Administrator/Reservation System Participant’s expenses?
• If I get a Contract or Reservation System Participation Agreement, how will I implement the Program?

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What Non-Development Programs are Available?

Homeowner Rehabilitation Assistance - Provides funding for assisting low-income households that are owner occupied.

Homebuyer Assistance - Provides funds to low-income homebuyers for downpayment and closing cost assistance. This program also provides funding for modifications to the home to make it accessible to Persons with Disabilities after the home is purchased.

Tenant-Based Rental Assistance - Provides funds to pay a rental subsidy based on the income of the Household, to low income households that are participating in a self sufficiency plan.

Contract for Deed Conversion - Provides funds to assist low income (at or below 60% AMFI) residents of colonias who currently hold a Contract for Deed. The Contract for Deed may be converted, using HOME funds, into a traditional mortgage, which allows the Household to build equity and realize true homeownership. There are additional funds available in this program to provide home rehabilitation or reconstruction if needed.

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What is the difference between the Reservation System and a Contract Award?

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What is Match?

Match is the funding source that is provided by the Contract Administrator (CA)/Reservation System Participant (RSP) which are used for project hard or soft costs. Other federal funds (CDBG, CSBG, etc.) may not be used to Match HOME funds. Common way to provide match are fee and permit waivers, donated professional labor (architectural services, inspection services, etc.), donated use of equipment (backhoes, front loaders, trenchers, etc.), and donated demolition and site preparation services. The cash value of the Match is reported to TDHCA. For the purposes of application, reasonable estimates for the amount and type of Match to be provided are acceptable.

To document the Match commitment for application, please submit, along with the Uniform Application, an itemized schedule of the Match anticipated, and back up documentation, such as a schedule of the FEMA rates for equipment or the Building Permit Fee schedule.

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How much Match must be provided?

This depends on the size of your city/county and the Program Activity you are applying for. There is a minimum Match requirement based on population, which can be found at 10 TAC §53.30(a) for HRA and §53.40(a) for HBA. Match is not required for TBRA or CFDC. Match is also not a requirement if you are serving Persons with Disabilities under the Persons with Disabilities set-aside or victims of Disaster under the Disaster Relief set-aside.

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How much funding may I apply for? How many Households will that serve?

This depends on the Activity you are requesting funds for. If you are applying for an HRA award, then you may request up to $500,000 in project funds. This amount includes Project hard costs only. If you request the full Contract Award amount of $500,000, then, based on the current limits for project hard costs ($80,000 for reconstruction of a 3 bedroom home, §53.30(g)), you could reasonable expected to reconstruct 6 homes. Therefore, if you were constructing site-built homes, for which the limit on project soft costs is $7,000 per unit, you would request an additional $42,000 in soft costs.

If you are applying for HBA or TBRA funds, you may apply for a maximum of $300,000 in project funds. Considering that HBA allows up to $20,000 per household in project hard costs, you can reasonably expect to serve 20 households. You may request an additional $1,500 in project soft costs (§53.41(f)) per household, which is $30,000 for 20 households. If you are anticipating providing accessibility modifications under the HBA program, you would add $20,000 to the hard costs $5000 to the soft costs for this calculation.

TBRA is a little more difficult to estimate. A reasonable estimate can be made by looking at the fair market rent for your area, multiplying it by 24 (the number of months you may assist each household) and dividing $300,000 by the product of that number. There are no soft costs for TBRA, so all project funds must be paid in rental and utility deposit subsidy. For example, if you are planning to serve tenants living in Bee County, the Fair Market rent for a two bedroom unit is $591. Multiplied by 24, the total estimated subsidy per household is $14,184. $300,000/$14,184 is 21.15. Therefore, you can estimate that your $300,000 award will serve 20 households when utility deposits are taken into consideration. You can estimate based on your particular clientele as well. If the majority of your participants are single disabled veterans, for instance, you may use the one bedroom fair market rent to get a more accurate figure for your participants.

Remember, with a Contract award, you should under promise and over deliver, so if you state in the application that you are going to serve 10 households, you will be contractually obligated to do so.

If you apply to become a Reservation System Participant, you are not obligated to serve a specific number of households, nor are you limited to a specific amount of funds other than the total of funds in the Reservation set-aside for your activity. You may enter up to five Reservations at any given time for each county within your service area for all activities other that TBRA. TBRA allows up to thirty Reservations at any given time. Once a Reservation is completed, and had moved into active status, you may place another Reservation.

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What are the application requirements?

Most of the application requirements are built into the ASPM and the Uniform Application/RSP Application. These requirements can be found in §53.24 for all programs. All programs require:

An Applicant certification of compliance with state and federal laws and state and federal rules and guidance governing the HOME Program. This certification is included in the Application forms for Contract Award and for Reservation System Participation Agreements.

A resolution signed and dated within the six (6) months preceding the Application submission date from the Applicant's direct governing body which includes:

• Authorization of the submission of the Application.
• Commitment and amount of cash reserves, if applicable, for use during the Contract or RSP agreement term. These reserves must be in the amount of $80,000 for all programs other than TBRA. TBRA requires a $15,000 cash reserve. The availability of Cash Reserves must be documented in one of the following ways:
• Financial statements indicating adequate local unrestricted cash or cash equivalents to utilize as cash reserves and a letter from the Applicant's bank(s) or financial institution(s) indicating that current account balances are sufficient; or
• Evidence of an available line of credit or equivalent in an amount equal to or exceeding the above requirement; or
• The CPA opinion letter from the most recent audit and a statement from the CPA that indicates, based on past experience with grant programs and past audits, the applicant has in place the best practices and financial capacity necessary in order to effectively administer a HOME Program award.
• Source of funds for Match obligation and Match dollar amount. Contract awards must state a specific amount of Match, RSP Agreements only require that the governing body agrees to provide Match as required.
• Name and title of the person authorized to represent the organization; and
• Signature authority to execute a contract;

Any Applicant requesting $25,000 or more must be registered in the federal Central Contractor Registration (CCR) and have a current Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number. Applicants may apply for a DUNS number at: http://smallbusiness.dnb.com/establish-your-business/12334338-1.html. Once you have the DUNS number, you can register with the CCR at:
https://www.bpn.gov/ccr/default.aspx. To show that you are registered in the CCR, you may submit a print-out from the web site showing your organization’s information.

An Application fee, to be defined in the NOFA, which is sufficient to discourage the submission of partial or incomplete Applications except as otherwise allowed by state statute. This application fee is $30. If you are a nonprofit providing expanded services (non-housing related) to your clientele, this fee may be waived, but you have to request the fee waiver in the resolution.

To be eligible for a new Contract award, an Applicant must have committed funds to at least 80% of the total number of contractually required Households or has committed at least 80% of the total Project funds on their current Contract for the same Program Activity. This provision does not apply to Applications submitted for disaster relief funding or those with an exclusively different Service Area.

If you currently have a contract that does not meet the 80% commitment rule, you may still apply for funding under a different activity. If you wish to be funded under the same activity, you may submit a request to voluntarily deobligate funds from the contract which makes the application ineligible. Additionally, you may apply to be a RSP, as the 80% rule does not apply to Reservations.

Additional application requirements are:

Match

For the purposes of application, reasonable estimates for the amount and type of Match to be provided are acceptable.

To document the Match commitment for Contract Award applications, please submit, along with the Uniform Application, an itemized schedule of the Match anticipated, and back up documentation, such as a schedule of the FEMA rates for equipment or the Building Permit Fee schedule. The required match is:

Threshold Score

This NOFA incentivizes Contract Award applications that either target lower-income Households or provide additional Match by establishing a Threshold score of four. In order for the Application for Contract Award to proceed, the Threshold score of four must be met.

The Applicant can receive points for each percentage of additional Match. Table 1 will be used to determine points awarded under this paragraph, as follows:

In order to meet its annual goal of assisting very low to extremely low-income families, the Department incentivizes application points for income targeting of households assisted. Table 2 will be used to determine income targeting requirements and associated points, as follows:

If you are applying as a Reservation System Participant, note that the Match requirement is not waived. Match must be provided, but it is not required to be itemized for application purposed. In addition, every at least 25% of Households served under HRA Reservation must be at or below 30% AMFI.

An Application Submission and Procedures Manual is provided in conjunction with the Application Materials and NOFA to assist with the Application Process.

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What happens if my Application has an error or I forgot to include an attachment?

Applications must be substantially complete when submitted to the Department. This means that all volumes must be included and forms completed. However, in the circumstance that there was an oversight on the Application or the Department requires further clarification about something submitted, the Department will issue an Administrative Deficiency (“Deficiency”). This Deficiency will be sent to the Applicant in an email. The Deficiency will include what the issue with the Application as well as curative measures that may be taken to correct the Deficiency. The Deficiency will include a date that the deficient item must be cured by. If the Deficiency is not cured by that date, the Application will be terminated. Department staff is available to assist Applicants with Application issues. In the event that an Application is terminated, the Applicant may reapply for funds as long as the NOFA has not closed and there is adequate funding. A terminated application will not negatively impact a newly submitted application.

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Are there funds to pay for the Contract Administrator/ Reservation System Participant’s expenses?

Yes. Each Contract Award or Reservation will have Administrative funds available based on project costs, exclusive of soft costs and match. For all programs other than TBRA this amount is equilivant to 4% of project hard costs. For TBRA, this amount is 8% of Project Hard Costs. TBRA is allotted more Administrative Funds because TBRA does not have any associated soft costs.

Administrative funds can be used for any eligible administrative expense as allowed by 24 CFR §92.207. This includes, but is not limited to, costs for staff time, office supplies (including computers, software, etc. that may be necessary to comply with the Department’s paperless systems), marketing costs, and outsourcing of professional services to administer the program.

Additionally, costs can be offset by funds from project soft costs. These funds can be used to pay for expenses directly related to an address, such as inspection services and lead-based paint abatement.

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If I get a Contract or Reservation System Participation Agreement, how will I implement the Program?

The HOME Division strives to provide excellent Technical Assistance to all of our State and Sub Recipients. Each Contract and Reservation System Participation Agreement will be assigned to a specific Performance Specialist. Your Performance Specialist will work closely with you throughout the contract/participation period to ensure your success. They will provide implementation training when you receive your contract or agreement and continuous technical assistance.

Additionally, the HOME Division is introducing online Learning Modules which can be accessed at any time by you and your staff. These modules will provide detailed information on topics associated with administration of your HOME funds.

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