[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 169 (Friday, August 31, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50446-50457]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-17324]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY


Community Development Financial Institutions Fund; Funding 
Opportunity Title: Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) Inviting 
Applications for the FY 2008 Funding Round of the Community Development 
Financial Institutions (CDFI) Program; Announcement Type: Initial 
Announcement of Funding Opportunity

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 21.020.)

DATES: Applications for the FY 2008 funding round of the CDFI Program 
must be received by 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday, October 31, 2007.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Subject to funding availability, this NOFA is issued 
in connection with the FY 2008 funding round of the CDFI Program.

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    A. Through the CDFI Program, the Fund provides: (i) Financial 
Assistance (FA) awards to CDFIs that have Comprehensive Business Plans 
for creating demonstrable community development impact through the 
deployment of credit, capital, and financial services within their 
respective Target Markets or the expansion into new Investment Areas, 
Low-Income Targeted Populations, or Other Targeted Populations, and 
(ii) Technical Assistance (TA) grants to CDFIs and entities proposing 
to become CDFIs in order to build their capacity to better address the 
community development and capital access needs of their existing or 
proposed Target Markets and/or to become certified CDFIs.
    B. The regulations governing the CDFI Program are found at 12 CFR 
Part 1805 (the Interim Rule) and provide guidance on evaluation 
criteria and other requirements of the CDFI Program. The Fund 
encourages Applicants to review the Interim Rule. Detailed application 
content requirements are found in the applicable funding application 
and related guidance materials. Each capitalized term in this NOFA is 
more fully defined in the Interim Rule, the application or the guidance 
materials.
    C. The Fund reserves the right to fund, in whole or in part, any, 
all, or none of the applications submitted in response to this NOFA. 
The Fund reserves the right to re-allocate funds from the amount that 
is anticipated to be available under this NOFA to other Fund programs, 
particularly if the Fund determines that the number of awards made 
under this NOFA is fewer than projected.

II. Award Information

A. Funding Availability:

    1. FY 2008 Funding Round: Through this NOFA, and subject to funding 
availability, the Fund expects that it may award approximately $26 
million in appropriated funds, of which: (i) Approximately $2 million 
in appropriated funds may be awarded to Category I/SECA Applicants in 
the form of FA awards and TA grants; (ii) approximately $22 million in 
appropriated funds may be awarded to Category II/Core Applicants in the 
form of FA awards and TA; and (iii)

[[Page 50447]]

approximately $2 million in appropriated funds may be awarded to 
Applicants in the form of TA grants only. The Fund reserves the right 
to award in excess of $26 million in appropriated funds to Applicants 
(and/or more or less than $2 million to Category I/SECA Applicants, 
and/or more or less than $22 million to Category II/Core Applicants, 
and/or more or less than $2 million to TA-only Applicants) in the FY 
2008 Funding Round, provided that the funds are available and the Fund 
deems it appropriate.
    2. Availability of Funds for the FY 2008 Funding Round of the CDFI 
Program: Funds for the FY 2008 funding round of the CDFI Program (the 
FY 2008 Funding Round) have not yet been appropriated. If funds are not 
appropriated for the FY 2008 Funding Round, there will not be a FY 2008 
Funding Round. Further, it is possible that if funds are appropriated 
for the FY 2008 Funding Round, the amount of such funds may be greater 
than or less than the amounts set forth above. Further, if funds for 
the FY 2008 funding round of the Native American CDFI Assistance (NACA) 
Program are not appropriated, entities that are eligible to apply for 
CDFI Program funds and that might otherwise have applied for NACA 
Program funds, are encouraged to apply for CDFI Program funds through 
the FY 2008 Funding Round.
    B. Types of Awards: An Applicant may submit an application either 
for: (i) A FA award only; (ii) a FA award and a TA grant; or (iii) a TA 
grant only.
    1. FA Awards: FA is intended to provide flexible financial support 
to CDFIs so that they may achieve the strategies outlined in their 
Comprehensive Business Plans. A FA award can be requested by an 
Applicant for use in the following four categories of activity: 
Financial Products, Loan Loss Reserves, Capital Reserves, and/or 
Operations. For purposes of this NOFA, Financial Products means: loans, 
grants, equity investments and similar financing activities, including 
the purchase of loans originated by certified CDFIs and the provision 
of loan guarantees, in its Target Market, or for related purposes that 
the Fund deems appropriate. Loan Loss Reserves means: funds that the 
Applicant will set aside in the form of cash, or through accounting-
based accrual, reserves to cover losses on loans, accounts and notes 
receivable made in its Target Market. Capital Reserves means: funds 
that the Applicant will set aside in the form of reserves to support 
the Applicant's ability to leverage other capital, such as by 
increasing its net assets, to serve the financing needs of its Target 
Market, or for related purposes that the Fund deems appropriate. 
Operations means: funds that the Applicant will use to undertake 
Development Services, Financial Services, and/or for related purposes 
that the Fund deems appropriate. The most common use of FA is for the 
Applicant's Financial Products: A FA award can be a critical source of 
funding to support the Applicant's community development lending 
activities. The Fund may provide FA awards in the form of equity 
investments (including, in the case of certain Insured Credit Unions, 
secondary capital accounts), grants, loans, deposits, credit union 
shares, or any combination thereof. The Fund reserves the right, in its 
sole discretion, to provide a FA award in a form and amount other than 
that which is requested by an Applicant; however, the award amount will 
not exceed the Applicant's award request as stated in its application. 
The Fund reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to provide a FA 
award to a Category I/SECA Applicant on the condition that the 
Applicant agrees to use a TA grant for specified capacity building 
purposes, even if the Applicant has not requested a TA grant.

2. TA Grants

    (a) The Fund may provide TA awards in the form of grants. The Fund 
reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to provide a TA grant for 
uses and amounts other than that which are requested by an Applicant; 
however, the award amount will not exceed the Applicant's award request 
as stated in its application and the applicable budget chart.
    (b) TA grants may be used to address a variety of needs including, 
but not limited to, development of strategic planning documents (such 
as strategic or capitalization plans), market analyses or product 
feasibility analyses, operational policies and procedures, curricula 
for Development Services (such as entrepreneurial training, home buyer 
education, financial education or training, borrower credit repair 
training), improvement of underwriting and portfolio management, 
development of outreach and training strategies to enhance product 
delivery, operating support to expand into a new Target Market, and 
tools that allow the Applicant to assess the impact of its activities 
in its community. Each Applicant for a TA grant through this NOFA is 
required to provide information in a scope of work, to include 
information regarding the expected cost, the likely provider of the TA, 
a description of the anticipated timing of the expenditures, and a 
narrative description of how the TA grant will enhance its capacity to 
provide greater community development impact and/or to become certified 
as a CDFI, if applicable.
    (c) Eligible TA grant uses include, but are not limited to: (i) 
Acquiring consulting services; (ii) acquiring/enhancing technology 
items, including computer hardware, software and Internet connectivity; 
(iii) acquiring training for staff, management and/or board members; 
and (iv) paying recurring expenses, including staff salary and other 
key operating expenses, that will enhance the capacity of the Applicant 
to serve its Target Market and/or to become certified as a CDFI. TA 
funds must be used to support the Applicant's activities; TA funds 
cannot be used to support the creation of a new entity or activities of 
an entity.
    C. Notice of Award; Assistance Agreement: Each Awardee under this 
NOFA must sign a Notice of Award and an Assistance Agreement in order 
to receive a disbursement of award proceeds by the Fund. The Notice of 
Award and the Assistance Agreement contain the terms and conditions of 
the award. For further information, see sections VI.A and VI.B of this 
NOFA.

III. Eligibility Information:

    A. Eligible Applicants: The Interim Rule specifies the eligibility 
requirements that each Applicant must meet in order to be eligible to 
apply for assistance under this NOFA. The following sets forth 
additional detail and dates that relate to the submission of 
applications under this NOFA:
    1. FA Applicant Categories: All Applicants for FA awards through 
this NOFA must meet the criteria for one of the following two 
categories:

[[Page 50448]]



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         FA applicant category                          Criteria                      What can it apply for?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Category I/Small and/or Emerging CDFI   A Category I/SECA Applicant is a          A Category I/SECA Applicant
 Assistance (SECA)                       Certified CDFI that: Has total assets,    may request up to and
                                         as of the end of the Applicant's most     including $500,000 in FA
                                         recent fiscal year end or September 30,   funds, and up to $100,000 in
                                         2007, as follows:                         TA funds.
                                         Insured Depository Institutions
                                         and Depository Institution Holding
                                         Companies: up to $250 million.
                                         Insured Credit Unions: up to
                                         $10 million.
                                         Venture capital funds: up to
                                         $10 million.
                                         Other CDFIs: up to $5 million
                                         or.
                                        Began operations on or after January 1,
                                         2004 and
                                        Prior to the application deadline, has
                                         not been selected to receive in excess
                                         of $500,000 in FA award(s) in the
                                         aggregate from the CDFI Program or
                                         Native Initiatives Funding Programs..
Category II/Core                        A Category II/Core Applicant is a         A Category II/Core Applicant
                                         Certified CDFI that meets all other       may request up to and
                                         eligibility requirements described in     including $2 million in FA
                                         this.                                     funds, and up to $100,000 in
                                                                                   TA funds.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please note: any Applicant, regardless of total assets, years in 
operation, or prior Fund awards, that requests FA funding in excess of 
$500,000 is classified as a Category II/Core Applicant. For the 
purposes of this NOFA, the term ``began operations'' is defined as the 
financing activity start date indicated in the Applicant's myCDFIFund 
account. Also, for purposes of this NOFA, the term ``Native Initiatives 
Funding Programs'' refers to the Native American CDFI Assistance (NACA) 
Program and all prior funding programs, through which funds are no 
longer available, including the Native American CDFI Technical 
Assistance (NACTA) Component of the CDFI Program, the Native American 
CDFI Development (NACD) Program, and the Native American Technical 
Assistance (NATA) Component of the CDFI Program.
    The Fund will evaluate, rank and make awards to Category I/SECA 
Applicants separately from Category II/Core Applicants. The Fund, in 
its sole discretion, reserves the right to award amounts in excess of 
or less than the anticipated maximum award amounts permitted in this 
NOFA, if the Fund deems it appropriate.
    2. TA Applicants:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
             TA applicants                              Criteria                      What can it apply for?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All TA Applicants.....................  A TA Applicant must be a Certified CDFI,  The Fund anticipates making TA
                                         a Certifiable CDFI, or an Emerging        grants up to $100,000 each.
                                         CDFI.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Fund, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to award amounts 
less than the anticipated maximum award amounts permitted in this NOFA, 
if the Fund deems it appropriate.
    3. CDFI Certification Requirements: For purposes of this NOFA, 
eligible FA Applicants include Certified CDFIs and Certifiable CDFIs; 
eligible TA Applicants include Certified CDFIs, Certifiable CDFIs and 
Emerging CDFIs, defined as follows:
    (a) Certified CDFIs: A certified CDFI whose certification has not 
expired and that has not been notified by the Fund that its 
certification has been terminated. Each such Applicant must submit a 
``Certification of Material Event Form'' to the Fund not later than 
Wednesday, October 17, 2007, or such other dates as the Fund may 
proscribe, in accordance with the instructions on the Fund's Web site 
at http://www.cdfifund.gov. Please note: the Fund provided a number of 
CDFIs with certifications expiring in 2003 through 2008 written 
notification that their certifications had been extended. The Fund will 
consider the extended certification date (the later date) to determine 
whether those CDFIs meet this eligibility requirement.
    (b) Certifiable CDFIs: For purposes of this NOFA, a Certifiable 
CDFI is an entity from which the Fund receives a complete CDFI 
Certification Application no later than Wednesday, October 17, 2007, or 
such other dates as the Fund may proscribe, evidencing that the 
Applicant meets the requirements to be certified as a CDFI. Applicants 
may obtain the CDFI Certification Application through the Fund's Web 
site at http://www.cdfifund.gov. Applications for certification must be 
submitted as instructed in the application form. FA Applicants that are 
Certifiable CDFIs please note: while your organization may be 
conditionally selected for funding (as evidenced through the Notice of 
Award), the Fund will not enter into an Assistance Agreement or 
disburse award funds unless and until the Fund has certified your 
organization as a CDFI. If the Fund is unable to certify your 
organization as a CDFI based on the CDFI certification application that 
your organization submits to the Fund, the Notice of Award may be 
terminated and the award commitment may be cancelled, in the sole 
discretion of the Fund.
    (c) Emerging CDFIs: For purposes of this NOFA, an Emerging CDFI is 
an entity that demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Fund that it has 
a reasonable plan to be certified as a CDFI by December 31, 2010 or 
such other date selected by the Fund. Emerging CDFIs may only apply for 
TA grants; they are not eligible to apply for FA awards. Each Emerging 
CDFI that is selected to receive a TA grant will be required, pursuant 
to its Assistance Agreement with the Fund, to become certified as a 
CDFI by a certain date.
    4. Limitation on Awards: An Applicant may receive only one award 
through the CDFI Program in the funding round. A CDFI Program 
Applicant, its Subsidiaries or Affiliates also may apply for and 
receive: (i) A tax credit allocation through the NMTC Program, but only 
to the extent that the activities approved for CDFI Program awards are 
different from those activities for which the Applicant receives a NMTC 
Program allocation; and (ii) an award through the BEA Program (subject 
to certain limitations;

[[Page 50449]]

refer to the Interim Rule at 12 CFR 1805.102).
    5. Contacting the Fund. The Fund will respond to questions and 
provide support concerning CDFI certification related to the FY 2008 
Funding Round between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, through 
Monday, October 15, 2007. The Fund will not respond to questions or 
provide support concerning CDFI certification, related to the FY 2008 
Funding Round, that are received after 5 p.m. ET on Monday, October 15, 
2007. The CDFI Certification Application and other information 
regarding CDFI certification may be obtained from the Fund's Web site 
at http://www.cdfifund.gov.
    D. Prior Awardees: Applicants must be aware that success in a prior 
round of any of the Fund's programs is not indicative of success under 
this NOFA. Prior awardees are eligible to apply under this NOFA, except 
as follows:
    1. $5 Million Funding Cap: The Fund is generally prohibited from 
obligating more than $5 million in assistance, in the aggregate, to any 
one organization and its Subsidiaries and Affiliates during any three-
year period. In general, the three-year period extends back three years 
from the date that the Fund signs a Notice of Award; for purposes of 
this NOFA, and for ease of administration, the Fund will consider any 
assistance documented with a Notice of Award dated between July 31, 
2005 and July 31, 2008 (which is the anticipated date that the Fund 
will issue Notices of Award for the FY 2008 Funding Round).
    2. Failure to meet reporting requirements: The Fund will not 
consider an application submitted by an Applicant if the Applicant, or 
an entity that Controls the Applicant, is Controlled by the Applicant 
or shares common management officials with the Applicant (as determined 
by the Fund) is a prior Fund Awardee or allocatee under any Fund 
program and is not current on the reporting requirements set forth in a 
previously executed assistance, allocation or award agreement(s), as of 
the applicable application deadline of this NOFA. Please note that the 
Fund only acknowledges the receipt of reports that are complete. As 
such, incomplete reports or reports that are deficient of required 
elements will not be recognized as having been received.
    3. Pending resolution of noncompliance: If an Applicant is a prior 
Awardee or allocatee under any Fund program and if: (i) It has 
submitted complete and timely reports to the Fund that demonstrate 
noncompliance with a previous assistance, allocation or award 
agreement; and (ii) the Fund has yet to make a final determination as 
to whether the entity is in default of its previous assistance, 
allocation or award agreement, the Fund will consider the Applicant's 
application under this NOFA pending full resolution, in the sole 
determination of the Fund, of the noncompliance. Further, if another 
entity that Controls the Applicant, is Controlled by the Applicant or 
shares common management officials with the Applicant (as determined by 
the Fund), is a prior Fund Awardee or allocatee and if such entity: (i) 
Has submitted complete and timely reports to the Fund that demonstrate 
noncompliance with a previous assistance, allocation or award 
agreement; and (ii) the Fund has yet to make a final determination as 
to whether the entity is in default of its previous assistance, 
allocation, or award agreement, the Fund will consider the Applicant's 
application under this NOFA pending full resolution, in the sole 
determination of the Fund, of the noncompliance.
    4. Default status: The Fund will not consider an application 
submitted by an Applicant that is a prior Fund Awardee or allocatee 
under any Fund program if, as of the applicable application deadline of 
this NOFA, the Fund has made a final determination that such Applicant 
is in default of a previously executed assistance, allocation or award 
agreement(s). Further, an entity is not eligible to apply for an award 
pursuant to this NOFA if, as of the applicable application deadline of 
this NOFA, the Fund has made a final determination that another entity 
that Controls the Applicant, is Controlled by the Applicant or shares 
common management officials with the Applicant (as determined by the 
Fund) is a prior Fund Awardee or allocatee under any Fund program and 
has been determined by the Fund to be in default of a previously 
executed assistance, allocation or award agreement(s).
    5. Termination in default: The Fund will not consider an 
application submitted by an Applicant that is a prior Fund Awardee or 
allocatee under any Fund program if: (i) Within the 12-month period 
prior to the applicable application deadline of this NOFA, the Fund has 
made a final determination that such Applicant's prior award or 
allocation terminated in default of a previously executed assistance, 
allocation or award agreement(s); and (ii) the final reporting period 
end date for the applicable terminated assistance, allocation or award 
agreement(s) falls within the 12-month period prior to the application 
deadline of this NOFA. Further, an entity is not eligible to apply for 
an award pursuant to this NOFA if: (i) Within the 12-month period prior 
to the applicable application deadline, the Fund has made a final 
determination that another entity that Controls the Applicant, is 
Controlled by the Applicant or shares common management officials with 
the Applicant (as determined by the Fund), is a prior Fund Awardee or 
allocatee under any Fund program whose award or allocation terminated 
in default of a previously executed assistance, allocation or award 
agreement(s); and (ii) the final reporting period end date for the 
applicable terminated assistance, allocation or award agreement(s) 
falls within the 12-month period prior to the application deadline of 
this NOFA.
    6. Undisbursed award funds: The Fund will not consider an 
application submitted by an Applicant that is a prior Fund Awardee 
under any Fund program if the Applicant has a balance of undisbursed 
award funds (defined below) under said prior award(s), as of the 
applicable application deadline of this NOFA. Further, an entity is not 
eligible to apply for an award pursuant to this NOFA if another entity 
that Controls the Applicant, is Controlled by the Applicant or shares 
common management officials with the Applicant (as determined by the 
Fund), is a prior Fund Awardee under any Fund program, and has a 
balance of undisbursed award funds under said prior award(s), as of the 
applicable application deadline of this NOFA. In a case where another 
entity that Controls the Applicant, is Controlled by the Applicant or 
shares common management officials with the Applicant (as determined by 
the Fund), is a prior Fund Awardee under any Fund program, and has a 
balance of undisbursed award funds under said prior award(s), as of the 
applicable application deadline of this NOFA, the Fund will include the 
combined awards of the Applicant and such Affiliated entities when 
calculating the amount of undisbursed award funds.
    For purposes of the calculation of undisbursed award funds for the 
BEA Program, only awards made to the Applicant (and any Affiliates) 
three to five calendar years prior to the end of the calendar year of 
the application deadline of this NOFA are included (``includable BEA 
awards''). Thus, for purposes of this NOFA, undisbursed BEA Program 
award funds are the amount of FYs 2002, 2003 and 2004 awards that 
remain undisbursed as of the application deadline of this NOFA.
    For purposes of the calculation of undisbursed award funds for the 
CDFI Program and the Native Initiatives

[[Page 50450]]

Funding Programs, only awards made to the Applicant (and any 
Affiliates) two to five calendar years prior to the end of the calendar 
year of this NOFA are included (``includable CDFI/NI awards''). Thus, 
for purposes of this NOFA, undisbursed CDFI Program and NI awards are 
the amount of FYs 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 awards that remain 
undisbursed as of the application deadline of this NOFA.
    To calculate total includable BEA/CDFI/NI awards: amounts that are 
undisbursed as of the application deadline of this NOFA cannot exceed 
five percent (5%) of the total includable awards. Please refer to an 
example of this calculation on the Fund's Web site, found in the Q&A 
document for the FY 2008 Funding Round.
    The ``undisbursed award funds'' calculation does not include: (i) 
Tax credit allocation authority made available through the New Market 
Tax Credit (NMTC) Program; (ii) any award funds for which the Fund 
received a full and complete disbursement request from the Awardee by 
the applicable application deadline of this NOFA; (iii) any award funds 
for an award that has been terminated in writing by the Fund or 
deobligated by the Fund; or (iv) any award funds for an award that does 
not have a fully executed assistance or award agreement. The Fund 
strongly encourages Applicants requesting disbursements of 
``undisbursed funds'' from prior awards to provide the Fund with a 
complete disbursement request at least 10 business days prior to the 
application deadline of this NOFA. An Applicant that is unsure about 
the disbursement status of any prior award should contact the Fund's 
Financial Manager via e-mail at [email protected] 
for more information, no less than thirty (30) calendar days prior to 
the application deadline of this NOFA. Requests submitted less than 
thirty calendar days prior to the application deadline may not receive 
a response before the application deadline.
    7. Exception for Applicants impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and/or 
Rita: Please note that the provisions of paragraphs 2 (Failure to meet 
reporting requirements) and 6 (Undisbursed award funds) of this section 
do not apply to any Applicant that has an office located in, or that 
provides a significant volume of services or financing to residents of 
or businesses located in, a county that is within a ``major disaster 
area'' as was declared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
(FEMA) as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and/or Rita. Said requirements 
are waived for those Applicants under this NOFA.
    8. Contact the Fund. Accordingly, Applicants that are prior 
Awardees are advised to: (i) Comply with requirements specified in 
assistance, allocation and/or award agreement(s), and (ii) contact the 
Fund to ensure that all necessary actions are underway for the 
disbursement or deobligation of any outstanding balance of said prior 
award(s). Disbursement questions should be directed to Grants 
Management via e-mail to [email protected]. Reporting and 
compliance questions should be directed to Compliance, Monitoring and 
Evaluation (CME) by e-mail to [email protected]. Telephone calls to 
Grants Management and CME should be directed to (202) 622-8226; 
facsimiles to (202) 622-7754; and mail to CDFI Fund, 601 13th Street, 
NW., Suite 200 South, Washington, DC 20005. The Fund will respond to 
Applicants' reporting, disbursement or compliance questions between the 
hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, starting the date of the publication of 
this NOFA through Monday, October 29, 2007 (two business days before 
the application deadline). The Fund will not respond to Applicants' 
reporting, disbursement or compliance phone calls or e-mail inquiries 
that are received after 5 p.m. ET on said date, until after the funding 
application deadline.
    9. Other Targeted Populations as Target Markets: Other Targeted 
Populations are defined as identifiable groups of individuals in the 
Applicant's service area for which there exists a strong basis in 
evidence that they lack access to loans, Equity Investments and/or 
Financial Services. The Fund has determined that there is strong basis 
in evidence that the following groups of individuals lack access to 
loans, Equity Investments and/or Financial Services on a national 
level: Blacks or African Americans, Native Americans or American 
Indians, and Hispanics or Latinos. In addition, for purposes of this 
NOFA, the Fund has determined that there is a strong basis in evidence 
that Alaska Natives residing in Alaska, Native Hawaiians residing in 
Hawaii, and Other Pacific Islanders residing in other Pacific Islands, 
lack adequate access to loans, Equity Investments or Financial 
Services. An Applicant designating any of the above-cited Other 
Targeted Populations is not required to provide additional narrative 
explaining the Other Targeted Population's lack of adequate access to 
loans, Equity Investments or Financial Services. For purposes of this 
NOFA, the Fund will use the following definitions, set forth in the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Notice, Revisions to the 
Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity 
(October 30, 1997), as amended and supplemented:
    (a) American Indian, Native American or Alaska Native: a person 
having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South 
America (including Central America) and who maintains tribal 
affiliation or community attachment;
    (b) Black or African American: a person having origins in any of 
the black racial groups of Africa (terms such as ``Haitian'' or 
``Negro'' can be used in addition to ``Black or African American'');
    (c) Hispanic or Latino: a person of Cuban, Mexican, or Puerto 
Rican, South or Central American or other Spanish culture or origin, 
regardless of race (the term ``Spanish origin'' can be used in addition 
to ``Hispanic or Latino''); and
    (d) Native Hawaiian: a person having origins in any of the original 
peoples of Hawaii; and
    (e) Other Pacific Islander: a person having origins in any of the 
original peoples of Guam, Samoa or other Pacific Islands.

E. Matching Funds

    1. Matching Funds Requirements in General: Applicants responding to 
this NOFA must obtain non-Federal matching funds from sources other 
than the federal government on the basis of not less than one dollar 
for each dollar of FA funds provided by the Fund (matching funds are 
not required for TA grants). Matching funds must be at least comparable 
in form and value to the FA award provided by the Fund (for example, if 
an Applicant is requesting a FA grant from the Fund, the Applicant must 
have evidence that it has obtained matching funds through grant(s) from 
non-Federal sources that are at least equal to the amount requested 
from the Fund). Funds used by an Applicant as matching funds for a 
prior FA award under the CDFI Program or under another Federal grant or 
award program cannot be used to satisfy the matching funds requirement 
of this NOFA. If an Applicant seeks to use as matching funds monies 
received from an organization that was a prior Awardee under the CDFI 
Program, the Fund will deem such funds to be Federal funds, unless the 
funding entity establishes to the reasonable satisfaction of the Fund 
that such funds do not consist, in whole or in part, of CDFI Program 
funds or other Federal funds. For the purposes of this NOFA, BEA 
Program awards are not deemed to be Federal funds and are

[[Page 50451]]

eligible as matching funds. The Fund encourages Applicants to review 
the Interim Rule at 12 CFR 1805.500 et seq. and matching funds guidance 
materials on the Fund's website for further information.
    2. Matching Funds Requirements Per Applicant Category: Due to 
funding constraints and the desire to quickly deploy Fund dollars, the 
Fund will not consider for a FA award any Applicant that has no 
matching funds in-hand or firmly committed as of the application 
deadline of this NOFA. Specifically, FA Applicants must meet the 
following matching funds requirements: (a) Category I/SECA Applicants: 
A Category I/SECA Applicant must demonstrate that it has eligible 
matching funds equal to no less than 25 percent of the amount of the FA 
award requested in-hand or firmly committed, on or after January 1, 
2006 and on or before the application deadline. The Fund reserves the 
right to rescind all or a portion of a FA award and re-allocate the 
rescinded award amount to other qualified Applicant(s), if an Applicant 
fails to obtain in-hand 100 percent of the required matching funds by 
March 14, 2009 (with required documentation of such receipt received by 
the Fund not later than March 31, 2009), or to grant an extension of 
such matching funds deadline for specific Applicants selected to 
receive FA, if the Fund deems it appropriate. For any Applicant that 
demonstrates that it has less than 100 percent of matching funds in-
hand or firmly committed as of the application deadline, the Fund will 
evaluate the Applicant's ability to raise the remaining matching funds 
by March 14, 2009.
    (b) Category II/Core Applicants: A Category II/Core Applicant must 
demonstrate that it has eligible matching funds equal to no less than 
100 percent of the amount of the FA award requested in-hand or firmly 
committed, on or after January 1, 2006 and on or before the application 
deadline. The Fund reserves the right to rescind all or a portion of a 
FA award and re-allocate the rescinded award amount to other qualified 
Applicant(s), if an Applicant fails to obtain in-hand 100 percent of 
the required matching funds by March 14, 2009 (with required 
documentation of such receipt received by the Fund not later than March 
31, 2009), or to grant an extension of such matching funds deadline for 
specific Applicants selected to receive FA, if the Fund deems it 
appropriate.

3. Matching Funds Terms Defined; Required Documentation

    (a) ``Matching funds in-hand'' means that the Applicant has 
actually received the matching funds. If the matching funds are ``in-
hand,'' the Applicant must provide the Fund with acceptable written 
documentation of the source, form and amount of the Matching Funds 
(i.e., grant, loan, deposit, and equity investment). For a loan, the 
Applicant must provide the Fund with a copy of the loan agreement and 
promissory note. For a grant, the Applicant must provide the Fund with 
a copy of the grant letter or agreement. For an equity investment, the 
Applicant must provide the Fund with a copy of the stock certificate 
and any related shareholder agreement. Further, if the matching funds 
are ``in-hand,'' the Applicant must provide the Fund with acceptable 
documentation that evidences its receipt of the matching funds 
proceeds, such as a copy of a check or a wire transfer statement.
    (b) ``Firmly committed matching funds'' means that the Applicant 
has entered into or received a legally binding commitment from the 
matching funds source that the matching funds will be disbursed to the 
Applicant. If the matching funds are ``firmly committed,'' the 
Applicant must provide the Fund with acceptable written documentation 
to evidence the source, form, and amount of the firm commitment (and, 
in the case of a loan, the terms thereof), as well as the anticipated 
date of disbursement of the committed funds.
    (c) The Fund may contact the matching funds source to discuss the 
matching funds and the documentation provided by the Awardee. If the 
Fund determines that any portion of the Applicant's matching funds is 
ineligible under this NOFA, the Fund, in its sole discretion, may 
permit the Applicant to offer alternative matching funds as substitute 
for the ineligible matching funds; provided, however, that (i) The 
Applicant must provide acceptable alternative matching funds 
documentation within 2 business days of the Fund's request and (ii) the 
alternative matching funds documentation cannot increase the total 
amount of Financial Assistance requested by the Applicant.
    4. Special Rule for Insured Credit Unions. Please note that the 
Interim Rule allows an Insured Credit Union to use retained earnings to 
serve as matching funds for a FA grant in an amount equal to: (i) The 
increase in retained earnings that have occurred over the Applicant's 
most recent fiscal year; (ii) the annual average of such increases that 
have occurred over the Applicant's three most recent fiscal years; or 
(iii) the entire retained earnings that have been accumulated since the 
inception of the Applicant or such other financial measure as may be 
specified by the Fund. For purposes of this NOFA, if option (iii) is 
used, the Applicant must increase its member and/or non-member shares 
or total loans outstanding by an amount that is equal to the amount of 
retained earnings that is committed as matching funds. This amount must 
be raised by the end of the Awardee's second performance period, as set 
forth in its Assistance Agreement, and will be based on amounts 
reported in the Applicant's Audited or Reviewed Financial Statements or 
NCUA Form 5300 Call Report. The Fund will assess the likelihood of this 
increase during the application review process. An award will not be 
made to any Applicant that has not demonstrated that it has increased 
shares or loans by at least 25 percent of the requested FA award amount 
between December 31, 2006 and December 31, 2007, as demonstrated by the 
corresponding NCUA report.
    5. Severe Constraints Exception to Matching Funds Requirement; 
Applicability to Applicants Located in FEMA-Designated Major Disaster 
Areas Created by Hurricanes Katrina and/or Rita: In the case of any 
Applicant that has an office that is located in, or that provides a 
significant volume of services or financing to residents of or 
businesses located in, any county that is within a ``major disaster 
area'' as was declared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
(FEMA) as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and/or Rita, and that has 
severe constraints on available sources of matching funds, such 
Applicant may be eligible for a ``severe constraints waiver'' (see 
section 1805.203 of the Interim Rule) if (i) It can demonstrate to the 
satisfaction of the Fund that an Investment Area(s) or Targeted 
Population(s) would not be adequately served without such a waiver and 
(ii) it projects to use the assistance to address issues resulting from 
Hurricanes Katrina and/or Rita (such as a significant volume of loan 
defaults) or to provide financial products, financial services, or 
Development Services to residents of or businesses located in any 
county that is within a ``major disaster area'' as was declared by FEMA 
as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and/or Rita. If eligible for such a 
waiver, the Applicant may comply with the matching funds requirements 
of this NOFA as follows: (i) The matching funds requirement for such 
Applicant would be reduced to 50 percent (meaning, the Applicant must 
match 50 percent of the Fund's FA award rather than 100 percent), or 
(ii) such an Applicant may provide

[[Page 50452]]

matching funds in alternative (meaning, non-monetary) forms if the 
Applicant has total assets of less than $100,000 at the time of the 
application deadline, serves non-metropolitan or rural areas, and is 
not requesting more than $25,000 in financial assistance from the Fund. 
In the case of item (i) of this paragraph, the Applicant must 
demonstrate that it has eligible matching funds equal to no less than 
25 percent of the amount of the FA award requested in-hand or firmly 
committed, on or after January 1, 2006 and on or before the application 
deadline. The Fund reserves the right to rescind all or a portion of a 
FA award and re-allocate the rescinded award amount to other qualified 
Applicant(s), if an Applicant fails to obtain in-hand the required 
matching funds by December 31, 2008 (with required documentation of 
such receipt received by the Fund not later than December 15, 2008), or 
to grant an extension of such matching funds deadline for specific 
Applicants selected to receive FA, if the Fund deems it appropriate. 
For any such Applicant that demonstrates that it has less than the 
required matching funds in-hand or firmly committed as of the 
application deadline, the Fund will evaluate the Applicant's ability to 
raise the remaining matching funds by December 31, 2008. In the case of 
item (ii) of this paragraph, the CDFI Program funding application 
contains further instructions on the type of documentation that the 
Applicant must provide as evidence that such match was received and its 
valuation. The Fund reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to 
disallow any such match for which adequate documentation or valuation 
is not provided.

IV. Application and Submission Information

    A. Form of Application Submission: Applicants may submit 
applications under this NOFA only electronically, through Grants.gov. 
Applications sent by mail, facsimile or other form will not be 
accepted. The Fund will not accept applications in paper form, other 
than the assigned signature page and certain paper attachments, as 
specified below and in the application.
    B. Grants.gov: For the FY 2008 Funding Round, in compliance with 
Public Law 106-107 and Section 5(a) of the Federal Financial Assistance 
Management Improvement Act, the Fund is required to accept applications 
submitted through the Grants.gov electronic system. The Fund will post 
to its Web site at http://www.cdfifund.gov instructions for accessing 
and submitting an application through Grants.gov. The application 
instructions will be posted as soon as they are available and once the 
application materials are accessible through Grants.gov. The 
anticipated release date for the application instructions is Thursday, 
August 30, 2007. Applicants are encouraged to start the registration 
process now at http://www.Grants.gov as the process may take several 
weeks to fully complete. See the following link for information on 
getting started on Grants.gov: http://grants.gov/assets/GrantsgovCoBrandBrochure8X11.pdf.
    C. Application Content Requirements: Detailed application content 
requirements are found in the application and guidance. Please note 
that, pursuant to OMB guidance (68 Federal Register 38402), each 
Applicant must provide, as part of its application submission, a Dun 
and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number. In 
addition, each application must include a valid and current Employer 
Identification Number (EIN), with a letter or other documentation from 
the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) confirming the Applicant's EIN. An 
electronic application that does not include an EIN is incomplete and 
cannot be transmitted to the Fund. Applicants should allow sufficient 
time for the IRS and/or Dun and Bradstreet to respond to inquiries and/
or requests for identification numbers. Once an application is 
submitted, the Applicant will not be allowed to change any element of 
the application. The preceding sentence does not limit the Fund's 
ability to contact an Applicant for the purpose of obtaining clarifying 
or confirming application information (such as a DUNS number or EIN 
information).
    D. MyCDFIFund Accounts: All Applicants must register User and 
Organization accounts in myCDFIFund, the Fund's Internet-based 
interface. An Applicant must be registered as both a User and an 
Organization in myCDFIFund as of the applicable application deadline in 
order to be considered to have submitted a complete application. As 
myCDFIFund is the Fund's primary means of communication with Applicants 
and Awardees, organizations must make sure that they update the contact 
information in their myCDFIFund accounts. For more information on 
myCDFIFund, please see the ``Frequently Asked Questions'' link posted 
at https://www.cdfifund.gov/myCDFI/Help/Help.asp.
    E. Application Deadlines: Applicants must submit all materials 
described in and required by the application by the applicable 
deadline.
    1. Application Deadlines: Applications submitted via Grants.gov 
must be received in accordance with the instructions provided by the 
Fund, by 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday, October 31, 2007. In addition, 
Applicants that submit electronic applications must separately submit 
(by mail or other courier/delivery service) a signature page, signed by 
the Applicant's Authorized Representative, and all other required paper 
attachments; said documents must be received at the address set forth 
below by 5 p.m. ET on Friday, November 2, 2007.
    2. Late Delivery: The Fund will neither accept a late application 
nor any portion of an application that is late; an application that is 
late, or for which any portion is late, will be rejected. An 
application submitted via Grants.gov and all required paper attachments 
must be received by the applicable time and date set forth above. The 
Fund will not grant exceptions or waivers for late delivery of 
documents including, but not limited to, late delivery that is caused 
by third parties such as the United States Postal Service, couriers or 
overnight delivery services. Any application that is deemed ineligible 
will not be returned to the Applicant.
    F. INTERGOVERNMENTAL REVIEW: Not applicable.
    G. FUNDING RESTRICTIONS: For allowable uses of FA proceeds, please 
see the Interim Rule at 12 C.F.R. 1805.301.

V. Application Review Information

    A. Criteria: The Fund will evaluate each application on a 100-point 
scale using numeric scores with respect to the following five sections:
    1. Market Analysis (TA-only Applicants: 25 points; Category I/SECA: 
25 points; Category II/Core: 20 points): The Fund will evaluate: (i) 
The extent and nature of the economic distress within the designated 
Target Market including the Applicant's understanding of its current 
and prospective customers; and (ii) the extent of demand for the 
Applicant's Financial Products, Development Services, and Financial 
Services within the designated Target Market. The Fund will give 
special consideration to any Applicant that has an office that is 
located in, or that provides a significant volume of services or 
financing to residents of or businesses located in, (i) any county that 
is within the area declared to be a ``major disaster'' by FEMA as a 
result of Hurricanes Katrina and/or Rita; and/or (ii) any state that 
has been declared a ``reception state'' by FEMA.

[[Page 50453]]

    2. Business Strategy (TA-only Applicants: 25 points; Category I/
SECA: 25 points; Category II/Core: 20 points): The Fund will evaluate 
the Applicant's business strategy for addressing market demand and 
creating community development impact through: (i) Its Financial 
Products, Development Services, and/or Financial Services; (ii) its 
marketing, outreach, and delivery strategy; and (iii) the extent, 
quality and nature of coordination with other similar providers of 
Financial Products and Financial Services, government agencies, and 
other key community development entities within the Target Market. The 
Fund will take into consideration whether the Applicant is proposing to 
expand into a new Target Market.
    3. Community Development Performance and Effective Use (TA-only 
Applicants: 20 points; Category I/SECA: 20 points; Category II/Core: 20 
points): The Fund will evaluate (i) The Applicant's vision for its 
Target Market, specific outcomes or impacts for measuring progress 
towards achieving this vision, and the extent to which this award will 
allow it to achieve them; (ii) the Applicant's track record in 
providing Financial Products, Financial Services, and Development 
Services to the Target Market; (iii) the extent to which proposed 
activities will benefit the Target Market; (iv) the likelihood of 
achieving the impact projections, including the extent to which the 
activities proposed in the Comprehensive Business Plan will expand 
economic opportunities or promote community development within the 
designated Target Market by promoting homeownership, affordable housing 
development, job creation or retention, the provision of affordable 
financial services, and other community development objectives; and (v) 
the extent to which the Applicant will maximize the effective use of 
the Fund's resources. If an Applicant has a prior track record of 
serving Investment Areas(s) or Targeted Population(s), it must 
demonstrate that: (i) It has a record of success in serving said 
Investment Area(s) or Targeted Population(s); (ii) it will offer more 
Financial Products or Development Services and/or increase the volume 
of its current activities in the Target Market; and/or (iii) it will 
expand its operations into a larger Target Market.
    4. Management (TA-only Applicants: 20 points; Category I/SECA: 20 
points; Category II/Core: 20 points): The Fund will evaluate the 
Applicant's organizational capacity to achieve the objectives set forth 
in its Comprehensive Business Plan as well as its ability to use its 
award successfully and maintain compliance with its Assistance 
Agreement through an evaluation of: (i) The capacity, skills, size and 
experience of the Applicant's current and proposed Governing Board, 
management team, and key staff; and (ii) the Applicant's management 
controls and risk mitigation strategies including policies and 
procedures for portfolio underwriting and review, financial management, 
risk management, management information systems.
    5. Financial Health and Viability (TA-only Applicants: 10 points; 
Category I/SECA: 10 points; Category II/Core: 20 points): The Fund will 
evaluate the Applicant's: (i) Audited or otherwise prepared Financial 
Statements; (ii) safety and soundness, including an analysis of the 
Applicant's financial services industry ratios (capital, liquidity, 
deployment and self-sufficiency) and ability to sustain positive net 
revenue; (iii) projected financial health, including its ability to 
raise operating support from sources other than the Fund and its 
capitalization strategy; and (iv) portfolio performance including loan 
delinquency, loan losses, and loan loss reserves. If an Applicant does 
not have 100 percent of the required matching funds in-hand (versus 
committed), the Applicant must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the 
Fund that it will raise the outstanding balance of matching funds by 
March 14, 2009.
    6. Technical Assistance Proposal: Any Applicant applying for a TA 
grant, either alone or in conjunction with a request for a FA award, 
must complete a Technical Assistance Proposal (TAP) as part of its 
application. The TAP consists of a summary of the organizational 
improvements needed to achieve the objectives of the Comprehensive 
Business Plan, a budget, and a description of the requested goods and/
or services comprising the TA award request. The budget and 
accompanying narrative will be evaluated for the eligibility and 
appropriateness of the proposed uses of the TA award (described above). 
In addition, if the Applicant identifies a capacity-building need 
related to any of the evaluation criteria above (for example, if the 
Applicant requires a market need analysis or a community development 
impact tracking/reporting system), the Fund will assess its plan to use 
the TA grant to address said needs. An Applicant that is not a 
Certified CDFI and that requests TA to address certification 
requirements, must explain how the requested TA grant will assist the 
Applicant in meeting the certification requirement. The Fund will 
assess the reasonableness of the plan to become certified by December 
31, 2010, taking into account the requested TA. For example, if the 
Applicant does not currently make loans and therefore does not meet the 
Financing Entity requirement, it might describe how the TA funds will 
be used to hire a consultant to develop underwriting policies and 
procedures to support the Applicant's ability to start its lending 
activity. An Applicant that requests a TA grant for recurring 
activities must clearly describe the benefit that would accrue to its 
capacity or to its Target Market(s) (such as plans for expansion of 
staff, market, or products) as a result of the TA award. If the 
Applicant is a prior Fund Awardee, it must describe how it has used the 
prior assistance and explain the need for additional Fund dollars over 
and above such prior assistance. Such an Applicant also must describe 
the additional benefits that would accrue to its capacity or to the 
Target Market(s) if the Applicant receives another award from the Fund, 
such as plans for expansion of staff, market, or products. The Fund 
will not provide funding for the same activities funded in prior 
awards.

B. Review and Selection Process

    1. Eligibility and Completeness Review: The Fund will review each 
application to determine whether it is complete and the Applicant meets 
the eligibility requirements set forth above. An incomplete application 
does not meet eligibility requirements and will be rejected. Any 
application that does not meet eligibility requirements will not be 
returned to the Applicant.
    2. Substantive Review: If an application is determined to be 
complete and the Applicant is determined to be eligible, the Fund will 
conduct the substantive review of the application in accordance with 
the criteria and procedures described in the Interim Rule, this NOFA 
and the application and guidance. Each FA application will be reviewed 
and scored by multiple readers. Each TA application will be read and 
scored by one reader. Readers may include Fund staff and other experts 
in community development finance. As part of the review process, the 
Fund may contact the Applicant by telephone, e-mail, mail, or through 
an on-site visit for the sole purpose of obtaining clarifying or 
confirming application information (such as statements of work, 
r[eacute]sum[eacute]s, EINs, Duns numbers, for example). After 
submitting its application, the Applicant will not be permitted to 
revise or modify its application in any way nor attempt to negotiate 
the terms

[[Page 50454]]

of an award. If contacted for clarifying or confirming information, the 
Applicant must respond within the time parameters set by the Fund.
    3. Application Scoring; Ranking:
    (a) Application Scoring: The Fund will evaluate each application on 
a 100-point scale, comprising the five criteria categories described 
above, and assign numeric scores. An Applicant must receive a minimum 
score in each evaluation criteria in order to be considered for an 
award. In the case of an Applicant that has previously received funding 
from the Fund through any Fund program, the Fund will consider and will 
deduct points for: (i) The Applicant's noncompliance with any active 
award or award that terminated in Calendar Year 2007 in meeting its 
performance goals, financial soundness covenants (if applicable), 
reporting deadlines and other requirements set forth in the assistance 
or award agreement(s) with the Fund during the Applicant's two complete 
fiscal years prior to the application deadline of this NOFA; (ii) the 
Applicant's failure to make timely loan payments to the Fund during the 
Applicant's two complete fiscal years prior to the application deadline 
of this NOFA (if applicable); (iii) performance on any prior Assistance 
Agreement as part of the overall assessment of the Applicant's ability 
to carry out its Comprehensive Business Plan; and (iv) funds 
deobligated from a FY 2004, FY 2005 or FY 2006 FA award (if the 
Applicant is applying for a FA award under this NOFA) if (A) the amount 
of deobligated funds is at least $200,000 and (B) the deobligation 
occurred subsequent to the expiration of the period of award funds 
availability (generally, any funds deobligated after the September 30th 
following the year in which the award was made). Any award 
deobligations that result in a point deduction under an application 
submitted pursuant to either funding round of this NOFA will not be 
counted against any future application for FA through the CDFI Program. 
All questions regarding outstanding reports or compliance should be 
directed to Compliance, Monitoring and Evaluation by e-mail to 
[email protected]; by telephone at (202) 622-8226; by facsimile at 
(202) 622-7754; or by mail to CDFI Fund, 601 13th Street, NW., Suite 
200 South, Washington, DC 20005. These are not toll free numbers. The 
Fund will respond to reporting or compliance questions between the 
hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, starting the date of the publication of 
this NOFA through Monday, October 29, 2007.
    (b) Ranking: The Fund then will rank the applications by their 
scores, from highest to lowest, as follows:
    (i) TA-only Applicants and Category I/SECA Applicants will be 
ranked from highest to lowest, based on each Applicant's scores for all 
five criteria categories added together.
    (ii) Category II/Core Applicants must receive scores in both the 
Management category and the Financial Health and Viability category 
that each equal at least 50 percent of the available points in each of 
those sections. For Category II/Core Applicants that exceed this 
threshold, the Fund will use the combined scores of the Market 
Analysis, Business Strategy, and Community Development Performance and 
Effective Use categories to rank such Applicants, highest to lowest.
    4. Award Selection: The Fund will make its final award selections 
based on the rank order of Applicants by their scores and the amount of 
funds available. Subject to the availability of funding, the Fund will 
award funding in the order of the ranking. TA-only Applicants, Category 
I/SECA and Category II/Core Applicants will be ranked separately. In 
addition, the Fund may consider the institutional and geographic 
diversity of Applicants when making its funding decisions.
    5. Insured CDFIs: In the case of Insured Depository Institutions 
and Insured Credit Unions, the Fund will take into consideration the 
views of the Appropriate Federal Banking Agencies; in the case of 
State-Insured Credit Unions, the Fund may consult with the appropriate 
State banking agencies (or comparable entity). The Fund will not 
approve a FA award or a TA grant to any Insured Credit Union (other 
than a State-Insured Credit Union) or Insured Depository Institution 
Applicant that has a CAMEL rating that is higher than a ``3'' or for 
which its Appropriate Federal Banking Agency indicates it has safety 
and soundness concerns, unless the Appropriate Federal Banking Agency 
asserts, in writing, that: (i) An upgrade to a CAMEL 3 rating or better 
(or other improvement in status) is imminent and such upgrade is 
expected to occur not later than September 30, 2008 or within such 
other time frame deemed acceptable by the Fund, or (ii) the safety and 
soundness condition of the Applicant is adequate to undertake the 
activities for which the Applicant has requested a FA award and the 
obligations of an Assistance Agreement related to such a FA award.
    6. Award Notification: Each Applicant will be informed of the 
Fund's award decision either through a Notice of Award if selected for 
an award (see Notice of Award section, below) or written declination if 
not selected for an award. Each Applicant that is not selected for an 
award based on reasons other than completeness or eligibility issues 
will be provided a written debriefing on the strengths and weaknesses 
of its application. This feedback will be provided in a format and 
within a timeframe to be determined by the Fund, based on available 
resources. The Fund will notify Awardees by email using the addresses 
maintained in the Awardee's myCDFIFund account (postal mailings will be 
used only in rare cases).
    7. The Fund reserves the right to reject an application if 
information (including administrative errors) comes to the attention of 
the Fund that either adversely affects an applicant's eligibility for 
an award, or adversely affects the Fund's evaluation or scoring of an 
application, or indicates fraud or mismanagement on the part of an 
Applicant. If the Fund determines that any portion of the application 
is incorrect in any material respect, the Fund reserves the right, in 
its sole discretion, to reject the application. The Fund reserves the 
right to change its eligibility and evaluation criteria and procedures, 
if the Fund deems it appropriate; if said changes materially affect the 
Fund's award decisions, the Fund will provide information regarding the 
changes through the Fund's Web site. There is no right to appeal the 
Fund's award decisions. The Fund's award decisions are final.

VI. Award Administration Information

    A. Notice of Award: The Fund will signify its conditional selection 
of an Applicant as an Awardee by delivering a signed Notice of Award to 
the Applicant through its myCDFIFund account. The Notice of Award will 
contain the general terms and conditions underlying the Fund's 
provision of assistance including, but not limited to, the requirement 
that the Awardee and the Fund enter into an Assistance Agreement. The 
Applicant must execute the Notice of Award and return it to the Fund. 
By executing a Notice of Award, the Awardee agrees, among other things, 
that, if prior to entering into an Assistance Agreement with the Fund, 
information (including administrative error) comes to the attention of 
the Fund that either adversely affects the Awardee's eligibility for an 
award, or adversely affects the Fund's evaluation of the Awardee's 
application, or indicates fraud or mismanagement on the part of the 
Awardee, the Fund may, in its discretion and without advance notice

[[Page 50455]]

to the Awardee, terminate the Notice of Award or take such other 
actions as it deems appropriate. Moreover, by executing a Notice of 
Award, the Awardee agrees that, if prior to entering into an Assistance 
Agreement with the Fund, the Fund determines that the Awardee is in 
default of any Assistance Agreement previously entered into with the 
Fund, the Fund may, in its discretion and without advance notice to the 
Awardee, either terminate the Notice of Award or take such other 
actions as it deems appropriate. The Fund reserves the right, in its 
sole discretion, to rescind its award if the Awardee fails to return 
the Notice of Award, signed by the authorized representative of the 
Awardee, along with any other requested documentation, within the 
deadline set by the Fund.
    1. Failure to meet reporting requirements: If an Awardee, or an 
entity that Controls the Awardee, is Controlled by the Awardee or 
shares common management officials with the Awardee (as determined by 
the Fund) is a prior Fund Awardee or allocatee under any Fund program 
and is not current on the reporting requirements set forth in the 
previously executed assistance, allocation or award agreement(s), as of 
the date of the Notice of Award, the Fund reserves the right, in its 
sole discretion, to delay entering into an Assistance Agreement until 
said prior Awardee or allocatee is current on the reporting 
requirements in any previously executed assistance, allocation or award 
agreement(s). Please note that the Fund only acknowledges the receipt 
of reports that are complete. As such, incomplete reports or reports 
that are deficient of required elements will not be recognized as 
having been received. If said prior Awardee or allocatee is unable to 
meet this requirement within the timeframe set by the Fund, the Fund 
reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to terminate and rescind 
the Notice of Award and the award made under this NOFA.
    2. Pending resolution of noncompliance: If an Applicant is a prior 
Awardee or allocatee under any Fund program and if: (i) It has 
submitted complete and timely reports to the Fund that demonstrate 
noncompliance with a previous assistance, award or allocation 
agreement; and (ii) the Fund has yet to make a final determination as 
to whether the entity is in default of its previous assistance, award 
or allocation agreement, the Fund reserves the right, in its sole 
discretion, to delay entering into an Assistance Agreement, pending 
full resolution, in the sole determination of the Fund, of the 
noncompliance. Further, if another entity that Controls the Applicant, 
is Controlled by the Applicant or shares common management officials 
with the Applicant (as determined by the Fund), is a prior Fund Awardee 
or allocatee and if such entity: (i) Has submitted complete and timely 
reports to the Fund that demonstrate noncompliance with a previous 
assistance, award or allocation agreement; and (ii) the Fund has yet to 
make a final determination as to whether the entity is in default of 
its previous assistance, award or allocation agreement, the Fund 
reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to delay entering into an 
Assistance Agreement, pending full resolution, in the sole 
determination of the Fund, of the noncompliance. If the prior Awardee 
or allocatee in question is unable to satisfactorily resolve the issues 
of noncompliance, in the sole determination of the Fund, the Fund 
reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to terminate and rescind 
the Notice of Award and the award made under this NOFA.
    3. Default status: If, at any time prior to entering into an 
Assistance Agreement through this NOFA, the Fund has made a final 
determination that an Awardee that is a prior Fund Awardee or allocatee 
under any Fund program is in default of a previously executed 
assistance, allocation or award agreement(s), the Fund reserves the 
right, in its sole discretion, to delay entering into an Assistance 
Agreement, until said prior Awardee or allocatee has submitted a 
complete and timely report demonstrating full compliance with said 
agreement within a timeframe set by the Fund. Further, if at any time 
prior to entering into an Assistance Agreement through this NOFA, the 
Fund has made a final determination that another entity that Controls 
the Awardee, is Controlled by the applicant or shares common management 
officials with the Awardee (as determined by the Fund), is a prior Fund 
Awardee or allocatee under any Fund program and is in default of a 
previously executed assistance, allocation or award agreement(s), the 
Fund reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to delay entering into 
an Assistance Agreement, until said prior Awardee or allocatee has 
submitted a complete and timely report demonstrating full compliance 
with said agreement within a timeframe set by the Fund. If said prior 
Awardee or allocatee is unable to meet this requirement, the Fund 
reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to terminate and rescind 
the Notice of Award and the award made under this NOFA.
    4. Termination in default: If (i) within the 12-month period prior 
to entering into an Assistance Agreement through this NOFA, the Fund 
has made a final determination that an Awardee that is a prior Fund 
Awardee or allocatee under any Fund program whose award or allocation 
was terminated in default of such prior agreement; and (ii) the final 
reporting period end date for the applicable terminated agreement falls 
within the 12-month period prior to the application deadline of this 
NOFA, the Fund reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to delay 
entering into an Assistance Agreement. Further, if (i) within the 12-
month period prior to entering into an Assistance Agreement through 
this NOFA, the Fund has made a final determination that another entity 
that Controls the Awardee, is Controlled by the Awardee or shares 
common management officials with the Awardee (as determined by the 
Fund), is a prior Fund Awardee or allocatee under any Fund program 
whose award or allocation was terminated in default of such prior 
agreement; and (ii) the final reporting period end date for the 
applicable terminated agreement falls within the 12-month period prior 
to the application deadline of this NOFA, the Fund reserves the right, 
in its sole discretion, to delay entering into an Assistance Agreement.
    5. Deobligated awards: An Awardee that receives a FA award pursuant 
to this NOFA for which an amount over $200,000 is deobligated by the 
Fund subsequent to the expiration of the period of award funds 
availability (generally, any funds deobligated after the September 30th 
following the year in which the award was made) but within the 12 
months prior to the application deadline, may not apply for a new award 
through the NOFA for another CDFI Fund program funding round after the 
date of said deobligation.
    B. Assistance Agreement: Each Applicant that is selected to receive 
an award under this NOFA must enter into an Assistance Agreement with 
the Fund in order to receive disbursement of award proceeds. The 
Assistance Agreement will set forth certain required terms and 
conditions of the award, which will include, but not be limited to: (i) 
The amount of the award; (ii) the type of award; (iii) the approved 
uses of the award; (iv) the approved Target Market to which the funded 
activity must be targeted; (v) performance goals and measures; and (vi) 
reporting requirements for all Awardees. FA and FA/TA Assistance 
Agreements under this NOFA generally will have three-year performance 
periods; TA-only Assistance

[[Page 50456]]

Agreements generally will have two-year performance periods.
    The Fund reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to terminate 
the Notice of Award and rescind an award if the Awardee fails to return 
the Assistance Agreement, signed by the authorized representative of 
the Awardee, and/or provide the Fund with any other requested 
documentation, within the deadlines set by the Fund.
    In addition to entering into an Assistance Agreement, each Awardee 
that receives an award either (i) In the form of a loan, equity 
investment, credit union shares/deposits, or secondary capital, in any 
amount, or (ii) a FA grant in an amount greater than $500,000, must 
furnish to the Fund an opinion from its legal counsel, the content of 
which will be specified in the Assistance Agreement, to include, among 
other matters, an opinion that the Awardee: (A) is duly formed and in 
good standing in the jurisdiction in which it was formed and/or 
operates; (B) has the authority to enter into the Assistance Agreement 
and undertake the activities that are specified therein; and (C) 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. Each other Awardee must provide the Fund with a 
good standing certificate (or equivalent documentation) from its state 
(or jurisdiction) of incorporation.
    C. Reporting
    1. Reporting requirements: The Fund will collect information, on at 
least an annual basis, from each Awardee including, but not limited to, 
an Annual Report that comprises the following components: (i) Financial 
Report; (ii) Institution Level Report; (iii) Transaction Level Report 
(for Awardees receiving FA); (iv) Financial Status Report (for Awardees 
receiving TA); (v) Uses of Financial Assistance and Matching Funds 
Report (for Awardees receiving Financial Assistance); (vi) Explanation 
of Noncompliance (as applicable); and (vii) such other information as 
the Fund may require. Each Awardee is responsible for the timely and 
complete submission of the Annual Report, even if all or a portion of 
the documents actually is completed by another entity or signatory to 
the Assistance Agreement. If such other entities or signatories are 
required to provide Institution Level Reports, Transaction Level 
Reports, Financial Reports, or other documentation that the Fund may 
require, the Awardee is responsible for ensuring that the information 
is submitted timely and complete. The Fund reserves the right to 
contact such additional signatories to the Assistance Agreement and 
require that additional information and documentation be provided. The 
Fund will use such information to monitor each Awardee's compliance 
with the requirements set forth in the Assistance Agreement and to 
assess the impact of the CDFI Program. The Institution Level Report and 
the Transaction Level Report must be submitted through the Fund's web-
based data collection system, the Community Investment Impact System 
(CIIS). The Financial Report may be submitted through CIIS, or by fax 
or mail to the Fund. All other components of the Annual Report may be 
submitted to the Fund in paper form or other form to be determined by 
the Fund. The 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 Awardees.
    2. Accounting: The Fund will require each Awardee that receives FA 
and TA awards through this NOFA to account for and track the use of 
said FA and TA awards. This means that for every dollar of FA and TA 
awards received from the Fund, the Awardee will be required to inform 
the Fund of its uses. This will require Awardees to establish separate 
administrative and accounting controls, subject to the applicable OMB 
Circulars. The Fund will provide guidance to Awardees outlining the 
format and content of the information to be provided on an annual 
basis, outlining and describing how the funds were used. Each Awardee 
that receives an award must provide the Fund with the required complete 
and accurate Automated Clearinghouse (ACH) form for its bank account 
prior to award closing and disbursement.

VII. Agency Contacts

    The Fund will respond to questions and provide support concerning 
this NOFA and the funding application between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m. ET, starting the date of the publication of this NOFA through 
Monday, October 29, 2007. The Fund will not respond to questions or 
provide support concerning the application that are received after 5 
p.m. ET on said dates, until after the respective funding application 
deadline. Applications and other information regarding the Fund and its 
programs may be obtained from the Fund's Web site at http://www.cdfifund.gov. The Fund will post on its website responses to 
questions of general applicability regarding the CDFI Program.
    A. Information Technology Support: Technical support can be 
obtained by calling (202) 622-2455 or by e-mail at 
[email protected]. People who have visual or mobility 
impairments that prevent them from creating an Investment Area map 
using the Fund's website should call (202) 622-2455 for assistance. 
These are not toll free numbers.
    B. Programmatic Support: If you have any questions about the 
programmatic requirements of this NOFA, contact the Fund's Program 
office by e-mail at [email protected], by telephone at (202) 622-
6355, by facsimile at (202) 622-7754, or by mail at CDFI Fund, 601 13th 
Street, NW., Suite 200 South, Washington, DC 20005. These are not toll-
free numbers.
    C. Grants Management Support: If you have any questions regarding 
the administrative requirements of this NOFA, including questions 
regarding submission requirements, contact the Fund's Grants Management 
unit by e-mail at [email protected], by telephone at 
(202) 622-8226, by facsimile at (202) 622-7754, or by mail at CDFI 
Fund, 601 13th Street, NW., Suite 200 South, Washington, DC 20005. 
These are not toll free numbers.
    D. Compliance and Monitoring Support: If you have any questions 
regarding the compliance requirements of this NOFA, including questions 
regarding performance on prior awards, contact the Fund's Compliance 
Manager by e-mail at [email protected], by telephone at (202) 622-
8226, by facsimile at (202) 622-7754, or by mail at CDFI Fund, 601 13th 
Street, NW., Suite 200 South, Washington, DC 20005. These are not toll 
free numbers.
    E. Legal Counsel Support: If you have any questions or matters that 
you believe require response by the Fund's Office of Legal Counsel, 
please refer to the document titled ``How to Request a Legal Review,'' 
found on the Fund's web site at http://www.cdfifund.gov. Further, if 
you wish to review the Assistance Agreement form document from a prior 
funding round, you may find it posted on the Fund's Web site (please 
note that there may be revisions to the Assistance Agreement that will 
be used for Awardees under this NOFA and thus the sample document on 
the Fund's Web site is provided for illustrative purposes only and 
should not be relied on for purposes of this NOFA).
    F. Communication with the CDFI Fund: The Fund will use its 
myCDFIFund Internet interface to communicate with Applicants and 
Awardees under this NOFA. Applicants must register through myCDFIFund 
in order to submit a complete application

[[Page 50457]]

for funding. Awardees must use myCDFIFund to submit required reports. 
The Fund will notify Awardees by email using the addresses maintained 
in each Awardee's myCDFIFund account. Therefore, the Awardee and any 
Subsidiaries, signatories, and Affiliates must maintain accurate 
contact information (including contact person and authorized 
representative, email addresses, fax numbers, phone numbers, and office 
addresses) in their myCDFIFund account(s). For more information about 
myCDFIFund, please see the Help documents posted at https://www.cdfifund.gov/myCDFI/Help/Help.asp.

VIII. Information Sessions and Outreach

    The Fund may conduct Information Sessions to disseminate 
information to organizations contemplating applying to, and other 
organizations interested in learning about, the Fund's programs. For 
further information on the Fund's Information Sessions, dates and 
locations, or to register to attend an Information Session, please 
visit the Fund's Web site at http://www.cdfifund.gov or call the Fund 
at (202) 622-9046.

     Authority: 12 U.S.C. 4703, 4703 note, 4704, 4706, 4707, 4717; 
12 CFR part 1805.

Kimberly A. Reed,
Director, Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.
[FR Doc. E7-17324 Filed 8-30-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-70-P