FY 2021 CDFI Bond Guarantee Program Application Period Now Open

Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) today opened the fiscal year (FY) 2021 application period for the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program. A total of up to $500 million in bond guarantee authority is available for Eligible Community Development Financial Institutions (Eligible CDFIs) in FY 2021.

Through the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program, selected certified CDFIs or their designees issue bonds that are guaranteed by the Secretary of the Treasury and use the bond proceeds to extend credit to CDFIs for community development financing and long-term community investments. Authorized uses of the loans financed through the bond proceeds include a variety of financial activities, such as supporting commercial facilities that promote revitalization, community stability, and job creation/retention; housing that is principally affordable to low-income people; businesses that provide jobs for low-income people or are owned by low-income people; and community or economic development in low-income and underserved rural areas.

Bond Issues are a minimum of $100 million each. Multiple Eligible CDFIs may join a single $100 million Bond Issue provided that each Eligible CDFI participates at a minimum of $10 million.

What’s New This Round

The required minimum over-collateralization rates established in FY 2020 have been removed for the FY 2021 round. In the FY 2021 round, over-collateralization rates will be determined during the underwriting process for each applicant.

Application Materials

In anticipation of the publication of the FY 2021 Notice of Guarantee Availability (NOGA) in the Federal Register tomorrow, application materials are available on the CDFI Fund’s website at www.cdfifund.gov/bond under the ‘How To Apply’ section by clicking Step 2: Apply. Application materials must be submitted through the CDFI Fund’s Award Management Information System (AMIS).

Deadlines

Please reference the NOGA and application instructions for detailed information regarding the following application deadlines.

• CDFI Certification Applications must be submitted through AMIS by 11:59 p.m. EST on April 2, 2021.
• Qualified Issuer Applications must be submitted through AMIS by 11:59 p.m. EST on April 26, 2021.
• Guarantee Applications must be submitted through AMIS by 11:59 p.m. EST on May 3, 2021.
• The last day the CDFI Fund will accept questions regarding the FY 2021 application period for the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program is April 19, 2021, at 11:59 p.m. EST. All questions must be submitted electronically to the program office at bgp@cdfi.treas.gov.

Qualified Issuer Applications and Guarantee Applications received in FY 2020 that were neither withdrawn nor declined in FY 2020 will be considered under the FY 2021 authority.

Learn About Applying to the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program

To ensure potential Qualified Issuer and Guarantee applicants have the information needed to consider whether to apply this round, the CDFI Fund will conduct a webinar that will highlight the most important information from the presentation used during the customary application workshop. The webinar will last four hours, with the last 60 minutes reserved to answer any questions that potential applicants may have. The CDFI Fund will post the presentation in advance of the webinar, and registration is not required to participate.

Webinar Details

Viewing these webinars requires the use of WebEx. To download the WebEx Event Manager, see the instructions on the Verizon'sWebEx Downloads page.

Reasonable Accommodations

Requests for reasonable accommodations under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act for either the webinars or conference calls should be directed to Jay Santiago at 202-653-0300 no later than 48 hours before the conference calls begin.

Questions

For more information about the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program, please visit www.cdfifund.gov/bond, or email the CDFI Fund’s Help Desk at bgp@cdfi.treas.gov.