Under the Capital Magnet Fund (CMF) the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund will provide competitively awarded grants to CDFIs and qualified nonprofit housing organizations to finance affordable housing and related community development projects.
Subject
The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) is requesting emergency approval for the reinstatement and revision of a currently discontinued information collection, OMB #1559-0036, âCapital Magnet Fund Application.â The application is revised in order to incorporate updates to the definitions, as well as requirements and parameters for CMF implementation and administration. Additionally, it is updated to reflect requirements set forth in the Department of Treasuryâs Uniform Administrative Requirements (UAR) final rule published on December 19, 2014.
Background
The Capital Magnet Fund (CMF) was established through the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (the Act), Pub. L. No. 110-289, section 1131, as a trust fund, the inaugural appropriation of which was used to carry out a competitive grant program administered by the CDFI Fund. The Act requires Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to set aside an amount equal to 4.2 basis points for each dollar of their unpaid principal balances of total new business purchases to be allocated to the Housing Trust Fund (administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development) and the Capital Magnet Fund. The Act also provides the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) with the authority to temporarily suspend these allocations upon certain findings.
On November 13, 2008, the Director of the FHFA temporarily suspended the allocation of funds. On December 11, 2014, the Director of the FHFA terminated the temporary suspension of those allocations, directing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to begin setting aside and allocating funds to the Housing Trust Fund and the Capital Magnet Fund.
Justification
Per policy priorities, the Department of the Treasury is requiring the CDFI Fund to make awards under the CMF Program as soon as the funding is made available from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac via the Housing Trust Fund. Funding may be available as soon as April 2016. In order to make awards the CDFI Fund must have a CMF Application for applicants to complete and be evaluated. The CMF Application is critical to having the necessary data to make informed decisions regarding which applicants should receive Federal award funds. The data from the CMF Application enables the CDFI Fund to reduce potential fraud, waste, and abuse of Federal award funds should unqualified applicants receive awards.
This is a reinstatement of an ICR that was discontinued during the suspension and must now be reinstated in order for applicants to apply to the program in December 2015 and allocations to be awarded by April 2016. There is no change to the burden previously approved under this OMB control number; but the collection instrument was streamlined, reduces redundancy, and incorporates updates based on recommendations from the public.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.