One deadline, one shot, and a self-score THDA will re-derive from scratch — Tennessee

A single deadline, not a multi-gate calendar

Beyond the base filing fee, the same fee schedule prices every later step of the process on a sliding or percentage basis: a Deadline Extension Fee ($500 for 1–5 days, $200/day for 6–30 days, $6,000 for more than 30 days), a Reservation Fee (6.25 percent of the competitive Housing Credit approved, due when the Reservation Notice is accepted), a 42(m) Letter Fee (6.25 percent of noncompetitive Housing Credit requested), a Modification Fee (the greater of $750 or 0.625 percent of the annual Housing Credit in the Reservation Notice), an 8609 Amendment Fee ($50 per form, $250 minimum), and a Monitoring Fee ($600 per Low-Income Unit, due with the Final Application). None of these later fees are optional add-ons — they are how THDA prices every subsequent stage of the same application that starts on April 16.

Threshold and mandatory requirements before scoring ever starts

Section 6 sets six Mandatory Requirements that apply before an Initial Application is even scored: Site Control (one of a recorded deed, eminent-domain evidence, a sale contract, or a purchase/ground-lease option — any ground lease must run at least 50 years unless the development is the subject of an approved PILOT, which the QAP allows to shorten that minimum term); Underlying Seller Authority documentation (a title insurance commitment dated within 60 days of the deadline, with a legal description matching the Site Control documents); Zoning evidence from the local zoning administrator or chief elected official; a Minimum Score under Section 18 (see below); an acceptable, independently prepared Market Study following THDA's own Market Study Guidelines; and, where acquisition costs are part of the deal, an independent Appraisal.

Section 6.B then layers on Threshold Requirements that run alongside the mandatory items: compliance with the Fair Housing Act (including design-and-construction safe harbors for covered multifamily dwellings built after March 13, 1991), the ADA, and applicable building codes; documented availability of electricity, water, sewer, and gas from the local jurisdiction (septic fields are prohibited above four units); demonstrated Financial Feasibility with sources and uses available at application and lender/investor letters showing no construction-period funding shortfall; a 30-year financial pro forma; an election of one Minimum Set-Aside test (20/50, 40/60, or Average Income — with a rehabilitation of a prior Housing Credit development locked into whatever its own prior election was, absent a waiver request); and a full slate of certifications, disclosures, and organizational-ownership breakdowns filed as THOMAS templates.

THDA will not accept a market study, appraisal, physical needs assessment, or cost certification "prepared by parties connected with any person or entity involved with the Development Team or Related Parties, as determined by THDA, in its sole discretion" — and every supporting document filed with the application generally cannot be more than 6 months old as of the deadline unless the QAP specifies otherwise.

Scoring is a 100-point table, but nobody is meant to reach 100

The 2026 QAP scores new construction and rehabilitation of Existing Multifamily Housing on two separate, differently weighted 100-point tables under Section 17, and states outright that "the scoring criteria in this section are not intended to allow an Applicant to claim the maximum 100 points." An application proposing a mix of new construction and Existing Multifamily Housing is scored under whichever type has the majority of Low-Income units — which also determines which of the two tables, and which minimum score, applies.

Several categories are explicitly mutually exclusive with each other: electing the Resident-Ownership point under Section 17.A.11 forfeits eligibility for the Qualified Contract waiver (17.A.14) and the Extended Recapitalization Waiver (17.A.15), and vice versa — an Applicant has to choose one exit-strategy election, not stack all three.

THDA re-derives your score — and cure rights only run one direction

Section 19 is explicit about which direction a discrepancy has to run before an Applicant gets to do anything about it: "If THDA determines that an Initial Application meets all of the eligibility requirements of this QAP and if the score assigned by THDA in each scoring category is the same as or higher than the score assigned by the Applicant..., then no further action by the Applicant or THDA will be taken," and "Applicants shall not submit additional items for the purpose of increasing the score in a particular scoring category" in that situation — "the provisions of the Cure Period do not apply." A Cure Notice issues only when THDA finds an eligibility failure, or when THDA's assigned score in any category is lower than the Applicant's own self-score.

From there, the QAP runs a three-stage escalation: a Cure Period to correct or supply missing items (again, not to chase a higher score than THDA already assigned); if unresolved, a Review Notice and a written Review Appeal request; and, if requested, a Review Meeting before the THDA Board of Directors or its specially appointed body, at which no new documentation may be introduced and any outside contact with the Board between the Review Notice and the Review Meeting is grounds for dismissal. The Board's decision is final, with "no matters with respect to eligibility or scoring...considered after the adjournment of the Review Meeting."

Final ranking then runs in a fixed order: Non-Profit Allocations first, then the Permanent Supportive Housing for Homeless Set-Aside, then the New Construction General Priority Category (ranked within each of six regional housing-needs areas), then Existing Multifamily Housing, then the PHA General Priority Category, with any remaining credit going to the next highest-scoring application statewide regardless of category. A scoring tie among new-construction applications at the award cutoff is broken first by whichever requests the least Housing Credit per unit, then by location wholly inside a QCT covered by a Concerted Community Revitalization Plan.

Where the money actually goes

Development cost and fee limits apply on top of the set-asides: combined developer and consultant fees cannot exceed 15 percent of THDA-determined eligible basis attributable to acquisition, and 15 percent of eligible basis attributable to new construction or rehabilitation — rising to a combined 25 percent of the construction/rehabilitation basis (with contractor profit, overhead, and general requirements folded in) when the developer and contractor are related parties under Section 42(d)(2)(D)(iii). Total contractor fees (profit, overhead, and general requirements together) are capped at 14 percent of site work, accessory buildings, and hard construction or rehabilitation costs. THDA can also award a discretionary Basis Boost of up to 30 percent to any applicant.