"WVHDF wants my whole application uploaded to a Microsoft Teams folder by 4:30 p.m. on a specific Friday in May — what actually has to be in that folder, what disqualifies a Principal before the Fund even looks at points, and does a 4% bond deal go through the same process as a 9% one?"
Four submission stages, one Microsoft Teams folder
The Manual names four main stages: Pre-Registration (a one- or two-page notice of intent to apply), the Reservation Request (the initial full application), the Carryover Allocation Request (a second full submission for selected non-bond properties, resulting in the Carryover Allocation Certificate), and the Allocation Request (the final submission after placed-in-service, producing IRS Form(s) 8609). A fifth, partial checkpoint — Prior to Equity Closing — sits between Carryover and the Allocation Request for a cash-flow re-underwrite.
The Fund accepts Reservation Requests and Carryover Allocation Requests solely through Microsoft Teams; there is no separate web application portal. The one exception is money: Initial Fees, Final Fees, and Late Submission Fees must be paid by check or wire transfer, submitted by the same deadline as the rest of the request. Pre-application assistance is available, but only items actually uploaded to the property's Microsoft Team by the Reservation Request deadline are considered part of the official submission — anything reviewed informally beforehand does not count toward acceptance or scoring.
The 2026 Program Calendar
| Milestone | 2026 date |
|---|---|
| General Partner Portfolio Occupancy Rate Measurement Date | April 1, 2026 |
| Pre-Registration Forms Due – Existing Low-Income Housing | Monday, March 16, 2026 |
| Pre-Registration Forms Due – New Supply and Top Off | Wednesday, April 15, 2026 |
| SHPO Section 106 Request – recommended submission date | Wednesday, April 15, 2026 |
| Application Period (Reservation Requests Due) | Friday, May 1, 2026 through Friday, May 29, 2026 at 4:30 p.m. prevailing Eastern Time |
| Threshold Review Period | June 1 – June 30, 2026 |
| Correction Period | July 1 – July 15, 2026 |
| Carryover Allocation Requests / Allocation Requests due without a late fee | September 30, 2026 (not applicable to Tax-Exempt Bond Financed properties) |
Carryover Allocation Requests remain acceptable after September 30 through December 10 with an escalating Late Submission Fee; the Carryover Allocation Certificate itself must issue on or before December 31.
Eligibility that ends an application before scoring starts
Every Principal of the property developer and every Principal of the General Partner must sign a Program Participants Eligibility Requirements Certification (WVHDF Form LIHTCP-G), dated no more than 10 calendar days before the Reservation Request. The Fund will not select or allocate credits to a property whose developer or General Partner includes any Principal who is a convicted felon, appears on HUD's Excluded Parties List, has past-due LIHTCP compliance monitoring fees owed to the Fund, or has unresolved LIHTCP non-compliance reported to the IRS anywhere in the country that remains unresolved as of the Reservation Request and the Carryover Allocation Certificate dates.
Anyone who has not already received final Allocation Certifications on a WV LIHTCP property must additionally show at least three years (36 months, in the aggregate, as a developer of residential housing, an owner of residential rental housing, or a combination) of housing experience via a Resume of Housing Experience (Exhibit 2 to Form LIHTCP-G). A Principal with an active LIHTC property outside West Virginia, still in its initial 15-year Compliance Period, also needs a signed LIHTCP Compliance Certification (Exhibit 1) from that state's housing credit agency, dated within 30 days of the Reservation Request.
Separately, the Fund runs a fiscal-soundness screen: any Principal of a for-profit General Partner must clear an Experian credit score of 620 or higher (via a Credit Check Authorization and Release Form, WVHDF Form LIHTCP-I), while a non-profit General Partner instead must submit its three most recent years of audited financial statements. After selection, the Fund separately reviews Developer/General Partner capacity — financial condition, staffing plan, and business succession plan — and will not approve equity closing for a property that cannot demonstrate the capacity to sustain operations through construction and the Compliance Period.
500 points to survive Threshold, then a different track for bond deals
Threshold Review checks only whether a Reservation Request is complete enough to be considered — it does not evaluate scoring items. A property clearing Threshold is then compared against a minimum point threshold of 500 points (bonus and negative points excluded); falling short means outright rejection with a stated reason, not a lower ranking.
| Non-Tax-Exempt Bond Financed (9%) | Tax-Exempt Bond Financed (4%) | |
|---|---|---|
| Ranked against | Applicant-selected set-aside category, then the pooled Set-Aside Category | Total points awarded only — no set-aside categories |
| Selected against | The 2026 State Housing Credit Ceiling ($7,160,981), split across five set-aside categories | Available bond volume cap under the Fund's Debt Management Policy, with preference to Fund conduit issuances |
| Carryover step | Required — Carryover Allocation Certificate must issue by December 31 | None — bonds and equity must close by December 15 of the year following selection instead |
| What a missed post-selection deadline costs | Reservation and Binding Agreement automatically canceled; application automatically rejected | Loses the set-aside bond volume cap and owes a penalty defined in the Fund's Debt Management Policy; 'There will be no extensions' |
Source: 2025 and 2026 Allocation Plan, Property Selection Process, pp. 78-82.
What a Reservation Request actually costs to file
| Property type | Initial Fee (due with Reservation Request) | Final Fee (due with Allocation Request) |
|---|---|---|
| Standard property (Existing OR New Supply, not both) | Greater of $1,750 or 5.0% of the housing credit dollar amount requested | Greater of $1,750 or 5.0% of the housing credit dollar amount allocated (at Carryover, or at the Code §42(m) letter amount for bond deals) |
| Property combining Existing Low-Income Housing and New Supply | Greater of $2,000 or 7.5% of the amount requested | Greater of $2,000 or 7.5% of the amount allocated |
| First LIHTCP property for a qualified non-profit owning 100% of the General Partner interest | One-half of the otherwise-applicable Initial Fee | One-half of the otherwise-applicable Final Fee |
| Any property in Clay or Doddridge County | Not applicable (waived) | Not applicable (waived) |
Fees are not includable in Adjusted Basis, Eligible Basis, or Qualified Basis, per IRS guidance the Fund cites. Source: 2025 and 2026 Tax Credit Manual, Processing Fee.
How many shots a developer gets
| Applicant type | Pre-Registration Forms | Reservation Requests |
|---|---|---|
| "First-time" property developer or General Partner | Two | One |
| All others | Six | Three |
Top Off Set-Aside Category submissions don't count toward these caps. A 'first-time' developer/GP is one that has not placed a WV LIHTCP property in service and received final Allocation Certifications for it. Source: 2025 and 2026 Tax Credit Manual, Limitations on Number of Applications Submitted.
A first-time developer or General Partner that has never placed any LIHTCP property in service in any state is barred from submitting another Pre-Registration Form or Reservation Request anywhere in a later application period until its selected property receives final Allocation Certifications. The Fund also separately prohibits a first-time developer or GP from submitting a Tax-Exempt Bond Financed Reservation Request at all.
Where this goes wrong
- Treating pre-application assistance feedback as part of the official record. Only documents actually uploaded to the property's Microsoft Team subfolder by the Reservation Request deadline are reviewed for acceptance or scoring; informal pre-review comments don't count.
- Missing the Pre-Registration lock-in. Once the Pre-Registration due date passes, property location (city/county), Existing/New Supply/both designation, Tax-Exempt Bond status, and developer/General Partner identity (beyond a 50% change) are frozen for that application period.
- Assuming a market study or capital needs assessment can be finished during the Correction Period. WVHDF specifically calls out late submission of a market study or capital needs assessment as an example of 'taking liberal advantage' of the Threshold Review and Correction Period — grounds for the Fund to withhold the correction opportunity entirely.
- Confusing Threshold Review with scoring. The Fund will not review or accept scoring-related documentation during Threshold Review or the Correction Period — acceptance and scoring are evaluated on entirely separate tracks.
- Assuming Tax-Exempt Bond Financed (4%) properties compete the way 9% properties do. Bond deals are ranked by point score with no set-aside categories and are selected against available bond volume cap under the Fund's Debt Management Policy, not against the five-category State Housing Credit Ceiling.
- Forgetting the Initial Fee is a separate submission from the Form 1040 itself — it's due by check or wire transfer by the same Reservation Request deadline, and a wire requires a Wire Transfer Notification Form at least 48 hours in advance.
- Missing the first-time-developer application cap: a true first-time developer or General Partner (measured nationally, not just in West Virginia) that gets selected cannot submit another Pre-Registration Form or Reservation Request anywhere until its selected property's final Allocation Certifications are issued.
- Assuming the Fund's minimum 620 Experian credit score screen applies to non-profit General Partners. It doesn't — non-profits instead must show fiscal soundness through three years of audited financial statements.
- Underestimating that Developer/General Partner capacity is reviewed again after selection, separately from the Reservation Request eligibility certification — the Fund will not approve equity closing for a property whose GP can't show the capacity to sustain operations through construction and the Compliance Period.
- HUD
- LIHTC
- State QAPs
- IRS § 42
- Housing Finance Agencies