STATE LIHTC RESEARCH

Georgia
QAP scoring guide.

Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA), administering the Georgia Housing Credit Program on behalf of the Georgia Housing and Finance Authority (GHFA) · 2026-2027 QAP

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● Verified guideChecked Sep 12, 2026View source QAP ↗

THE POINT TABLE

Competitive scoring

22 categories

Not stated in the QAP or any companion document reviewed; DCA does not publish a historical minimum-winning-score benchmark in these materials.

Select a category to read its scoring criteria.

Extended Affordability Commitment

6 pts

Up to 6 pts, claimable as A alone or A plus one of B/C: (A, 5 pts) no Project Team Principal has requested a Qualified Contract in Georgia since 5/20/2025; (B, 1 pt) commitment to a post-Compliance-Period resident-ownership exit plan for single-family-style units; (C, 1 pt) Right of First Refusal to a qualified nonprofit or local housing authority under IRC §42(i)(7).

Favorable Financing

5 pts

Up to 4 pts on a sliding scale ($500K-$2M+ total, or $10K-$30K+/unit) for qualifying below-market soft financing sources (HOME, AHP, CDBG, SPLOST, historic tax credit proceeds, foundation grants, other gov't loans/grants, etc.; NHTF/HOME-ARP score higher); plus up to 1 pt for a property-tax reduction commitment (Private Enterprise Agreement or a long-term (45+ yr) below-market ground lease/land donation from a non-Related-Party public or nonprofit entity).

Compliance Performance

10 pts

Starts at 10 points (net score, can go negative); minus 5 pts per waived/renewed Significant Adverse Event and 2 pts per Adverse Circumstance in the Project Team's compliance history; up to 5 pts can be added back for a large portfolio of successfully developed/owned Tax Credit or HOME properties (1 pt for 7 properties up to 5 pts for 20+).

Integrated Supportive Housing

5 pts

Up to 3 pts for reserving units (≥10% for 9%, ≥5% for 4%) for referrals of persons with disabilities/homelessness via DCA-approved MOU (2 pts without PBRA, 3 pts with a PBRA commitment restricting units to ≤30% AMI); plus 1 pt for a PHA tenant-selection preference tied to the Georgia Olmstead Settlement Agreement; plus 2 pts (can be reduced) for prior DCA PBRA contracting performance.

Readiness to Proceed

15 pts

Points awarded per completed, current document set at Application: bond inducement resolution (2), site control + site zoning documentation (5), public water/sewer (1), operating utilities (1), site information/conceptual site plan (1), preliminary financing commitments (1), Phase I ESA within 18 months (1), GC cost estimate (1), market study (1), and PNA for rehab deals (1).

Deeper Targeting/Rent/Income Restrictions

3 pts

Either (A, 2 pts, 9% New Affordability only) overall property AMI ≤58% via income averaging or a 40%-at-60% election with deeper unit targeting, or (B, 3 pts, only option available to 4% Credits/Bonds) an award of government PBRA covering ≥20% of units with ≥10 years remaining on the contract.

HCV and PHA Notices

2 pts

Flat 2 points for committing to register as a participating Housing Choice Voucher landlord and to notify/coordinate referrals with the local PHA upon receiving Certificates of Occupancy.

Desirable/Undesirable Activities

20 pts

Points for proximity (within 0.5-3 miles depending on pool) to categorized desirable amenities (retail, medical, education, community assets, public safety, banks, worship, post office), capped at 20 pts total; minus 2 pts per undesirable/inefficient land use (industrial hazards, blight, food desert, extensive site mitigation needs, etc.) within 0.25 miles.

Community Transportation Options

6 pts

Up to 6 pts (Metro Pools only, plus a Rural on-call option) for transit-oriented development on an agency-targeted transit-hub site, walking-distance access to a fixed-route transit hub, or access to a qualifying public transit stop/on-call service.

Quality Education Areas

3 pts

Up to 3 pts scaled by number of K-12 grades served by nearby non-selective schools meeting a CCRPI ≥50th-percentile score or a 'Beating the Odds' designation, weighted by property tenancy (Family vs. HFOP/Elderly/Other).

Revitalization/Redevelopment Plans

10 pts

Mutually exclusive with Stable Communities/Community Designations/Housing Needs Characteristics (only the highest-scoring of the four counts). Up to 7 pts for siting within an adopted Community Revitalization Plan area (+1 if also a QCT, +2 for planning best practices), plus up to 3 pts for 'Community Transformation' engagement/partnerships, plus up to 3 pts for third-party/Local Government financial investment in the area.

Stable Communities

10 pts

Same mutually-exclusive group as Revitalization/Redevelopment Plans. Up to 10 pts based on the number of Census-Tract indicators (ATSDR Environmental Index; Census Bureau travel time, employment rate, poverty rate, median income) falling in a qualifying range, scaled by whether the site is within or merely near the qualifying tract.

Community Designations

13 pts

Same mutually-exclusive group. 13 pts for site inclusion in a HUD Choice Neighborhood Implementation (CNI) Grant target area (CNI awardee selects one Application), or 10 pts for a Purpose Built Communities nomination.

Housing Needs Characteristics

10 pts

Same mutually-exclusive group; does not apply to the Atlanta Metro Pool. 5 pts for siting outside a QCT in a high-'severe housing problem' Census Tract within a growing county (population or employment growth); plus 5 additional pts if the site also separately qualifies for ≥5 pts under Stable Communities or Revitalization/Redevelopment Plans.

Phased Development

4 pts

Mutually exclusive with Previous Projects. Flat award for being a later phase (2nd/3rd) of a master-planned, physically adjacent multi-phase development where an earlier phase was awarded within 6 years and has commenced construction: 4 pts for 9% Metro Pool, 3 pts for 9% Rural Pool and all 4% Credits/Bonds.

Previous Projects

5 pts

Same mutually-exclusive group as Phased Development. Up to 5 pts (Metro Pool) scaled by lookback period (2-15 yrs) for an absence of recent nearby 9%/4% awards within a 1-mile (or 0.5-mile near a transit hub) radius; or up to 3 pts (Rural Pool) based on low-income units awarded as a percentage of county population.

Economic Development Proximity

1 pts

1 pt if the site is within commuting distance (20 mi Other Metro / 30 mi Rural) of an economic development project expected to generate 250 (Other Metro) or 90 (Rural) net new jobs within 5 years.

Mixed Income Developments

1 pts

9% New Affordability only. 1 pt for either ≥10% unrestricted market-rate units without an income-averaging election, or for electing income averaging with zero market-rate units.

Historic Preservation

2 pts

9% New Affordability only. 2 pts for either historic tax credit proceeds financing an adaptive reuse of a certified/deemed-historic structure (≥30% of units in that building), or for a certified/deemed-historic structure housing ≥50% of total units.

Enriched Property Services

2 pts

2 pts for a resident-services commitment: Owner-provided services via active CORES Direct/Hybrid Model certification, or a commitment to cooperate with a CORES-certified 3rd Party Resident Services Coordination Contractor (services funded only when affordable at ≥1.25 DCR).

DCA Community Initiatives

2.5 pts

Up to 2.5 pts for a letter of support from a Georgia Initiative for Community Housing (GICH) team: 2 pts for a standard active/certified-alumni GICH team letter, or 2.5 pts for a letter from a team enrolled in the GICH Senior Year program (each GICH team may back only one Application/round).

Preservation Scoring Criteria

See criteria

Preservation-competition-only replacement track (applies instead of several New-Affordability-only categories). Sub-parts: (A) Occupancy up to 6 pts (24-month average occupancy ≥85%); (B) Rent Advantage up to 6 pts (60% rent limit vs. market rent gap, DCA-commissioned analysis; ineligible for USDA Portfolio/HUD RAD/HUD Rental Assistance set-asides); (C) Property Age up to 4 pts OR (D) Tax Credit Restrictions up to 4 pts (mutually exclusive, based on placed-in-service year or LURC execution year); (E) Site Characteristics up to 20 pts (bundles Desirable/Undesirable Activities + Community Transportation + Quality Education Areas + best-of Revitalization/Stable/Designations/Housing-Needs group; ineligible for USDA Portfolio set-aside); (F) USDA Additional Criteria up to 22 pts, 4% Credits/Bonds USDA Portfolio only (Pre-Payment Risk up to 3, Mortgage Maturity Risk up to 3, Geographic Distribution up to 10, Severe/Critical Need county vacancy-rate tiers up to 6).

Scoring source

State of Georgia 2026-2027 QAP (amended, Board approved 8/12/26 -- the current, operative version), "Scoring Criteria" Part (pp.78-115): §I Documentation and Data (p.79); §II Applicability of Scoring Criteria table (p.80); §III-§XXIII New Affordability point categories (pp.81-111); §XXIV Preservation Scoring Criteria (pp.112-115); Exhibits to Scoring Criteria A-C (pp.116-121). Threshold-to-be-scored gate and tiebreakers at Core Plan §V "Competitive Rounds" (pp.12-22), specifically §V.D "Evaluation of Competitive Applications" (pp.20-21).

WHEN SCORES ARE CLOSE

Tie-breakers

Review the agency’s tie-breaker rules alongside the scoring criteria.

Tying Application is the Project Team's first award this round, not its second or third
Application claims Enriched Property Services, subsection A, Owner-provided Services points
Local Government boundary's most recent 9% Credit award is the earlier year
For Family-tenancy ties, at least 20% of units are 3- or 4-bedroom
For ties between Preservation Applications: (a) soonest year all Housing Credit/HUD/USDA affordability restrictions expire, then (b) the rent-advantage value from Preservation Scoring Criteria §B, if all tying Applicants claimed points there
Application uses the least 9% Credits per low-income unit

MODEL ASSUMPTIONS

Underwriting parameters

State of Georgia 2026-2027 QAP, "Threshold Criteria" Part, §I "Project Feasibility, Viability Analysis & Conformance with Plan" (p.34 ff.), and its "Exhibits to Threshold Criteria, A. DCA Underwriting Policies" (pp.66-71, numbered items 1-19), specifically: item 1 Annual Operating Expenses (p.66); item 6 Debt Coverage Ratio (DCR) and Effective Gross Income (p.68); item 7 Developer Fee (pp.68-69); item 12 Operating Deficit Reserve, item 14 Rent-Up Reserves, item 15 Replacement Reserve, item 16 Revenue/Vacancy/Expense Trends (pp.69-70); item 19 Additional Requirements for 4% Credits/Bonds Applications (p.70). Fee schedule at Core Plan Exhibits "A. DCA Fees Schedule" (pp.28-29).

OPERATING ASSUMPTIONS

Utility allowance

Preferred method: local_pha

DCA Utility Allowance Schedule (North Georgia / South Georgia regions) — DCA's own annually-published PHA-type schedule, produced because DCA itself administers the statewide Housing Choice Voucher program in most non-metro Georgia counties ↗

2026-2027 QAP, Threshold Criteria § "PROJECT FEASIBILITY, VIABILITY ANALYSIS & CONFORMANCE WITH PLAN," item 7 "Operating Utility Allowance (UA)" (p. 35) — requires UAs "in accordance with the federal requirements" and names the HUD Utility Model/comparable model and Energy Consumption Model as examples; full menu and rules spelled out in DCA's standalone "Utility Allowance Methodology Change Requests" policy, section "Approved DCA Utility Allowance Methodologies."

YOUR NEXT STEPS

Development guides for Georgia

PHASE 1Site sourcing and screening PHASE 2Site control and due diligence PHASE 3Entitlement pathway election PHASE 4Program election (9% vs. 4% vs. hybrid)PHASE 5Rents, income limits, and the operating pro forma PHASE 6Cost, construction type, and the labor package PHASE 7Scored in the QAP, funded outside it: Georgia's capital stack PHASE 8Four gated deadlines, not one application PHASE 9A five-bullet Post-Award section and a two-page deadline exhibit PHASE 10Construction monitoring, the Contractor Cost Certification, and getting to Form 8609 PHASE 11Compliance, Year 15, and Georgia's 30-year extended-use floor

Use the LIHTC feasibility checklist →