STATE LIHTC RESEARCH

Northern Mariana Islands (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands / CNMI)
QAP scoring guide.

Northern Marianas Housing Corporation (NMHC) · 2025-2026 QAP

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● Verified guideChecked Sep 13, 2026View source QAP ↗

THE POINT TABLE

Competitive scoring

17 categories

Select a category to read its scoring criteria.

1. Extended low-income use period

10 pts

Sliding scale for committing to a low-income use period beyond the standard 15-year LIHTC compliance period (an 'Extended Use Period'): 0 pts for no additional period; 6 pts for 15-19 additional years; 7 pts for 20-24 years; 8 pts for 25-29 years; 10 pts for 30+ years. Electing any extended period waives the owner's right to later request a Qualified Contract under IRC Sec. 42(h)(6)(E)(i)(II), and the election is recorded in the Restrictive Covenant Document.

2. Deeper income targeting than required

10 pts

Points for exceeding the federal minimum set-aside on a graduated scale: 1 pt if 20% of units are ≤50% AMGI (or 40% ≤60% AMGI); 2 pts if 40% ≤50% AMGI (or 60% ≤60% AMGI); 3 pts if 60% ≤50% AMGI (or 80% ≤60% AMGI); 10 pts if 100% of the project is ≤60% AMGI.

3. Zoning/entitlement readiness

7 pts

7 pts if the project already has all necessary zoning and entitlements (including subdivision approvals) and needs only customary land-disturbance/building permits to proceed; 0 pts if rezoning, variances, subdivision approval, or any other land-use exemption is still required.

4. Section 8 voucher acceptance

6 pts

6 pts if the applicant demonstrates that all low-income units will be made available to holders of valid Section 8 vouchers; 0 pts otherwise.

5. Family-serving / large-bedroom units

10 pts

10 pts if the project serves tenant populations with children and provides 3-bedroom-or-larger units for at least 60% of all low-income units in the project; 0 pts otherwise.

6. Special-needs or elderly tenant population

3 pts

3 pts if the project sets aside at least 20% of units for tenant populations with special housing needs (with a commitment to provide case management/services or accommodating facilities, and a Market Study addressing that population), OR sets aside all units for elderly households; 0 pts otherwise.

7. Qualified non-profit sponsorship

1 pts

1 pt if the project is sponsored by / participating with a qualified Section 42 IRC non-profit, tax-exempt organization; 0 pts otherwise.

8. Credit efficiency (credits requested as % of total project cost)

5 pts

Points scaled to how little of total project cost is covered by the requested federal credits, per the QAP's table: 0 pts if credits are >90% of cost; 1 pt for 81-90%; 2 pts for 71-80%; 4 pts for 61-70%; 3 pts for 51-60%; 5 pts if credits are ≤50% of total project cost. (Reported exactly as tabulated in the source; note the 51-70% band point values are not in strict ascending order in the QAP's own table.)

9. Project-based rental assistance

4 pts

0 pts if no project-based rental assistance subsidy (e.g., Rural Development 515, HUD Section 8 PBRA) limits tenant rent to ~30% of gross monthly income; 1-4 pts if some/all units carry such a subsidy, scaled to 'number of subsidized units / total tax-credit-and-non-tax-credit units developed simultaneously' (4 pts if the whole project is subsidized).

10. Local government support

5 pts

0 pts if no below-market loan/grant is sought from a non-NMHC government agency (or the amount sought is <10% of total development cost); 2 pts if an application for such financing has been submitted (documentation required); 5 pts if a commitment (loan or grant, evidenced by a commitment letter/contract) equal to ≥10% of total development cost has been received. (Excludes qualifying certificates, which do not count toward points here.)

11. Tenant right of first refusal at end of compliance period

10 pts

10 pts if the developer commits to offer units for sale or lease, at the end of the 15-year compliance period or any extended use period, first to existing tenants who can qualify through then-available homeownership programs or funding sources; 0 pts otherwise.

12. Qualified census tract / community revitalization

2 pts

2 pts if the project is located in a qualified census tract whose development contributes to a concerted community revitalization plan (e.g., Enterprise Community, Empowerment Zone, or county redevelopment plan), documented via a letter of interest or binding agreement with the administering agency; 0 pts otherwise.

13. Project location and market demand

15 pts

Composite score built from the Market Study's findings: employment opportunities/schools/medical facilities in the immediate vicinity (5 pts); recreational/shopping facilities nearby (2 pts); documented/supported market demand (2 pts); proposed rents below area market rents (2 pts); housing design/density appropriate for the neighborhood (2 pts); neighborhood conducive to the proposed senior or family use (2 pts).

14. Developer experience

10 pts

Range is -8 to +10: +8 pts if the development team has successfully met LIHTC program objectives on past proposals in other states/jurisdictions; -8 pts if the team has failed to meet program objectives on past LIHTC proposals or any NMHC program; +2 pts (separately) if the team has successfully completed similar projects.

15. Overall project feasibility

15 (the QAP's own earlier summary table lists this row as 0-10, but the detailed heading and itemized sub-item sum -- 2+2+2+2+7=15 -- both confirm 15 is the governing figure; the 0-10 is an uncorrected drafting error in NMHC's own document) pts

Composite of 5 sub-factors: documentation of development costs (2 pts); documentation of operating costs (2 pts); Debt Service Coverage Ratio >1.15x (2 pts); operating reserves equal to 3 months of monthly operating expenses (2 pts); financial commitments in place (7 pts).

16. Energy efficiency / green building

5 pts

0 pts for no energy-efficient practices; 1-5 pts awarded on a 1-for-1 basis for electing to include 1 through 5-or-more paired items from the QAP's 'Energy Star Criteria' list (e.g., ENERGY STAR water heaters, lighting, appliances, HVAC, cool-roofing) AND its 'General Energy Efficiency and Green Building Criteria' list (e.g., low-flow fixtures, low-VOC materials, recycling areas, local/recycled materials, native landscaping, walkability, green certification, above-code insulation, construction-waste plan, lead-safe practices, ventilation standards). A third-party certification of practices used must be submitted on completion, or the good-faith deposit may be forfeited.

17. Tinian and Rota project development

10 pts

10 pts if the applicant elects to develop the project on the island of Tinian or Rota (an outer-island development incentive); 0 pts if the project is developed on Saipan.

Scoring source

"2025-2026 CNMI LIHTC Qualified Allocation Plan (DRAFT), Northern Marianas Housing Corporation, Section III 'Selection Criteria' (Minimum Thresholds at III.1, Point System at III.2), document pp.4-11 / PDF pp.5-11 of the 24-page PDF at https://www.nmhcgov.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/2025-2026-CNMI-LIHTC-QAP-DRAFT.pdf."

MODEL ASSUMPTIONS

Underwriting parameters

"2025-2026 CNMI LIHTC Qualified Allocation Plan (DRAFT), Northern Marianas Housing Corporation — Section III.1.D 'Developer Fee' (Minimum Thresholds), document p.4/PDF p.5; Selection Criterion 15 'Overall Project Feasibility' (DSCR, reserves, cost documentation, financial commitments) within Section III.2, document p.8/PDF p.9; fee schedule at Section V.9 'Fees,' document pp.17-18/PDF pp.18-19; Section V.2.B 'Set-Aside' and Appendix 2 'Income Averaging Guidelines,' document pp.13 & 23/PDF pp.14 & 24; Appendix 1 'Market Study' (vacancy/opex data collection requirement), document p.22/PDF p.23. Source PDF: https://www.nmhcgov.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/2025-2026-CNMI-LIHTC-QAP-DRAFT.pdf (24 pages total). Note: this is a compact, self-contained QAP that embeds its own compliance-monitoring plan and market-study/income-averaging appendices — no separate stand-alone 'Underwriting Standards' document, compliance manual, or developer handbook was found published elsewhere on nmhcgov.net; the site's LIHTC page and Forms page were checked and list only public notices, the application form, and prior-year QAPs, not a distinct underwriting guide."

OPERATING ASSUMPTIONS

Utility allowance

Preferred method: not specified

2025-2026 CNMI LIHTC QAP, Section V "Compliance Monitoring Plan," ¶1.B.2.c (rent records must include utility allowances), ¶4.B "Rent Restrictions" (gross rent must include allowance for utilities), and ¶6.G (tenant file review requires "Utility allowance on file")

YOUR NEXT STEPS

Development guides for Northern Mariana Islands (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands / CNMI)

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 7One agency, four HUD grants, no property tax to exempt: CNMI's capital stack PHASE 8One office, one paper application, and a deadline NMHC has already moved twice PHASE 9NMHC names the 10 percent test by number, then goes quiet on everything after it PHASE 10Construction through placed-in-service: what NMHC's QAP actually specifies — and what it leaves silent PHASE 11Compliance, Year 15, and CNMI's scored extended-use term — not a single fixed number

Use the LIHTC feasibility checklist →