null - not stated in the QAP or any companion document found, and no historical award/scoring-summary data was located.
Select a category to read its scoring criteria.
01
Family Unit Distributions
10 pts+
Projects with 50% or more of units having 2+ bedrooms receive 10 points. A project with occupancy restrictions/preferences favoring special-needs tenants that demonstrates need for one-bedroom units exclusively also receives the full 10 points.
02
Income Targeting
15 pts+
(a) Projects with 100% of units as LIHTC units: 10 points, plus 5 additional points if >=10% of total units are reserved for extremely-low-income households (<30% AMI). OR (b) Projects with at least 75% of units as LIHTC units: 5 points, plus 5 additional points if >=10% of units are reserved for <30% AMI or >=40% of units are reserved for very-low-income (<50% AMI) households. (a) and (b) are mutually exclusive; maximum attainable is 15 points via option (a).
03
Supportive Housing Serving Homeless (Non-age Restricted, Elderly, or Veterans)
15 pts+
Each household must be homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness immediately prior to tenancy and need services to maintain housing (certified). May be transitional, permanent supportive housing, or SRO. Must provide, at minimum: an initial needs assessment within 30 days of move-in plus a written service plan, regular case management/reassessment, and coordination of benefits/services toward permanent housing.
(a) Projects committing 10% of new units for individuals with disabilities (as-available basis, subject to next-available-unit rule); or (b) Projects offering integrated Permanent Supportive Housing for homeless/at-risk persons, reserving 10-25% of units for specified populations (non-elderly PWD, foster-care youth, formerly incarcerated persons, homeless veterans for general occupancy; PWD/special-needs/homeless/formerly-incarcerated/veteran elderly persons for elderly projects). Requires an MOU/agreement with a referral entity and marketing to the targeted population.
05
Preservation of Existing Affordable Housing
5 pts+
Acquisition/rehabilitation of an existing multifamily rental development (with or without existing rent/income restrictions), agreeing to affordability restrictions for at least 30 years, and not financially feasible using tax-exempt bond financing as determined by VIHFA.
06
Public Housing Waiting List
5 pts+
Projects where a Public Housing Authority, VIHFA, or an affiliate has an ownership interest in and materially participates in managing public housing or project-based Section 8 housing.
07
Project Grants and Assistance
5 pts+
Projects with rental assistance subsidy covering at least 66% of units for at least 5 years. Not available to rehab-only projects that don't replace/renovate at least one major structural element.
08
Waiver of Qualified Contract
10 pts+
Projects that waive the right to request a qualified contract under Section 42(h)(6)(E)(i) of the Code.
09
Community Development Component
10 pts+
Projects on an existing downtown/neighborhood infill site or adaptive reuse of an existing building, or part of a larger comprehensive revitalization strategy formally designated by a government agency (e.g., Office of the Governor, State Housing Preservation Office, Economic Development Authority) covering at least a one-block area not created specifically for the project's benefit.
10
Development Team Experience
10 pts+
0 to 10 points. Development team must have successfully participated in at least 2 other LIHTC properties of similar size or larger; scoring favors local experience and performance.
11
Management Experience
5 pts+
0 to 5 points. Proposed management agent must have at least 5 years' experience managing LIHTC properties; scoring favors experience, performance, and LIHTC training/certification satisfaction.
12
Energy Efficiency/Green Building Technology
10 pts+
Up to 10 points on a certification-tier table: ENERGY STAR Version 3 certification = 8 points; Enterprise Green Communities certification + LEED for Homes Certified + ICC 700 National Green Building Standard Bronze = 9 points; Enterprise Green Communities certified + LEED for Homes Silver-or-higher + ICC 700 Silver-or-higher = 10 points. See QAP Appendix D for minimum energy conservation design requirements.
13
BONUS: Tenant Ownership Conversion
5 pts+
5 bonus points for projects proposing conversion to tenant ownership after the initial compliance period, with a detailed conversion plan (ownership type, participation criteria, buyer-education programs, anticipated sales prices by unit type). Applicant must have completed at least one prior successful LIHTC-to-ownership conversion.
Scoring source
2023 VIHFA Qualified Allocation Plan, Part IX "Scoring" - Section A "Scoring Criteria" (categories 1-12 plus bonus) and Section B "Tiebreakers," pp.8-12. Threshold gate at Part VIII (pp.6-7); 60-point (9%) / 40-point (4%) minimums at Part XI.A (p.13) and Part XIII.A(c) (p.16).
WHEN SCORES ARE CLOSE
Tie-breakers
Review the agency’s tie-breaker rules alongside the scoring criteria.
Highest percentage of 9% LIHTC-eligible units to total units
If still tied, lowest amount of 9% LIHTCs per rent-restricted unit
MODEL ASSUMPTIONS
Underwriting parameters
The 2023 QAP itself contains no standalone underwriting-standards section - it only references (without printing figures) "VIHFA's Multi-Family Underwriting Standards" (QAP Parts V.D, XI.A, XI.C.5) and "VIHFA Underwriting and Development Policies for Multi-Family Bond Financing" (QAP Part XVII.C). Those exact-titled documents were not found publicly posted. The DCR, vacancy, reserve, developer-fee, and escalation figures reported here instead come from a separate VIHFA document that explicitly underwrites LIHTC gap-financed deals in the Territory: Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority, "Public and Affordable Housing Development Program Policies and Procedures" (CDBG-DR Program Division, Version 3.0, November 15, 2021), Section 7 "Program Commitments" (pp.26-33) and the restated "Underwriting Standards" section (pp.60-69), published at vihfa.gov/disaster-recovery and mirrored at cdbgdr.vihfa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Public-and-Affordable-Housing-Policy.pdf. Treat this as the best publicly available proxy for VIHFA's LIHTC underwriting standards, not a document literally titled as such.
OPERATING ASSUMPTIONS
Utility allowance
Preferred method: not specified
QAP (VIHFA Final Draft, 2023-002-1), Section XVI "Long-Term Affordability Compliance," subsection D "Records" (p.19) — the only UA-related text in the entire 30-page QAP, requiring owners to keep a record of "the rent charged on each unit including the utility allowance." No dedicated Utility Allowance subsection exists.
