67-50.070. Application and Selection Procedures

(1) All Applicants must submit a completed HLP Application Package: HOMEOWN-0530 (Rev. 8/1/05), which is adopted and incorporated herein by reference, and which can be obtained from the Corporation, at 227 North Bronough Street, Suite 5000, Tallahassee, Florida 32301-1329 and is available on the Corporation’s website. All Applications must:

(a) Be submitted complete, legible and consistent throughout;

(b) Be received by the Application Deadline, as specified in the NOFA; and,

(c) Include an original Application, with an original signature on the Applicant Certification and Acknowledgement Form (Exhibit 1), and three identical copies. Lack of an Original Application shall be grounds for automatic rejection.

Corporation staff may not assist any Applicant by copying, collating or adding documents to an Application, nor shall any Applicant be permitted to use the Corporation facilities or equipment for purposes of compiling or completing an Application.

(2) Each submitted Application will be reviewed and preliminarily scored using the factors specified in the Application Package and this rule chapter. Preliminary scores shall be transmitted to all Applicants along with the master score sheet and deficiency report.

(3) Failure to submit an Application completed in accordance with the Application instructions and this rule chapter will result in rejection of the Application or a score less than the maximum available in accordance with the instructions in the Application and this rule chapter.

(4) Cures. Within twenty (20) Calendar Days of the date of the notice set forth in subsection (2) above, each Applicant shall be allowed to submit revised pages and additional documentation, (the “revisions”) as the Applicant deems appropriate to address the issues raised in the master scoring sheet and deficiency report that could result in rejection of the Application or a score less than the maximum available. Applicants failing to cure successfully during the initial cure period will be given notice and have the opportunity to submit a cure during a subsequent cure period if funding remains available. Applicants submitting an additional cure will have ten (10) days from the date of notification. The following instructions will apply to all cure submissions:

(a) Each new page must be marked “revised.”

(b) Failure to mark each new page “revised” will result in the Corporation not considering the revisions to that new page.

(c) Where revisions create an inconsistency elsewhere in the Application, the Applicant is required to make such other changes to keep the Application consistent.

(d) Pages of the Application that are not revised may not be resubmitted, with the exception of documents executed by third parties, which must be submitted in their entirety.

(e) The Applicant shall submit an original and three copies of all revisions; submissions via the internet or facsimile shall not be accepted.

(f) Only revisions received by the deadline set forth herein will be considered.

(g) Any subsequent revisions submitted prior to the deadline must include a written request to withdraw any previous revision.

(5) The Corporation shall reject an Application, as detailed in the Application Package and this rule chapter, if:

(a) The Development is inconsistent with the purposes of HAP or HOME, as applicable.

(b) The Applicant fails to achieve the threshold requirements or the minimum score required.

(c) The Applicant or any Principal or Affiliate of an Applicant or Developer is in arrears for any financial obligation to the Corporation or any agent or assignee of the Corporation. For purposes of the HOME Program, this rule subsection does not include permissible deferral of HOME interest.

(6) When two or more Applications receive the same numerical score, the Applications will be ranked as outlined in the Application instructions.

(7) At no time during the scoring process shall Applicants or their representatives contact Board members or Corporation staff, except for Corporation’s legal staff, concerning their own Development or any other Applicant’s Development. If an Applicant or its representative does contact a Board member or staff in violation of this section, the Board may, upon a determination that such contact was deliberate, disqualify such Applicant’s Application.

(8) Following the receipt and review of the documentation described in subsection (4), above, and upon Board approval, the Corporation shall issue a final score and ranking to each Applicant, disclosing whether or not the Applicant met the threshold and minimum score requirements. In determining such final scores and rankings, no Application shall be rejected or receive a point reduction as a result of any issues not previously identified in the notice described in subsection (4), above. However, inconsistencies created by the Applicant as a result of information provided pursuant to subsection (4), above, will be justification for rejection or reduction of points as appropriate. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any deficiencies in the mandatory elements set forth in subsection (9), below, can be identified at any time prior to sending the final scores to Applicants and will result in rejection of the Application.

(9) Notwithstanding any other provisions of these rules, there are certain items that must be included in the Application and cannot be revised, corrected or supplemented after the Application Deadline. Failure to submit these items in the Application at the time of the Application Deadline shall result in rejection of the Application without opportunity to submit additional information. Any attempted changes to these items will not be accepted. The items are as follows:

(a) Name of Applicant;

(b) Identity of each Developer, including all co-Developers;

(c) Funding applied for (HAP or HOME);

(d) Total number of units;

(e) Site for the Development (except for scattered site developments);

(f) Type of Development category;

(g) County;

(h) Demographic or target demographic area;

(i) Designation of Applicant (Non-Profit, for-profit, Local Government, Public Housing Authority, CBO, or CHDO);

(j) Funding request amount;

(k) Submission of one original hard copy with the required number of photocopies of the Application by the Application Deadline; and,

(l) Payment of the required Application fee by the Application Deadline.

(10) All scores and rankings will be approved by the Board. Those Applications which complete the threshold requirements will be presented to the Board for final approval of the preliminary allocation and the invitation to enter into credit underwriting, subject to the availability of funds.

Rulemaking Authority 420.507(12), (23) FS. Law Implemented 420.507(23), 420.5088, 420.5089 FS. History–New 9-5-02, Amended 5-4-03, 12-28-04, 8-9-05.