§ 93.204 - Prohibited activities and fees.

§ 93.204 Prohibited activities and fees.

(a) HTF funds may not be used to:

(1) Provide assistance (other than assistance to a homebuyer to acquire housing previously assisted with HTF funds or renewal of operating cost assistance or renewal of operating cost assistance reserve) to a project previously assisted with HTF funds during the period of affordability established by the grantee in the written agreement under § 93.404 (c)(2)(iv). However, additional HTF funds may be committed to a project up to one year after project completion, but the amount of HTF funds in the project may not exceed the maximum per-unit development subsidy amount established pursuant to § 93.300.

(2) Pay for the acquisition of property owned by the grantee, except for property acquired by the grantee with HTF funds or property acquired in anticipation of carrying out an HTF project.

(3) Pay delinquent taxes, fees, or charges on properties to be assisted with HTF funds.

(4) Pay for political activities, advocacy, lobbying (whether directly or through other parties), counseling services (except for housing counseling), travel expenses (other than those eligible under § 93.202(b)), or preparing or providing advice on tax returns. The prohibited use of funds for political activities includes influencing the selection, nomination, election, or appointment of one or more candidates to any Federal, State, or local office as codified in section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 501).

(5) Pay for administrative, outreach, or other costs to manage and operate the grantee of HTF funds, except those administrative costs necessary to carry out the HTF program in § 93.202, including housing counseling.

(6) Pay for any cost that is not eligible under § 93.201 and § 93.202.

(b)

(1) The grantee may not charge (and must prohibit subgrantees and recipients from charging) servicing, origination, or other fees for the costs of administering the HTF program. However, the grantee may charge owners of rental projects reasonable annual fees for monitoring compliance during the period of affordability. The fees must be based upon the average actual cost of performing the monitoring of HTF-assisted rental projects. The basis for determining the amount of the fee must be documented and the fee must be included in the costs of the project as part of the project underwriting.

(2) The grantee may also charge nominal application fees (although these fees are not an eligible HTF cost) to eligible recipients, to discourage frivolous applications. The amount of application fees must be appropriate to the type of application and may not create an undue impediment to an extremely low-income family to be able to participate in the grantee's program.

(3) All fees are applicable credits under 2 CFR part 200, subpart E.

(4) In addition, the grantee must prohibit project owners from charging fees that are not customarily charged in rental housing (e.g., laundry room access fees), except that rental project owners may charge:

(i) Reasonable application fees to prospective tenants;

(ii) Parking fees to tenants only if such fees are customary for rental housing projects in the neighborhood; and

(iii) Fees for services such as bus transportation or meals, as long as the services are voluntary and fees are charged for services provided.