National Housing Trust Community Development Fund (NHTCDF), an affiliate of National Housing Trust, provides funding and loans for the development and preservation of low-income communities. NHTCDF is chartered as a community development financial institution (CDFI), 1 which are typically focused on providing financial support to low-income communities 2 and can receive funding from U.S. Department of the Treasury programs and from organizations and individuals as a nonprofit organization. 3
Background
National Housing Trust Community Development Fund was established in 1997 by National Housing Trust (NHT) to provide loan products to housing providers focused on the development and preservation of low-income housing. 4 NHTCDF is tax-exempt and is a supporting organization to the National Housing Trust. 5 It shares office space with NHT and leverages NHT’s staff. 6
NHTCDF is a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), which is a private-sector financial institution focused on low-income housing development and preservation. CDFIs can get federal funding from the U.S. Department of the Treasury and also accept donations and contributions from organizations and individuals as a nonprofit organization. 7
Lending
National Housing Trust Community Development Fund has provided over $44 million in loans and preserved more than 13,000 low-income housing units as of March 2023. 8
Loan products include those for pre-development planning, land or building acquisition, bridge loans to developers, property improvements to support renewable energy solutions, and earnest money deposits (EMD) to tenants’ associations to enable tenant ownership of housing through the TOPA EMD loan program. 9 TOPA refers to the District of Columbia’s Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act and was developed in partnership with City First Enterprises. 10 11
NHTCDF is the Affordable Housing Opportunity Fund (AHOF) manager in Montgomery County, Maryland. The Fund provides short-term loans to purchase or improve low-income housing. 12
In October 2022 NHTCDF provided the earnest money to La Union Buena Vista Tenants’ Association in the Columbia Heights neighborhood in Washington, D.C., to go through D.C.’s Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act process and purchase the property for tenant ownership. 13
Related Organizations
National Housing Trust is the controlling organization for NHTCDF and its affiliates the Institute for Community Economics and NHT Communities. 14
Institute for Community Economics (ICE) is another CDFI operated by National Housing Trust. 15
NHT Communities was previously known as National Housing Trust Enterprise Preservation Corporation until 2019. 16 It is the real estate acquisition and management arm of National Housing Trust. 17
Funding
NHTCDF reported $1,937,946 in revenue and $619,300 in expenses for 2019. 18
In 2020 NHTCDF was awarded $2,524,000 through the U.S. Department of the Treasury Community Development Financial Institutions Program. 19
Enterprise Community Partners, a nonprofit low-income development and advocacy organization, 20 donated $1.8 million to NHTCDF in 2019. 21
Leadership
Priya Jayachandran became president and CEO of NHTCDF in 2018. Previously she was a senior vice president at Volunteers of America (VOA) focused on affordable housing development. Prior to VOA she was a deputy assistant secretary at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) focused on multifamily housing. 22 Jayachandran is also president of National Housing Trust and affiliate organization NHT Communities. 23 24
Dan Ehrenberg is board chair of NHTCDF. He is an attorney and partner at Klein Hornig LLP which focuses on legal support for all aspects of affordable housing. 25 Previously Ehrenberg was an attorney for Volunteers of America (VOA) which is one of the largest low-income housing providers in the country and for Neighborworks America, a congressionally chartered and funded organization that supports low-income housing. 26
Some of the officers of National Housing Trust are also officers of NHTCDF. The National Housing Trust Community Development Fund board members are appointed by the National Housing Trust board. 27
References
- Josh Earn.” National Housing Trust – Who We Are – Staff. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://nationalhousingtrust.org/who-we-are/josh-earn
- Emily Guy Birken, Daphne Foreman. “What Is A Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI)?” Forbes Advisor. September 29, 2020. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/banking/what-is-a-cdfi-community-development-financial-institution/
- James Chen. “Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI).” Investopedia. February 4, 2021. Accessed April 1, 2023. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cdfi.asp
- National Housing Trust Community Development Fund Financial Statements (With Supplementary Information) and Single Audit Report and Independent Auditor’s Reports December 31, 2020 and 2019. Propublica. Accessed March 30, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_audit/22726020201
- National Housing Trust Community Development Fund Financial Statements (With Supplementary Information) and Single Audit Report and Independent Auditor’s Reports December 31, 2020 and 2019. Propublica. Accessed March 30, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_audit/22726020201
- National Housing Trust Community Development Fund Financial Statements (With Supplementary Information) and Single Audit Report and Independent Auditor’s Reports December 31, 2020 and 2019. Propublica. Accessed March 30, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_audit/22726020201
- James Chen. “Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI).” Investopedia. February 4, 2021. Accessed April 1, 2023. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cdfi.asp
- “NHT Community Development Fund.” National Housing Trust – Our Work – Lending. Accessed April 1, 2023. https://nationalhousingtrust.org/our-work/lending/nht-community-development-fund
- “NHT Community Development Fund.” National Housing Trust – Our Work – Lending. Accessed April 1, 2023. https://nationalhousingtrust.org/our-work/lending/nht-community-development-fund
- “Earnest Money Deposit Loans.” National Housing Trust – Our Work – Lending. Accessed April 1, 2023. https://nationalhousingtrust.org/our-work/lending/earnest-money-deposit-loans
- “Understanding the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act.” DC.gov – Department of Housing and Community Development. January 27, 2020. Accessed April 2, 2023. https://dhcd.dc.gov/event/understanding-tenant-opportunity-purchase-act-topa
- “Affordable Housing Opportunity Fund.” National Housing Trust – Our Work – Lending. Accessed April 1, 2023. https://nationalhousingtrust.org/sites/default/files/documents/nht-lending-ahof-loan-terms-summary.pdf
- “NHT Helps La Unión Buena Vista Tenants Association Take Their First Steps in TOPA Process.” National Housing Trust – NHT Updates. October 30, 2022. Accessed April 1, 2023. https://nationalhousingtrust.org/news/nht-helps-la-union-buena-vista-tenants-association-take-their-first-steps-topa-process
- National Housing Trust. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990 – Schedule R). 2020.
- CRA Rulemaking Comment Letter: National Housing Trust (NHT). Novogradac. August 4, 2022. https://www.novoco.com/sites/default/files/atoms/files/occ-cra-rulemaking-2022-0002-national-housing-trust-08042022.pdf
- NHT Communities. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990 – Part I). 2019.
- Donna Kimura. “Nonprofits Acquire Maryland NOAH Property.” Affordable Housing Finance. August 19, 2021. Accessed March 31, 2023. https://www.housingfinance.com/developments/nonprofits-acquire-maryland-noah-property_o
- National Housing Trust Community Development Fund. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990 – Part I). 2019.
- National Housing Trust Community Development Fund Financial Statements (With Supplementary Information) and Single Audit Report and Independent Auditor’s Reports December 31, 2020 and 2019. Propublica. Accessed March 30, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_audit/22726020201
- “About.” Enterprise Community Partners. Accessed April 1, 2023. https://www.enterprisecommunity.org/about
- Enterprise Community Partners Inc. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990 – Schedule I.) 2019.
- “National Housing Trust Names Priya Jayachandran President.” NH&RA (National Housing & Rehabilitation Association). Accessed March 29, 2023. https://www.housingonline.com/2018/01/10/national-housing-trust-names-priya-jayachandran-president/
- National Housing Trust. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990 – Part VII). 2020.
- NHT Communities. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990 – Part VII). 2020.
- LinkedIn – Dan Ehrenberg. Accessed April 1, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-ehrenberg-75240a13/
- “Daniel S. Ehrenberg.” Klein Hornig LLP – Professionals. Accessed April 1, 2023. https://www.kleinhornig.com/professional/d_ehrenberg/
- National Housing Trust Community Development Fund. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990 – Schedule O). 2019.