24 C.F.R. § 93.300

(a) Maximum per-unit development subsidy amount. The grantee must establish maximum limitations on the total amount of HTF funds that the grantee may invest per-unit for development of non-luxury housing, with adjustments for the number of bedrooms and the geographic location of the project. These limits must be reasonable and based on actual costs of developing non-luxury housing in the area. The grantee must include these limits in its consolidated plan and update these limits annually.

(b) Underwriting and subsidy layering. Before committing funds to a project, the grantee must evaluate the project in accordance with guidelines that it has adopted for determining a reasonable level of profit or return on recipient's investment in a project and must not invest any more HTF funds, alone or in combination with other governmental assistance, than is necessary to provide quality affordable housing that is financially viable for a reasonable period (at minimum, the period of affordability in § 93.302 or § 93.304) and that will not provide a profit or return on the recipient's investment that exceeds the grantee's established standards for the size, type, and complexity of the project. The guidelines adopted by the grantees must require the grantee to undertake:

(1) An examination of the sources and uses of funds for the project (including any operating cost assistance, operating cost assistance reserve, or project-based rental assistance that will be provided to the project) and a determination that the costs are reasonable; and

(2) An assessment, at minimum, of the current market demand in the neighborhood in which the project will be located, the experience of the recipient, the financial capacity of the recipient, and firm written financial commitments for the project.

(3) For HTF-funded downpayment assistance, a market analysis is not required.