Commercial/Multifamily Briefs, April 6, 2023

Commercial/Multifamily Briefs, April 6, 2023

Ncontracts Ready for Section 1071

Ncontracts, Brentwood, Tenn., the leading provider of integrated compliance and risk management solutions to the financial industry, announced today that its solutions will be ready with updates to comply with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Section 1071 final rule.

Ncontracts, Brentwood, Tenn., is helping commercial lenders comply with new requirements by introducing new functionality required by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Section 1071 final rule into its cloud-based transmittal tool, Ntransmittal.

This proven tool is currently used for over half of all HMDA transmittals in the United States. Users will be able to generate 1071 transmittal files in addition to CRA transmittal files. Ncontracts’ fair lending analytics tools will also be updated to allow in-depth analysis of 1071 data.

Ncontracts is also hosting a webinar, Section 1071 Compliance: What Does the Final Rule Mean for Small Business Lenders Like You? on April 20 at 1PM CT. Ncontracts’ team of regulatory compliance experts will explain the ins and outs of the final 1071 rule and what small business lenders need to do to comply with it.

“Many commercial lenders do not have standardized application forms, and they may not even have a loan origination system or a system of record to be able to maintain those documents,” said Stephanie Lyon, Ncontracts’ Vice President of Compliance and Regulatory Content Strategy. “Those who have not been involved in HMDA, like commercial lenders, will need to make sure they are identifying their stakeholders and seeing where technology may need to be adjusted to fill gaps.”

The goal of 1071 is to provide transparency into small business lending and help ensure that fair lending laws are followed. It does this by requiring the collection of specific data points, including demographics, on small business lending applications. This will help regulators determine if financial institutions are fairly lending to small business owners regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender or age.

Enterprise Closes $190M Fund to Promote Economic Mobility

Enterprise Community Partners closed its Equitable Upward Mobility Fund, a $190 million Low-Income Housing Tax Credit fund designed specifically to support economic mobility with a focus on racial equity.

With commitments from investors including American Express, Comerica, Fifth Third, First Republic, JPMorgan Chase and US Bank, the fund will help create more than 900 homes and support nearly 2,500 residents. It builds on Equitable Path Forward, Enterprise’s five-year, $3.5 billion initiative to help dismantle the legacy of racism in housing.

Grounded in academic research and data-driven industry practices, EUMF is an impact investing vehicle focused on fostering upward mobility while also advancing racial equity. The fund’s investments will improve and preserve the affordability of properties in high-opportunity neighborhoods or in quickly gentrifying areas. It also invests in properties being developed by housing providers of color and those proven to help residents achieve upward mobility through service-enriched housing models.

The fund also contains a resident services reserve, funded by both investors and Enterprise, that will be used to fund services designed in cooperation with developers and tailored to facilitate upward mobility for residents, such as financial literacy classes, increased digital access, emergency savings programs, job training and afterschool programs.

Two properties that illustrate the EUMF’s investments are Fourteen02 South Park, a new apartment community in Madison, Wis., and Larchmere Homes, the new construction of 30 affordable lease-to-purchase homes in Cleveland.

Fourteen02 South Park will provide 150 affordable apartments to Madison families and individuals earning between 30% and 60% of the area median income. The mixed-use property will feature a grocery store on the ground floor in addition to housing.  It is located in an area with an upward mobility rate that ranks in the top third of census tracts nationally. Additionally, the project’s sponsors, Rule Enterprises and Movin’ Out, are Black- and women-led, respectively. Because the deal leverages Enterprise’s Standby Guaranty Facility, a credit enhancement tool that helps unlock access to capital for developers of color whose balance sheets do not meet traditional investor requirements, Rule Enterprises was able to bring stronger liquidity as a guarantor, and as a result share more equally in the economics of the deal.

Larchmere Homes involves the new construction of 30 single-family homes that will be leased, with the option to purchase after 15 years, to Cleveland families earning up to 60% of the AMI. Located in a neighborhood with primarily residents of color, Larchmere Homes is being developed by CHN Housing Partners, who provide services such as financial and homeownership counseling to ensure resident success. That success is clear: Since 1987, nearly 90% of residents in CHN’s Lease Purchase Program choose to buy their homes and become homeowners, and 98% of those families are successful in their homes.