Earlier this month, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) provided notice in the Federal Register that it was soliciting a final round of comments to the revised Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Certification Application. Comments must be submitted by December 5, 2022. This notice follows a prior notification from the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) providing a preview of proposed revisions to the Application.

An overview of the revisions to the proposed CDFI Certification Application and the revised CDFI Certification Application are available on the CDFI Fund website. The CDFI Fund urges those interested in submitting comments to review this information closely. There are a number of areas of the CDFI Certification Application that have undergone significant modification since it was first released for comment in May 2020.

In addition, the CDFI Fund continues to seek comments on a proposed Target Market verification process. Specifically, the CDFI Fund is requesting input on a new list of pre-approved Target Market assessment methodologies that entities applying for Certification as a CDFI may use to assess whether the end-users of an entity’s Financial Products or Financial Services are members of a pre-approved Target Market. The deadline to submit comments is December 19, 2022.

Upcoming CDFI Certification Request for Comments
In the coming weeks, OMB will also solicit a final round of comments on revisions to the Annual Certification and Data Collection Report (ACR) for Certified CDFIs. This will ensure that existing CDFIs are being held to the same evaluation, benchmarks, and review criteria as newly Certified CDFIs. Comments will also be requested on updated methods for collecting transactional level data from Certified CDFIs. Of particular note, the CDFI Fund is no longer proposing the creation of a separate Certification Transaction Level Report (CTLR). Instead, all CDFIs will be required to submit a slightly modified version of the existing Transaction Level Report (TLR)—the length of which will vary by award status. The CDFI Fund will send out an additional notification when OMB opens the comment period on the revised ACR, at which time the updated ACR materials will be available for review on the CDFI Fund’s website. 

For more information about the revised CDFI Certification Application and reporting tools, please visit the CDFI Fund’s website. 

Related Material:

• Request for Comment: CDFI Certification Application (Federal Register Notice)
• CDFI Certification Application: OMB Comment Submission Portal
• Request for Comment: Target Market Verification Process (Federal Register Notice)
• Target Market Verification Process: Regulations.gov Comment Submission Portal
• CDFI Certification Application & Data Collection Reporting Revisions Information