CDFI Fund to Pause Acceptance of New Community Development Entity Certification Applications

Beginning June 2, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) will pause acceptance of new applications for certification as a Community Development Entity (CDE). The CDFI Fund will implement this “blackout” period to allow the CDFI Fund to review and plan for possible policy and system improvements to streamline the CDE Certification Application process. 

Certification as a CDE is required to apply for tax credit allocation authority under the New Markets Tax Credit Program (NMTC Program). The blackout period for new CDE Certification Applications will not impact the CDFI Fund’s review of the 2024-2025 NMTC Program Application round. The blackout period will also not impact the ability of currently certified CDEs to apply to create subsidiary CDEs for existing NMTC Allocations. During the CDE Certification blackout period, the CDFI Fund will continue to accept and review Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Certification Applications, which is a different process and application from CDE Certification.

The CDFI Fund will resume accepting new CDE Certification Application submissions with enough time for interested organizations to apply for CDE Certification well in advance of the next NMTC Program Application round.

During the CDE Certification blackout period, the CDFI Fund will pause accepting the following applications for initial (or new) CDE Certification:

• Type A (CDE-Cert-NotCertified) – For an organization applying for initial CDE Certification only on behalf of itself
• Type B (CDE-Cert-NotCertified) – For an organization applying for initial CDE Certification on behalf of itself and one or more subsidiary entities
• CDE-CDFI-Certified – For currently Certified CDFIs seeking initial CDE Certification

Organizations seeking to gain these initial CDE Certifications will have until 11:59 pm Eastern Time on June 1, 2025, to submit their applications. 

In order to maintain compliance, the following applications for currently certified CDEs will remain open and unaffected by the blackout period:

• Type C (CDE-Cert-Certified) – Certified CDEs seeking to add one or more Subsidiaries 
• CDE-SA Amendment – Certified CDEs seeking to amend their approved Service Area 

CDE Certification Applicants must submit their Applications on or before 11:59 pm ET on June 1, 2025. The CDFI Fund will review all Applications within 90 days of submission. 

Currently Certified CDEs will be required to remain in good standing with respect to their CDE Certification status during the blackout period. If a currently Certified CDE loses its certification during the blackout period, it cannot reapply until the blackout period ends. 

Questions

The CDFI Fund has provided a Frequently Asked Questions document that provides more detail about the CDE Certification Application blackout period on its website. The CDFI Fund will update this document if needed during the blackout period.

In addition, specific questions about CDE Certification can be submitted to the CDFI Fund via an AMIS Service Request (preferred), or by contacting the CDFI Fund’s Help Desk at ocpecert@cdfi.treas.gov. 

Related Documents

• CDE Certification Blackout Frequently Asked Questions