(a) Residential vacancy rates shall be assumed to be 5%, unless a different figure is required by another funding source (including TCAC) or supported by compelling market evidence.

(b) Vacancy rates for Commercial Space shall be assumed to be 50%, except the Department may use the vacancy loss assumption of the Project's senior lender or equity investor under either of the following circumstances:

(c) Total Operating Expenses (not including property taxes or the approved costs of on-site service coordination) shall not be less than those specifically listed in California Code of Regulations, Title 4, Section 10327 as minimum Operating Expenses (without the reduction allowed by those regulations for bond-financed projects). The Department may project higher Operating Expenses where warranted by the experience of comparable properties and particular building characteristics, such as the nature of the tenant population or the level of rehabilitation. Prior to loan closing, the Department may approve total Operating Expenses that are less than those specified in Section 10327, supra, only if the Project has an extraordinary design feature, such as its own electrical generation system, which results in a quantifiable operating cost savings as documented by a qualified third party.

(d) All Operating Expenses, including property management fees, shall be within the normal market range, as periodically determined by the Department in surveys or based on costs observed in its portfolio.

(e) The first year Debt Service Coverage Ratio shall not be:

In applying the requirements of subsections (e)(1) and (e)(2), the annual MHP Program loan payment of 0.42% will be considered debt service.

The Department may modify the application of these requirements on a case-by-case basis for Projects receiving operating or rental subsidies structured to allow for breakeven operation, or for operation at a level of cash flow that differs from that resulting from application of these requirements in order to meet the cash flow obligations in this subsection.

(f) Balloon payments are not allowed on senior debt, except where the Department's affordability covenant or regulatory agreement (collectively “Use Restriction”) is recorded in a position that is senior to the debt with a balloon payment. Any such Use Restriction may include provisions that, upon foreclosure of the debt instrument securing such debt, allow the Use Restriction to be amended to delete any portion of the Use Restriction that is not necessary to ensure the continued restriction of the project to the same affordability level for all occupants, rents or amounts charged pursuant thereto, reporting requirements not related to tenant occupancy and affordability, and level of operations and maintenance (collectively, the “Affordability Provisions”). The Sponsor may also include an executory provision in the original Use Restriction that immediately limits the effect of the Use Restriction to only those set forth in the Affordability Provisions. Furthermore, in the event project-based rental assistance is terminated, the Affordability Provisions may include a provision allowing rents to increase to the minimum extent required for fiscal integrity, as defined in Section 7301(g), but not in any event shall rents exceed 30% of 50% of area median income, as such area median income is determined by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, adjusted by bedroom count by TCAC pursuant to 26 U.S. Code § 42(g)(2)(C) with the annually published TCAC Income Limits and Maximum Rents posted on the TCAC website.

(g) Balloon payments are allowed on junior debt during the term of the Program loan only where the Department determines that the balloon payment will not jeopardize project feasibility.

(h) Variable interest rate debt shall be underwritten at the ceiling interest rate, unless the Department determines that using a lower interest rate assumption will not jeopardize project feasibility.

(i) The Project must demonstrate a positive cash flow for 15 years, using income and expenses increase rate assumptions specified in California Code of Regulations, Title 4, Section 10327. If projected Project income includes rental assistance or operating subsidy payments under a renewable contract, the Department may assume that this contract will be renewed, where the renewal of the rental assistance or operating subsidy is likely.

(j) Where the Department is providing construction-period financing, the minimum budgeted construction contingency shall be 5 percent of construction costs for new construction projects and 10 percent of construction costs for rehabilitation and conversion projects.

(k) Local public agency loans shall not have required payments exceeding 0.5% per year of the original principal loan amount.