NAHMA HUD Update: HUD Multifamily CNA e-Tool Status Update

• By: admin
• On: 12/04/2017 15:53:13
• In: HUD News

 


Dear Stakeholders:

It's been one month since the mandatory usage of the Capital Needs Assessment (CNA) e-Tool for FHA Multifamily mortgage insurance applications has been in effect, and we are happy to report an increase in its usage.  The e-Tool automates and standardizes the preparation, submission and review of a capital needs assessment.  The Office of Multifamily Housing has established robust customer service for support as you continue to familiarize yourself with the tool.  I'd like to provide a status update and remind you about available resources.
Mandatory Dates

In April 2017, the fully functioning CNA e-Tool was released and available to test drive on a voluntary basis.  Since then, we've released the following mandatory dates for CNA e-Tool usage:
 

• November 1, 2017 for FHA multifamily mortgage insurance applications processed by Office of Multifamily Housing Production staff.
• February 1, 2018 for Rental Assistance Demonstration conversions that are conventionally financed, not FHA insured; 10-year update capital needs assessments for FHA-insured multifamily properties; and other asset management milestones, such as partial payment of claims, processed by Multifamily Offices of Recapitalization and Asset Management and Portfolio Oversight staff.  The tool is available now for these purposes on a voluntary basis.

 
Usage Statistics

Uniform use of this tool will benefit both program participants and HUD staff and streamline our processes.  One application has officially been approved and currently:
    ·   25 FHA applications have been submitted using the CNA e-Tool.
    ·   14 are currently under active review.
 
Looking at what's coming up, our pipeline statistics industry-wide as of November 15 show:
    ·   85 distinct projects in the validation engine database.
    ·   68 distinct projects validated in the lender's web portal, which indicates how many applications lenders are preparing for submission.

We expect more successful approvals to come as we're experiencing an increase in both numbers of users and system logins.  As of October 2017:
    ·   1,801 registered users are in the system with assigned roles, including HUD staff. 
         ·   This is a 75% increase in the number of users since May 2017.
         ·   779 of these are lenders with M IDs, which increased by 337 in the past six months.
    ·    1,036 users have logged in, an increase of 558 users from May 2017:
         ·   196 of this total are lenders.
 
Resources and Support
To support this growing number of users, Multifamily continues to train staff and the CNA e-Tool team has provided the following:
 

• 24 trainings this summer and fall for about 345 total lenders and needs assessors at 10 HUD offices nationwide.
• Half-day training sessions in Denver and Chicago this fall for about 200 lenders and needs assessors at the Western and Midwestern Lender Conferences.
• 19 recorded webinars and tutorials providing step-by-step instructions are available for online viewing.  Collectively, these how-to videos have almost 900 views.
• The Ask A Question feature where anyone can post inquiries.  Responses will be published in an upcoming FAQ document.  Since implementation, 227 questions have been submitted and answered.
• Reorganization of the CNA e-Tool homepage based on user categories for ease of use.
• Manuals and instruction guides covering a wide range of issues to increase the likelihood of submitting error-free applications; please refer to these resources as you work with the tool.
• Operational bulletins and the “Known Issues & Solutions” document that provide important updates and the latest instructions.  Sign up here to receive the bulletin emails.
• Deposit Test Tool is coming soon for lenders to use in conjunction with the e-Tool.  This will allow lenders to more easily test the deposit amounts to the reserves for replacement account for compliance with the MAP Guide.  

 As you can see, the CNA e-Tool is actively being used by HUD stakeholders, and these numbers are growing.  Multifamily has invested significant effort in the e-Tool's development and implementation, and we look forward to working with you on its usage.  Future system upgrades based on your feedback will continue to improve functionality.  I encourage you to use the numerous resources available for support and to feel free to contact us herewith any questions.

Robert Iber
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 
Office of Multifamily Housing Programs
 

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