Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program

Section 108 is the loan guarantee provision of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. Section 108 provides communities with a source of financing for economic development, housing rehabilitation, public facilities, and large-scale physical development projects. Section 108 is one of the most potent and important public investment tools that HUD offers to local governments. It allows them to transform a small portion of their CDBG funds into federally guaranteed loans large enough to pursue physical and economic revitalization projects that can renew entire neighborhoods. Such public investment is often needed to inspire private economic activity, providing the initial resources or simply the confidence that private firms and individuals may need to invest in distressed areas. Section 108 loans are not risk-free, however; local governments borrowing funds guaranteed by Section 108 must pledge their current and future CDBG allocations to cover the loan amount as security for the loan.

Loan commitments are often paired with Economic Development Initiative (EDI) or Brownfield Economic Development Initiative (BEDI) grants, which can be used to pay predevelopment costs of a Section 108-funded project. They can also be used as a loan loss reserve (in lieu of CDBG funds), to write-down interest rates, or to establish a debt service reserve.

Eligible applicants include the following public entities: 1) Metropolitan cities and urban communities (i.e. CDBG Entitlement recipients); 2) Non-entitlement communities that are assisted in the submission of applications by States that administer the CDBG program; 3) Non-entitlement communities eligible to receive CDBG funds under the HUD-Administered Small Cities CDBG program (Hawaii). The public entity may be the borrower or it may designate a public agency as the borrower.

Activities eligible for Section 108 financing include: 1) economic development activities eligible under CDBG; 2) acquisition of real property; 3) rehabilitation of publicly owned real property; 4) housing rehabilitation eligible under CDBG; 5) construction, reconstruction, or installation of public facilities (including street, sidewalk, and other site improvements); 6) related relocation, clearance, and site improvements; 7) payment of interest on the guaranteed loan and issuance costs of public offerings; 8) debt service reserves; 9) public works and site improvements in colonias; and 10) in limited circumstances, housing construction as part of community economic development, Housing Development Grant, or Nehemiah Housing Opportunity Grant programs.

Funding Category: 

Federally guaranteed loans through states and local governments that receive CDBG funding to help fuel large economic development projects and other revitalization activities.  

Target Population:

Residents of HUD-designated CDBG entitlement or non-entitlement communities.

Funding Available:

For FY 2002, $608.696 million. Appropriation for FY 2001 was $1.261 billion.

Application Information:

For more information on the CDBG Section 108 loan guarantee program, your local HUD field office* will be able to assist you. When applying for a Section 108 loan, the field office is the first to become involved in reviewing the application. You can contact the Section 108 office at HUD headquarters in Washington, D.C. at 202.708.1871* or 202.708.1506*, or by mail at: Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program, Office of Community Planning and Development, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street, SW Room 7206, Washington, D.C. 20410

Contact:

For technical guidance, contact Mr. Paul Webster, Director, Financial Management Division, at the above address or at 202.708.1871* or Mr. Nelson R. Bregon, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Grant Programs, Office of Community Planning and Development, at the above address or at 202.708.1506*.

Links To More Info:

Section 108 Program Description

Section 108 Fact Sheet

Administering Agency:

HUD

 

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