Listing of SONYMA target areas by US Census Bureau Census Tract or Block Numbering Area (BNA). The State of New York Mortgage Agency (SONYMA) targets specific areas designated as ‘areas of chronic economic distress’ for its homeownership lending programs. Each state designates ‘areas of chronic economic distress’ with the approval of the US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). SONYMA identifies its target areas using US Census Bureau census tracts and block numbering areas. Both census tracts and block numbering areas subdivide individual counties. SONYMA also relates each of its single-family mortgages to a specific census tract or block numbering area. New York State identifies ‘areas of chronic economic distress’ using census tract numbers. 26 US Code § 143 (current through Pub. L. 114-38) defines the criteria that the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development uses in approving designations of ‘areas of chronic economic distress’ as: i) the condition of the housing stock, including the age of the housing and the number of abandoned and substandard residential units, (ii) the need of area residents for owner-financing under this section, as indicated by low per capita income, a high percentage of families in poverty, a high number of welfare recipients, and high unemployment rates, (iii) the potential for use of owner-financing under this section to improve housing conditions in the area, and (iv) the existence of a housing assistance plan which provides a displacement program and a public improvements and services program. The US Census Bureau’s decennial census last took place in 2010 and will take place again in 2020. While the state designates ‘areas of chronic economic distress,’ the US Department of Housing and Urban Development must approve the designation. The designation takes place after the decennial census.

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) designates Qualified Census Tracts (QCTs) for purposes of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. The LIHTC program is defined in Section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. The LIHTC is a tax incentive intended to increase the availability of affordable rental housing. The LIHTC statute provides two criteria for QCT eligibility. A census tract must have either: 1) a poverty rate of at least 25 percent; or 2) 50 percent or more of its householders must have incomes below 60 percent of the area median household income. The area corresponds to a metropolitan or a non-metropolitan area. Further, the LIHTC statute requires that no more than 20 percent of the metropolitan area population reside within designated QCTs (This limit also applies collectively to the nonmetropolitan counties in each state). Thus, it is possible for a tract to meet one or both of the above criteria, but not be designated as a QCT. With respect to the census tracts, the Census Bureau defines them in cooperation with local authorities every ten years for the purposes of the decennial census and, following a public comment period, has recently completed defining tract boundaries for the 2010 Census. Note that when census tract boundaries are set, they remain unchanged for the next decade. Thus, tract boundaries will not be changed until the 2020 Decennial Census.

Census tracts designated as Opportunity Zones. Qualified census tracts are those that have a poverty rate of at least 20 percent of a median income that does not exceed 80 percent of the area median income. The opportunity fund model encourages investors to pool their resources in opportunity zones, increasing the scale of investments going to underserved areas. The program provides a federal tax incentive for investors to re-invest unrealized capital gains into opportunity zones through opportunity funds. Under the terms of the program, the governor of each state must submit a plan to the federal government designating up to 25 percent of the qualified census tracts in their state as opportunity zones, which is then subject to approval of the Secretary of the Treasury.

FHFA’s Duty to Serve regulation defines residential economic diversity to include activities that support financing of mortgages in areas of concentrated poverty. Areas of concentrated poverty for purposes of Duty to Serve, include a census tract designated by HUD as a Qualified Census Tract, or as a Racially or Ethnically-Concentrated Area of Poverty, during any year covered by an Underserved Markets Plan or in the year prior to a Plan’s effective date. Below is a link to the specific geographies which meet the Area of Concentrated Poverty definition.

Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Qualified Census Tracts must have 50 percent of households with incomes below 60 percent of the Area Median Gross Income (AMGI) or have a poverty rate of 25 percent or more. Difficult Development Areas (DDA) are designated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and are based on Fair Market Rents, income limits, the 2010 census counts, and 2006–10 5-year American Community Survey data when they becomes available. Beginning with the 2016 DDA designations, metropolitan DDAs will use Small Area Fair Market Rents (FMRs) rather than metropolitan-area FMRs for designating metropolitan DDAs. Maps of Qualified Census Tracts and Difficult Development Areas are available at: huduser.gov/sadda/sadda_qct.html. 2023 IRS SECTION 42(d)(5)(B) METROPOLITAN DIFFICULT DEVELOPMENT AREAS (OMB Metropolitan Area Definitions, September 14, 2018 [MSA] and derived FY2022 HUD Metro SAFMR Area Definitions [HMFA])