Housing Trust Fund Program Rental Assistance
Request for Proposals (RFP) Application
Contract Period: October 1, 2025 – September 30, 2027
Application deadline: Thursday, December 19, 2024, at noon Central Time.
This application must be submitted through the Multifamily Secure Upload Tool. Refer to the RFP Application Instructions for more information.
Applicant Information
Organization Name:      
Legal Organization Name (if different than above):      
Organization Address:       
City, State ZIP Code:      
Contact Person:      
Contact Person Title:       
Contact Person Telephone Number:      
Contact Person Email Address:      
Funding Request Type:
 Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA)
 Current TBRA Administrator
 New Applicant
 Housing Navigation; only eligible for TBRA applicants
 Sponsor-Based Rental Assistance (SBRA)
 Current SBRA Administrator	Property Name & Location:      
 Recent SBRA Administrator	Property Name & Location:      
Amount of Funding Request:
$      TBRA
$      Housing Navigation
$      SBRA
Service Area:      
Community of Focus (if applicable):      

A.	Local Program Design (40 Points)
Criteria: Local needs, participant engagement strategies, property owner engagement and partnership strategies, building and enhancing Coordinated Entry partnerships, and program evaluation.
1a. TBRA APPLICANTS: In addition to the shortage of affordable and accessible housing in your organization’s community, are there needs or opportunities unique to your region that you intend to focus on? Describe the services your program will provide to work with households to locate and access housing.
•	What are the needs within your organization’s community? How do you or will you address them?
     
•	How long does your program allow for the housing search phase and what strategies do you use when housing searches take longer?
     
•	Describe the services your program will provide to work with households to locate and access housing.
     
•	How does your organization market your program to rental property owners, property managers, and other partnerships you may have? What aspects of your marketing strategy have driven the most positive outcomes?
     

1b. SBRA APPLICANTS: Consider your history of unit turn (i.e. vacancy frequency) and the needs of the people you serve who are waiting for housing in the broader community. 

•	What is the average length of vacancies in your property? What is your source for that data (HMIS, internal systems, etc.)? How does your organization minimize the length of unit vacancies?
     
•	How does your organization connect with other organizations, including local government contacts, to promote your program?
     

2.	ALL APPLICANTS: As noted in the Program Guide, all referrals are expected to come through the local Continuum of Care (CoC) Coordinated Entry system (CE). 

•	How does or has your organization created and sustained partnerships with its CoC CE? If your organization specializes in serving particular populations (e.g., domestic violence survivors, youth, or people returning to lawful status), how does it work with CE to facilitate these referrals?
     

3.	 ALL APPLICANTS: Housing Trust Fund Rental Assistance is intended to be temporary, providing up to five years of assistance, provided households have obtained resources (e.g., income sufficient for independent housing stability or Section 8 or Housing Choice Vouchers). 

•	How does your program work or will work with households in their transition to obtain resources, such as the above examples, for future housing independence?
      
•	For households your organization serves that succeed in obtaining Section 8 or Housing Choice Vouchers, how will you support their engagement with new or prospective property owners to support the households’ housing independence?
     

4.	ALL APPLICANTS: Describe how you designed your program and determined the outcomes. Include who was involved in that decision-making (e.g., staff, community, peer organization, and/or people with lived experience of homelessness must be engaged in program planning and implementation).
     

B.	Capacity (20 Points)
Services Activities, Data Analysis and Reporting
5.	Provide a list or narrative in response to the following regarding services and activities, data management, and reporting.

•	Describe how your organization refers to or provides services and outreach during a housing search and while housed, and by which organization(s), including frequency of engagement.
     
•	Describe how HMIS (Minnesota’s Homeless Management Information System) or a comparable database, for certain populations) data will be used to inform program design decisions.
     
•	Summarize how your organization gathers outcome and needs-related data to support the program design and outcome review described in your response to Question 4, above.
     
•	Provide a contact for communication regarding required annual reporting and HMIS Quarterly Data Quality oversight.
     

Grants Experience
6a.	NEW APPLICANTS: Describe your organization’s administrative experience with similar programs. The response must include, but is not limited to: 
•	Previous experience with state or federal housing assistance funding
•	Previous experience with project management, monitoring, and evaluation including:
o	Tracking utilization of grant funds
o	Monitoring the number of households served compared with the target number proposed
o	Timely invoicing and reporting
•	Previous experience with or the ability to conduct Housing Quality Standards (HQS) and, in future, NSPIRE inspections
•	Previous experience using HMIS (or comparable database for certain populations) or the ability to be trained and ready to use HMIS (or comparable database for certain populations) prior to October 1, 2025.
     
6b.	CURRENT ADMINISTRATORS: Describe your organization’s experience administering Rental Assistance. The response must include, but is not limited to:
•	A brief history of experience implementing your organization’s Rental Assistance including any Subgrantee and Partnering Service Provider roles, focus populations, or strategies
     
C.	Equity (30 Points)
Cultural Competency, Person-centered Engagement, Addressing Disparities
7.	Are you a Tribal Nation or a group of Tribal Nations? Recognizing sovereignty, Tribal Nations will receive automatic points for the Equity section of this application.
 Yes; skip all questions in this section and move to Section D: Funding Request/Budget. 30 points will automatically be granted.
 No; Continue to Question 8.
8.	Describe practices or methods your organization and any Subgrantee and Partnering Service Provider will use to provide culturally appropriate services.
     
9.	Provide an example of how your organization uses a culturally competent, person-centered practice when serving your target population. 
     
10.	Describe examples of how your organization and any Subgrantee’s and Partnering Service Provider’s staff reflect the demographics of the households intended to be served. 
      
D.	Funding Request/Budget (10 Points)
Complete your proposed HTF Program Rental Assistance Budget Template and submit it as part of Section F. Required Documents.
For any questions about the HTF Program Rental Assistance Budget Template contact Deran Cadotte at 651.297.5230 or deran.cadotte@state.mn.us. 
11.	Provide a substantive narrative justifying your organization’s proposed budget. Include how the average monthly rental assistance was determined (average gross rent, anticipated gross annual household income, HUD determined Payment Standards, market rates, etc.) 
and factors such as anticipated rent increase timelines, how you will monitor and alert Minnesota Housing of proposed rent changes for any sponsor-based properties, designated long-term homeless units, and any other rent-restricted sites. Cite Payment Standards used and their source(s) (a link, or the jurisdiction name and effective date is fine). If you are using multiple payment standards serving several jurisdictions, provide your weighting, averaging, or any other ways you blended them to inform your average monthly rent calculation. 
     
•	Identify other funding sources (e.g., XYZ Foundation grant of $20,000) in addition to Rental Assistance that are expected to sustain your program budget for the grant period.
     
•	CURRENT ADMINISTRATORS: Consider your organization’s prior program budget. What was your organization’s experience with the budget’s performance? Were budgeted rental assistance amounts in line with actual rental assistance expenses? What, if anything has your organization learned to do differently and apply for through this application for the next grant period (October 1, 2025 — September 30, 2027)?
     
12.	Explain how you arrived at the average Housing Related Expenses (Column G of the HTF RFP Budget Template, Utilization Projection tab). Provide a narrative or use the grid below to estimate the breakdown of Housing Related Expenses by activity. Provide detail of any “Other” expenses.
     
Table 1: Housing Related Expenses
Activities	Dollar Amount	
Property Owner Expense Mitigation Fees	$     	
Security Deposits	$     	
Damage Claims and Vacancy Payments	$     	
Application Fees	$     	
Utility Connection Fees and Past-Due Utilities	$     	
Other:      	$     	
•	An Administrative Fee will be paid to the Administrator each month in which a Participant resides in an eligible Assisted Unit. Minnesota Housing will approve an Administrative Fee within a range of $62 to $76 per household per month. If you are a new applicant, refer to the HTF Program Rental Assistance Program Guide for further guidance or contact Deran Cadotte at deran.cadotte@state.mn.us. The applicant's proposed monthly Administrative Fee may not exceed the fee paid by HUD to administrators of the Section 8 housing assistance program in the same jurisdiction, as described in the Code of Federal Regulations, title 24, section 982.152. In reviewing the proposed Administrative Fee, Minnesota Housing will consider criteria such as the target number of households, the amount of the grant, the geography of the Service Area, and the population served.
•	As outlined in Minnesota Rules, part 4900.3767, subpart 7, administrators of tenant-based and sponsor-based rental assistance are responsible for the following:
o	Working with property owners, including:
•	Property owner recruitment, including outreach to an organization’s network of existing landlords
•	Attaining ongoing communication with property owners to engage, maintain a positive relationship with, and mitigate any issues that may arise
•	Keeping an active list of subsidized housing wait list openings
•	Reviewing referrals and determining the eligibility of Participants
•	Conduct verification, interim (if/when necessary) and annual recertification of Participant income
o	Facilitating complete Housing Quality Standards (HQS) inspections to ensure the quality of assisted units
o	Creating, implementing, and assessing Participant transition plans, including:
•	Participant communication (e.g., provide sufficient notification in the case of Rental Assistance termination)
•	Ensuring a fair and consistent process is in place for notifying Participants of an opportunity for a meeting
o	Payments and accounting, including:
•	Paying HTF Program Rental Assistance directly to owners or management agents in a timely manner
•	Monthly invoicing to Minnesota Housing for HTF Program Rental Assistance payment
•	Financial management to include oversight of funding utilization
o	Reporting and records, including:
•	Meeting reporting requirements
•	Maintaining and retaining records
13.	Referring to the administrative responsibilities outlined above, and in Minnesota Rules, part 4900.3767, subpart 7, propose your Administrative Fee. Administrative Fees are per housed household, per leased month.
     
E.	OPTIONAL: Housing Navigation Funds (Additional 40 Points Separate from the Application’s 100)
Complete only if requesting Housing Navigation funds from HTF Program Rental Assistance. Note that you must be a TBRA applicant in order to apply for Housing Navigation funds.
14.	Acknowledging the tight housing market throughout Minnesota, briefly describe how funds for housing search activities will support your grant administration above and beyond the grant’s Administrative Fee.
     
15.	Describe how your organization will monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the housing navigation services, including how it expands housing opportunities and reduces disparities for those disproportionately impacted by homelessness.
     
16.	Using the Housing Navigation Budget template in the budget worksheet, indicate the funding amount your organization is requesting, the specific services that will be provided (refer to the HTF Program Rental Assistance Application Instructions for eligible activities), and proposed staffing levels (FTE = Full-Time Equivalent where 100% = 40.0 hours/week).
F.	Required Documents
The following information must be uploaded to Minnesota Housing’s online Multifamily Secure Upload Tool. Using the online tool, send items to mhfa.app@state.mn.us. Review the Secure Upload Tool Instructions for more information. 
The naming convention of the items submitted should be: 
HTFRA RFP_Applicant Name_Name of Document
Example: “HTFRA_RFP_XYZ Services_Program Budget”
All required documents must be submitted no later than Thursday, December 19, 2024, at noon Central Time. 
 HTF Program Rental Assistance RFP Application (this document)
 HTF Program Rental Assistance RFP Application Signature Page 
 HTF Program Rental Assistance Budget Template
 For applicants working with any Partnering Service Providers, draft, unsigned Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) for all such providers must be submitted. The MOUs are a threshold item but are not scored. The MOUs must clearly identify the roles listed in Section B: Capacity: Services, Activities, Data Management, Reporting, and Administrative Experience. If awarded funding, Minnesota Housing will review the MOUs and offer feedback on the draft versions. A fully executed MOU with all Subgrantees and Partnering Service Providers must be submitted to Minnesota Housing during the due diligence phase.  	
Pre-Award Risk Assessment Form and accompanying documents detailed in the form 
A.	Risk Assessment Form—Nonprofit Organizations
B.	Risk Assessment Form—For Profit Business Entities
C.	Risk Assessment Form—Political Subdivisions  
D.	Accompanying Documentation:
a.	Financial Documents related to the applicant organization and detailed on the Risk Assessment Form (Non-profits and For Profits Only)
1.	Internal Controls Certification—Nonprofits Organizations, if applicable
2.	Internal Controls Certification—For Profit Business Entities, if applicable
b.	Evidence of good standing with the Minnesota Secretary of State (Non-profits and For Profits Only)
c.	Certification of no convictions of felony financial crimes by a principal, along with a list of principals being certified (All applicants)

The linked documents above provide the required template to be completed and uploaded.