4d Annual Compliance and Recertification

Compliance and Recertification Submissions

To retain the tax benefitted 4d/LIRC status, property owners must annually submit a compliance form (aka the recertification form) to the City of Saint Paul and submit a reapplication form to Minnesota Housing. 

The yearly recertification forms used to capture this information are available in January. Property owners are required to submit TWO forms each year.

Please use the Compliance and Recertification Checklist as a guide and refer to the income and rent limits below.

City of Saint Paul

After your property is enrolled in the 4d program, you must complete an annual report to confirm the property is still meeting the requirements. Without this “Recertification”, your property will not receive the tax benefit until requirements are met again.

Property owners must fill out the City of Saint Paul 4d Recertification Form and submit to 4d staff by January 31 each year.

Minnesota Housing

While the initial application to Minnesota Housing is covered by the City of Saint Paul upon acceptance and enrollment into the 4d Program, property owners must complete and mail their LIRC Renewal form annually with accompanying fee to Minnesota Housing. This step is required by Minnesota Housing to confirm your property’s LIRC status.

The fee is $10 per 4d unit, up to a maximum fee of $150 per property.

Please mail LIRC renewal forms by March 31 to:  

ATTN: LIRC
400 Wabasha Street North
Suite 400
Saint Paul, MN 55102

Note: LIRC renewal forms are updated around January every year and can be found on Minnesota Housing’s LIRC Program webpage. 

Compliance Requirements

• 3% annual rent increase limit
  • Owners may not raise rent more than 3% during the year (12 month period).
    • Exceptions to this include: the 4d unit turning over to a new tenant, the previous lease ended with a voluntary move out, or there is a just cause lease termination. See the 4d Program Guidelines for more information.
  • Just cause lease terminations for the purposes of compliance with the 4d program guidelines are defined as a lease termination for one of the following reasons: non-payment of rent, repeated late payment of rent, material non-compliance by a tenant, substantial damage by tenant, refusal to renew/voluntary lease termination by tenant, occupancy of a former rental unit by property owner or family member, building demolition and dwelling unit conversion, rehabilitation and renovation, complying with a government order to vacate, occupancy conditioned on employment at the landlord’s property (see the program guidelines for more details about these categories).
  • Property owners are not required to seek permission to raise rents at the time of unit turnover, and certification of just cause increases will be self-reported by property owners during the 4d program’s annual compliance.
  • Rents may never be raised above the maximum limit for the unit, either 50% of Area Median Income (AMI) or 60% of Area Median Income (AMI) rent limits based on the number of bedrooms in the unit.
     
• Income verification
  • o    If an owner has a turnover of a 4d unit (including subletting), the new tenant must have an income that meets the annually adjusted 4d income limits.
    • Note: Owners must record how many people are living in the 4d unit (both adults and children) and the total income for the adults living in the 4d unit. This will be verified on the annual recertification form by city staff.
  • Tenant household income verification may be satisfied by a copy of the IRS 1040 Tax Return Form regarding the most recent tax year for each income-earning adult of the household. If tenant(s) do(es) not possess a 1040 and are unable to provide a copy, alternative income documentation may be provided:
    • Tax Form 1099-MISC, filed for the most recent tax year
    • W2 Tax Form, filed for the most recent tax year
    • Prior 60 Days’ Employment Paystubs; or Employer’s Statement of Wages/Salary (i.e. via letter)
    • If none of the other documentation is available as determined by HRA staff, the following may be accepted: a signed statement from the tenant stating that the tenant’s earned income in the past year was lower than the applicable income limits.
  • Tenants must also sign a Government Data Practices Disclosure and Release consenting to the use of income information, including the household members’ names and ages.
  • Income verification information is reported to the City through the Annual Recertification process. The full income documentation does not need to be provided to city staff at this time, although staff may ask to see these records at any time.
  • The 4d Declaration requires property owners or property managers to retain records for the duration of the 10-year enrollment period, plus six (6) years after the enrollment period is over.
     
• Active & affirmative vacancy advertising on HousingLink
  • Owners are required to affirm market vacant 4d units on HousingLink’s listings in addition to wherever owners choose to otherwise advertise vacancies.
  • Visit the HousingLink website to post vacancies.
     
• Non-Discrimination of publicly-assisted tenants
  • Owners must be willing to accept rental applications from tenants with housing assistance funds, such as Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers, and agree to rent to such applicants should they otherwise meet owners’ fair rental screening guidelines.
     
• Fair housing & tenant non-discrimination
  • For information that may assist landlords in creating a tenant selection plan, see Saint Paul’s Tenant Screening Guidelines policy.
     
• Subletting 4d units
  • Subleasing arrangements on 4d units are only allowed if facilitated by the property owner (or owner’s authorized representative) with verification that, prior to moving in, the sublessee’s household income does not exceed the 4d income limits.

Annual Compliance Timeline

Beginning of the year

• An updated version of the annual 4d Program Recertification Form will be made available towards the beginning of the year. Completion of the form is required for compliance with 4d program requirements.

January 31

• The final deadline to submit recertification forms is January 31 at 11:59 p.m.

February/early March

• City staff will review recertification forms and make initial compliance determinations. Staff will share their initial determinations with property owners and allow owners to appeal out-of-compliant units, if applicable.

March 31

• Deadline to submit LIRC Renewal form to Minnesota Housing. Properties will lose the tax benefit if the form is not submitted by this deadline, and late forms will not be accepted.

Late March/April

• Final compliance determinations will be made by City staff and submitted to Minnesota Housing. The final determination will be documented by the state and then communicated to Ramsey County, who will apply the relevant tax classification to the property for the current tax assessment year.

Early summer

• City will publish updated 50% and 60% AMI limits and standard utility allowance figures on the 4d program website. New AMI limits are published by HUD and Minnesota Housing each year around this time.