CDFI Fund expects to resume application acceptance in Fall 2023

The Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund announced this week it anticipates that it will resume accepting CDFI Certification Application submissions in the fall of 2023. It paused accepting new applications Oct. 1, 2022 and was expected to resume in April.

The fund is in the process of updating its certification process, and CUNA is concerned the changes as proposed would exclude “significant swaths” of community-focused credit unions. The CDFI Fund announced in January it would delay proposed changes after strong CUNA, League, and credit union engagement.

The CDFI Fund expects to take the following steps over the next several months:

• Complete the review of all comments.
• Publish updated information before implementation.
• Conduct public outreach after releasing the final Certification Application form and prior to opening the new application process
• Enhance data and material submission infrastructure to ensure CDFIs are able to efficiently submit data and all supporting material required by the new CDFI Certification Application
• Institute a grace period and publish detailed guidance information on how to achieve compliance with the new CDFI Certification guidelines and the deadlines for currently Certified CDFIs to submit their application.