Kutak Rock has been an active leader in the low-income housing tax credit (“LIHTC”) program since the program’s inception in 1986. The firm's roles include:
- Representing direct investors and syndicators in LIHTC projects nationwide involving more than $10 billion of aggregate equity commitments
- Serving as counsel to various state housing agencies charged with the establishment and administration of the LIHTC program in their state
- Serving as upper-tier counsel to funds and investors with respect to proprietary and multi-investor fund offerings
- Advising on exits, workouts, restructurings and general partner/managing member removals
The firm also represents construction, pre-development, bridge and permanent lenders who provide debt financing to LIHTC projects.
The firm’s deep experience in ancillary LIHTC areas—general tax, partnership/LLC, securities laws, real estate law, tax-exempt bonds, HUD rules, financial guaranty work, 501(c)(3) issues—enables us to provide clients a wide scope of services and respond to issues that need to be addressed as part of LIHTC projects. As a result of our extensive experience, we are generally able to provide advice on a more cost-effective basis than our competitors.
Our attorney bench—more than 30 who work predominantly in the LIHTC area—are keenly aware of varying transaction structures and changes in the marketplace. We monitor changes and communicate with clients to develop the best practices, structures and legal forms to mitigate risk and compete in the marketplace. Our tax attorneys provide advice on transaction structuring issues to comply with the current regulatory environment and routinely give comprehensive tax opinions to tax credit investor clients. Because we represent many of the major tax credit investors in LIHTCs, we can quickly and efficiently communicate major changes and implement solutions for other investor clients.
Our tax credit investor clients routinely call upon us to manage and provide legal commentary to their due diligence review of corporate matters, title and survey reports, environmental issues, zoning and land use issues, construction contract evaluation, review of other financing sources and documentation, local permitting issues, collateral and security interests, UCC, lien, litigation and bankruptcy search review, and critical tax credit requirements. Our clients depend on us to efficiently close transactions by ensuring all transaction documents, due diligence and other closing issues are completed to the client’s specific closing policies and procedures. We have tested and proven procedures to ensure that firm clients are confident in making their large investments into the various projects. In addition, we are not only being “issue spotters,” but also providers of potential solutions. We use our substantial industry experience to benefit the client and will look for areas of improvement to give the client the best information and practices to compete in the marketplace.
The firm is routinely called upon to assist investors and lenders in asset management legal work and loan servicing. In the unfortunate event that a project underperforms, the firm has experienced attorneys who manage workout and litigation matters with developers and lenders. These attorneys understand the importance of preserving the tax credit structure for the benefit of the investors involved in the underlying transaction.
