Skip to content

Affordable housing finance

CDLAC

California Debt Limit Allocation Committee — allocates the state's private-activity-bond volume cap, the award 4% LIHTC deals must win before anything closes.

Definition

The California Debt Limit Allocation Committee allocates the state's IRC § 146 private-activity-bond volume cap among competing uses and issuers. For rental housing, its Qualified Residential Rental Program (QRRP) scores applications under the CDLAC regulations — adopted jointly with CTCAC's each December — and a CDLAC award is the prerequisite for the tax-exempt issue that makes a project eligible for as-of-right 4% credits. When housing demand exceeds cap, the QRRP round, not credit availability, sets the calendar.

Why it matters in an underwrite

For 4% deals CDLAC is the real gate: "non-competitive" federal credits still wait behind a scored state bond round. Underwrite the queue — application windows, scoring tiers, and the risk of missing a round — as schedule risk with carry costs attached. Read the CDLAC and CTCAC regulations together: the two committees coordinate scoring and adopt their rules jointly, so a structuring choice that helps in one round can cost points in the other.

Sources & related guides

See also

See the term in the law itself

Read the controlling text in the Code Library, or ask the AI how it applies to your project.

Ask AI free

Last reviewed 2026-07-29. General information, not legal advice.