B4-1.4-09, Special Assessment or Community Facilities Districts Appraisal Requirements (04/15/2014)

Alternative methods for raising the capital necessary to satisfy utility and infrastructure requirements are sometimes used in the development of new residential communities. In some instances, this involves the creation of local districts called special assessment districts or community facilities districts that have the authority to assess homeowners for the cost of developing utility services and various infrastructure facilities, including, but not limited to, roads, sewer services, schools, police and fire protection services, and libraries.

Fannie Mae expects the lender to know if a property is located in one of these districts and to be aware of the effect that assessments levied by the district could have on property values and the marketability of the subject property. The lender’s appraiser, therefore, must give special consideration to the valuation of properties located in these districts.

Special assessment districts, also called special tax districts or municipal utility districts, provide a specific service to homeowners living in a designated area. They are most often established to provide water or other utilities in areas that are not served by existing city or municipal utility services. The need for these districts arises when an existing utility service does not have sufficient capacity, or may not find it economically feasible to provide services for newly created subdivisions that are located beyond its current operating area. State law governing the establishment of special assessment districts varies greatly, as does the financial strength of the individual districts. These districts are granted the authority to assess owners of properties within their boundaries for funds that will be used to cover their operating costs and debt service.

Special assessment districts that are established to serve newly developing subdivisions with utilities often base their financial plans and the amount of the assessment to be charged to each property owner on the expected number of properties in the area to be served. The district then depends on the continuation of development to maintain its budget expectations. If, for any reason, development stops short of the degree of development that the district anticipated in preparing its budget, the district can become financially distressed and may need to impose an additional assessment on the existing homeowners.

The appraisal requirements for properties located in special assessment districts must

• report any special assessments that affect the property, and

• note in the appraisal report if the special assessment district is experiencing financial difficulty and that the difficulty has an effect on the value or marketability of the subject property.

To ensure that the reaction of the market to the potential liabilities that may arise within a financially troubled special assessment district is reflected in their analysis, the appraiser must consider current and expired listings or properties for sale within the district and any pending contract sales and recent closed sales within the district.

There may be some instances in which the financial difficulty of a special assessment district is so severe that its actual effect on the value and marketability of a property is not measurable because there is no comparable market data available to enable the appraiser to arrive at a reliable opinion of market value. When this is the case, a mortgage secured by a property in that district will not be eligible for delivery to Fannie Mae until such time that an active market develops that will enable the appraiser to demonstrate the value and marketability of the subject property.

Some jurisdictions have passed legislation that creates community facilities districts and permits them to levy a special tax to fund the capital costs of a wide variety of public improvements, as well as the ongoing operation and maintenance costs of a limited number of public services. Proceeds from the special tax are used to support the sale of tax-exempt bonds for the various capital improvements that are allowed under the legislation, including but not limited to, roads, sewer services, schools, police and fire protection services, and libraries.

The assessment that will be used to repay the tax-exempt bonds becomes an ongoing responsibility of the property owner, similar to state and local property taxes. The assessment lien and the obligation to pay the assessment passes with the title to the property when ownership of the property is transferred.

Such legislation generally requires full disclosure of the special assessment to any purchaser of a property located in a community facilities district. Therefore, a lender originating mortgages in community facilities districts should disclose to the appraiser any information that it becomes aware of regarding special assessments on a given property.

Appraisers must be aware of whether the subject property and the comparables are located within or affected by a community facilities district because properties subject to an assessment by one of these districts often compete against properties that are either subject to a significantly different assessment or no assessment at all. Appraisers must consider the reaction of the market, if any, to the assessment for the applicable community facilities district by analyzing similarly affected comparable sales in their analysis, and should note the effect of the assessment in the appraisal report.