Low Income Investment Fund
Service Providers: Nonprofit Lender
- one to three years of operating history
- charter management organizations
- stand-alone schools
- single-site schools
Serving the most disenfranchised populations, Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF) is a steward for capital invested in community-building initiatives. In this role LIIF provides a bridge between private capital markets and communities with incomes below the living wage. In addition to providing financing for charter school facilities, LIIF provides credit enhancement, leasehold improvement loans, and technical assistance around the financing process; it helps schools understand what the different options are and what they can afford. 5
LIIF is a member of the CDFI Racial Equity Collaborative on Education, a group of CDFI lenders who are working together to bring a racial equity perspective to their education lending. Working with educational consultants, we have been learning about what makes an equitable learning environment for students of color and how we as lenders can include an assessment of equity practices in our underwriting. At this time, we have not set thresholds or racial equity standards which schools must meet for a charter school transaction to qualify for a loan. We are using this evaluation to help us learn more about how schools create equitable learning environments, help us identify opportunities to enhance our lending to further advance racial equity, and to embed a racial equity lens in our everyday lending activities. We also hope to serve as a connector among schools in our portfolio and others engaged with CDFI Collaborative members to support knowledge exchange on equity best practices in the field.
Available loan products are detailed below:
| Terms (Years) | |
|---|---|
| Acquisition loans | 3 |
| Construction loans | 3 |
| Mini-permanent loans | 7 |
| Permanent loans | 25 |
| Leverage loans for New Markets Tax Credit transactions | 7 |
| Predevelopment loans | N/A |
| Working capital | N/A |
| Maximum financing for a single project | $10,000,000 |
| Maximum amortization (years) | 25 |
| Financial Overview | |
|---|---|
| U.S. Department of Education (ED) Credit Enhancement | $18,000,000 |
| New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation total | $578,000,000 |
| Community Development Financial Institutions Bond Guarantee Program (CDFI BGP) allocation total | $115,000,000 |
| Portfolio Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total historic financing1 | $817,168,300 |
| Number of schools supported | 192 |
| NMTC allocation employed for charter facilities | $181,535,951 |
| Number of schools supported with NMTC | 34 |
| CDFI BGP allocation deployed for schools | $76,827,710 |
| Number of schools supported with CDFI BGP | 15 |
| Remaining capacity in CDFI BGP allocation | $10,000,000 |
| Portfolio Performance | |
|---|---|
| $ amount of financing repaid/refinanced2 | $587,730,245 |
| NMTC matured/refinanced | $276,500,000 |
| Total number of transactions3 | 313 |
| Original $ amount of defaults4 | $7,024,000 |
| Number of defaults | 3 |
| Default rate (% of total $ amount of financing) | 0.86% |
| Default rate (% of total number of financings) | 0.01% |
| $ amount write-offs | $971,782 (includes recoveries) |
| Number of write-offs | 3 |
| Write-off rate (% of total $ amount of financing) | 0.12% |
| Write-off rate (% of total number of financings) | 0.01% |
Footnotes:
1Financing defined as grants, recoverable grants, loans, and guarantees.
2Includes full repayments only; does not include partial amortizations or restructurings.
3Number includes only those financings with a repayment obligation; it excludes grants.
4A defaulted loan is defined as one in which the school can no longer make debt service payments and the lender must litigate or foreclose for repayment. This figure represents the loan amount at origination, not the amount outstanding at default.
Last Updated: November 2021
Disclosure: Information on this page has been provided by the organization. Any questions related to figures or programs listed should be directed to the contact shown above. Keep in mind that each school’s situation will differ slightly and you’ll need to speak to the contact listed for information specific to your school.