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LIHTC Demystified: Navigating to Success

A two-hour interactive workshop on the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program, its structural essentials, and its business dynamics, taught by a globally recognized guru in affordable housing development and financing.

For nearly forty years, LIHTC (pronounced “lie-teck”) has been the dominant federal capital resource for creating affordable multifamily housing in the United States today — but how does it work at its core? And what do savvy participants need to know before pursuing it?

In this two-hour interactive workshop, affordable housing expert David Smith, who’s worked with LIHTC since its inception, will present a structural overview of LIHTC and its two versions, the importance and complexities of relying on it in your capital stack, and how each state’s Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP) implicitly tells you how to win.

What to Expect

Today, LIHTC dominates affordable multifamily production and preservation[1], with over $10.5 billion allocated annually, and an additional $19 billion potentially available via private activity bonds (PABs); it’s usually the first and last topic in financing these transactions. But each state operates independently in deciding to whom to award LIHTC or PABs, and the QAP is the key. Scoring high on it, however, usually adds cost to the development and can put feasibility in peril. How do you balance the two? 

This exploration of the LIHTC program will help you understand its potency, highlight the inherent trade-offs, and show you how to dive into any state’s QAP to spot what it will take to win a LIHTC award.


[1] https://www.novoco.com/notes-from-novogradac/lihtc-pab-multipliers-applied-to-irs-population-figures-mean-record-pab-cap-for-2025

  • Gain a detailed overview of the US Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program.
  • Explore a sample Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP) to understand how developers work with it in winning LIHTC awards.
  • Appreciate the fiscal potency of LIHTC for developers, and how it has altered the affordable housing ecosystem in the US.
  • Be positioned to dive more deeply into any state’s QAP or any LIHTC pro-forma.
  • US affordable housing professionals, executives, and stakeholders.
  • Global executives from anywhere in the world whose work is housing-related and who need to be knowledgeable about how it relates to their own country’s situation – or doesn’t!
  • Developers, financiers, investors, urban planners, government officials (national, state/ provincial, or municipal/local), and real estate professionals (e.g., attorneys, accountants, appraisers) working in these fields.

Instructor


Headshot of David Smith

David Smith

Founder and Chairman of the Board, Affordable Housing Institute (AHI)


David Smith on LIHTC

2026 Session Participant Testimonials

This is a superior level course with relevant and current information from a true expert currently active in the field. Valuable in the session and useful every day going forward. 

This two-hour webinar was a firehose of LIHTC information. The breadth of topics and expertise was profound. I am walking away with some tremendous insights that I was not exposed to prior to today.

David did a fantastic job describing the process to a novice despite having years and years of experience in the field. 

Thank you so much. This course gave me the confidence that what I understood about the LIHTC process (after years of working adjacent to it) was fairly accurate. I can now continue with my work, feeling confident that I know the basics, and have learned more of the nuances. I really appreciate it!

This workshop provided a clear, practical understanding of LIHTC structures that goes far beyond theory. It helped me connect policy, underwriting, and real-world deal execution particularly around ground leases and mission-driven land ownership. The insights I gained are directly applicable to my academic research and my professional work in affordable housing development.

– Participants in the January 2026 workshop

LIHTC Demystified: Navigating to Success

June 24, 2026 | 11:00am – 1:00pm Eastern

Online
Tuition: $249 (until May 15), $299
CEUs: Pending
AMDP Elective Units: 0
Grants Certificate of Completion: No

Early registration is recommended.

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Discounts & Deadlines

Please email us at [email protected] with any questions and to ask about group signup.

Registration Deadline: 3 hours before the start of the program.

Full Discount and Cancellation Policies