Michael Thomas Achieves RHDFP Certification

Denver, Colorado – On March 27, 2020, Michael Thomas with Gershman Investment Corp received certification as a Rental Housing Development Finance Professional (RHDFP) from the National Development Council (NDC). RHDFP Certification is a professional credential given to individuals who successfully complete NDC’s intensive rental housing development finance training series. The (RHDFP) certification program is a rigorous, three-course training series that explores the skills essential for the successful practice of rental housing development.  Critical skills developed through the series include using lender underwriting criteria and rates of return demanded by private equity investors to maximize debt and equity attraction; pro forma income and expense analysis; utilizing tax credit programs for affordable and historic projects; negotiating and problem solving skills; and, deal structuring techniques.  Participants in the RHDFP certification program build the capacity to translate development opportunities into results for their communities.

The three RHDFP Certification Program courses range from three to five days in length and concludes with an exam. Upon successful completion of all three courses, the candidate is awarded RHDFP Certification.

Michael’s many years of banking and lending experience started in Southern California at Bank of America as a Bank Account Executive and eventually led to his relocation to Colorado. Since 2015 Michael has served as a Vice President of Multifamily and Healthcare at Gershman Investment Corp.’s (“GIC”) Denver Office. GIC is one of the nation’s leading FHA MAP/LEAN insured mortgage lenders and servicers with over $2.0 billion in their FHA portfolio. Michael also acts as a mortgage banker for Commercial Bank, CMBS, CLO and GSE (Fannie & Freddie) senior debt for apartment owners and developers across the U.S. His specialties include affordable housing, acquisition/ rehabilitation as well as new construction and existing properties with and without Low Income Housing Tax Credits (“LIHTC”) He has structured multiple successful bridge-to-FHA for value-add acquisitions in tertiary markets. Michael has closed hundreds of millions of insured loans for thousands of housing units (both market rate, work-force, and affordable.) Most recently Michael closed the first HUD/FHA Hospital Loan (Section 242) located in an Opportunity Zone in the U.S.  in Grand Junction, Colorado for $84.5 million. Michael also recently authored an article titled, “GSE’s and HUD Provide Liquidity to Housing Markets in Times of Crisis” in Yield Pro Magazine.

Michael recently served a two-year term (2018-2019) as the Housing NOW Fall Conference Co-Chair for Housing Colorado, Colorado’s States preeminent affordable housing association where during his last year the event hosted a record numbers of attendees, well over 900. Michael was appointed by the City of Aurora and served a three-year appointment as a voting member on the allocation of CDBG, HOME and ESG grants on the Citizens Advisory Board for the City of Aurora, Community Housing and Community Development. For the past three years Michael has spoken nationally as a subject-matter-expert on debt panels for Novogradac Affordable Housing and Bond Conferences in San Francisco, New Orleans and Las Vegas.

Michael received his certification as a Rental Housing Development Finance Professional from the National Development Council and was awarded the “Future Leader Scholarship” from the Colorado Bankers Association to attend Graduate School of Banking- Colorado at CU Boulder where he graduated with honors in 2015. He graduated from George Mason University with a B.A. in Theatre in 1998.

Michael is the creator and host of Rent America, a new, ground-breaking series exploring the owners and residents of rental housing across America www.rentamericatheshow.com

NDC’s work focuses on HOMES, JOBS and COMMUNITY. Founded as a national nonprofit in 1969, NDC has worked for 46 years at fulfilling its mission to increase the flow of capital for investment in low-income communities. NDC directs capital to support the preservation and creation of affordable housing, the creation of jobs through training and small business lending and the promotion of livable communities through investment in social infrastructure. NDC’s products and services are deployed for the benefit of our municipal and nonprofit partners in both urban and rural low-income communities.

NDC has provided training to over 70,000 professionals working in the fields of economic and housing development. Participants come from diverse backgrounds including city and state governments, public agencies, community-based organizations, professional organizations and banks.

NDC is headquartered in New York City with offices in Washington, DC, Seattle, WA, Cleveland, OH and Edgewood, KY. For more information about NDC, please visit: www.ndconline.org/.

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