Introduction to certifications of eligibility and rehabilitation

# (a) Who may apply

(a) Who may apply.
(1)(A) Ordinarily, only the fee simple owner of the property in question may apply for the certifications herein described.

(B) However, if an application is made by someone other than the fee simple owner, the application must be accompanied by a written statement from the fee simple owner indicating that the owner is aware of the application and has no objection to the request for certification.
(2)(A) Upon receipt of an application, the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program may determine whether a particular structure qualifies as an eligible property.

(B) The program shall do so, however, only after:

(i) Notifying the owner of the request;

(ii) Informing such owner of the possible tax consequences of such a decision; and
(iii)(a) Permitting the owner a thirty-day time period to submit written comments to the program prior to decision.

(b) Such time period for comment may be waived by the owner.
(3)(A) Owners of properties that appear to meet National Register of Historic Places criteria but are not yet listed in the National Register of Historic Places or are located within potential historic districts may request preliminary determinations of historic significance from the program as to whether such structures may qualify as eligible properties when and if the properties or the potential historic districts in which they are located are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

(B) Preliminary determinations may also be requested for properties outside the period or area of historic significance of registered historic districts.

(C) Procedures for obtaining these determinations shall be the same as those herein described.

(D) Such determinations are preliminary only and are not binding on the program.

(E) Preliminary determinations will become final as of the date of the listing of the property or district in the National Register of Historic Places.

(F) For properties outside the period or registered historic district, preliminary determinations will become final, except as provided below, when the district documentation on file with the National Park Service is formally amended.

(G) If during review of a request for a certificate of rehabilitation, it is determined that the property does not contribute to the historic significance of the district because of changes that occurred after the preliminary determination of historic significance was made, eligible property designation will be denied.
(4)(A) Owners of structures not yet designated eligible properties may obtain determinations from the program on whether rehabilitation proposals meet the United States Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring, and Reconstructing Historic Buildings.

(B) Such determinations will be made only when:

(i) The owner has requested a preliminary determination of the historic significance of the property as described above; and

(ii) Such request for determination has been acted upon by the program.

(C) Final certifications of rehabilitation will be issued only to owners of eligible properties.

(5) Owners of properties who have not taken a rehabilitation tax credit on the eligible property within the past twenty-four (24) months.

# How to apply

(b) How to apply.
(1)(A) Requests for certifications of eligibility and of rehabilitation shall be made on Major Historic Preservation Certification Applications.

(B) Part 1 of the application shall be used in requesting a certification of eligibility and for preliminary determinations of eligibility, while Part 2 of the application shall be used in requesting an evaluation of a proposed rehabilitation project.
(2)(A) Application forms are available by contacting the program and requesting a hard copy or an electronic version via email.

(B) It is important that an applicant contact the program’s staff prior to taking any action on the proposed tax credit project.
(3)(A) Applications should be reviewed within thirty (30) days of receipt of a complete, adequately documented application.

(B) Where adequate documentation is not provided, the owner will be notified of the additional information needed to undertake or complete review.
(C)(i) The time periods in this part are based on the receipt of a complete application.

(ii) They will be adhered to as closely as possible and are defined as calendar days.

(iii) They are not, however, considered to be mandatory, and the failure to complete review within the designated periods does not waive or alter any certification requirement.

(D) It is the applicant's responsibility to notify the State Historic Preservation Officer if application reviews are not completed within the time periods specified above.

(E) The State Historic Preservation Officer, in turn, will consult with the program staff to ensure that the review is completed in as timely a manner as possible under the circumstances.
(4)(A) Approval of applications and amendments to applications is conveyed only in writing by duly authorized officials of the program acting on behalf of the State Historic Preservation Officer.

(B) Decisions with respect to certifications are made on the basis of the descriptions contained in:

(i) The application form; and

(ii) Other available information.

(C) In the event of any discrepancy between the application form and other, supplementary material submitted with it (such as architectural plans, drawings, specifications, etc.), the applicant shall be requested to resolve the discrepancy in writing.

(D) In the event the discrepancy is not resolved, the description in the application form shall take precedence.

(E) Intentional falsification of factual representations in the application is subject to criminal and civil sanctions.
(5)(A) Although certifications of eligibility and rehabilitation are considered separately, owners must submit Part 1 of the Historic Preservation Certification Application prior to, or with, Part 2.

(B) Part 2 of the application will not be processed until an adequately documented Part 1 is on file and acted upon unless the property is already individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

(C) Applications will not be considered if the owner has objected to the listing of the property in the National Register of Historic Places.