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A group trying to develop housing for veterans in historic structures at the Veterans Administration Montana Health Care System at Fort Harrison has sued the Montana Board of Housing, trying to overturn the boards April 9 decision denying the group low-income housing tax credits that may be essential for the project to move forward.

A Florida group hopes its Freedoms Path project will provide 40 units of housing for veterans who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. It would use historic buildings that may not fit with the VAs future needs, and sought to get more than 80 percent of its funding from low-income housing tax credits, which give investors a tax shelter and enable funding for specific projects.

But after looking at scoring of the 14 applications for the credits, the Board of Housing did not allocate any to Freedoms Path. Six of the 14 applicants received credits.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in District Court in Helena, repeats an earlier claim by the developer that the scoring was erroneous and cites other problems with the boards decision. The suit wants to send the matter back to board with instructions to make the decision again with the correct scoring.

It also seeks an injunction preventing the board from allocation the credits until the matter is settled. It says the matter is time-sensitive because the project depends on cooperation with the VA, availability of historical preservation tax credits, and other factors.

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Veterans group sues housing board