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RAIT Community Development Fund Qualifies as a Certified Community Development Entity

  //business-finance.news-articles.net/content/201 .. as-a-certified-community-development-entity.html
  Published in Business and Finance on Wednesday, October 13th 2010 at 14:05 GMT by Market Wire

PHILADELPHIA--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--RAIT Financial Trust (NYSE: RAS) (aRAITa) is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, RAIT Community Development Fund (aRCDFa), has qualified as a Community Development Entity (aCDEa) by the United States Department of the Treasury.

"The CDE designation and potential to participate in the Treasurya™s NMTC Program is part of a strategy to develop new business initiatives through leveraging our knowledge of commercial real estate and utilizing our existing commercial real estate platform."

The CDE designation positions RCDF to participate in the Treasurya™s New Markets Tax Credit (aNMTCa) Program. In the NMTC Program, CDEs are selected to receive an allocation of new market tax credits. The credits are sold to investors and the proceeds are invested or loaned by the CDE to help promote access to capital and local economic growth in urban and rural low-income communities across the nation.

Scott Schaeffer, RAITa™s Chief Executive Officer and President, commented, aThe CDE designation and potential to participate in the Treasurya™s NMTC Program is part of a strategy to develop new business initiatives through leveraging our knowledge of commercial real estate and utilizing our existing commercial real estate platform.a

You can learn more about the CDE certification and the NMTC Program at [ http://www.cdfifund.gov/ ].

About RAIT Financial Trust

RAIT Financial Trust manages a portfolio of real estate related assets, provides a comprehensive set of debt financing options to the real estate industry and invests in real estate related assets. RAIT's management uses its experience, knowledge and relationship network to seek to generate and manage real estate related investment opportunities for RAIT and for outside investors. For more information, please visit [ www.raitft.com ] or call Investor Relations at 215.243.9000.