Opinion ID: 740472
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Standard of financial qualification

Text: 18 Although the Commission stated that Solar's application is governed by the Commission's 1981 financial certification standards, 10 F.C.C.R. at 2853, Solar argues that the Commission actually applied the more rigorous standard of financial qualification developed in FCC cases that post-date Solar's 1984 application. It is true that the Commission has at times murmured and mumbled rather than enunciate clearly what Form 301 requires an applicant for a broadcast permit to show in order to certify its financial qualifications. See Northampton Media Associates v. FCC, 941 F.2d 1214 (D.C.Cir.1991) (noting inconsistency). It is also true that the Commission's decision cites cases that post-date Solar's certification. Nevertheless, Solar has not shown that the Commission failed to give it proper notice of what Form 301 requires. Simply put, Solar's efforts to secure financing were so woefully inadequate that they must be deemed insufficient under any interpretation of FCC Form 301. 19 First, Solar made no serious effort to determine how much money it would need. An applicant cannot certify that sufficient net liquid assets are on hand or available from committed sources to construct and operate the requested facilities for three months without revenue, as FCC Form 301 requires, if it has not determined how much money such an operation would require. Even worse than having no idea how much money it needed, Solar had no specific idea how it would get the money; no Solar principal ever met with Applebaum, its only purported source of funding. According to their own testimony, Solar's stockholders had conflicting ideas regarding how Applebaum might finance their venture--as a lender, guarantor, or by using his company as a source of equipment financing--and Solar never called Applebaum as a witness. For all the record shows, Applebaum may be Solar's name for Santa Claus ... or Godot. 20 In addition, Solar took no steps to assure itself that Applebaum could have financed the venture. Yet FCC Form 301 clearly states that when an applicant proposes to rely upon an individual in order to certify its financial qualifications the applicant must assure the FCC that it has determined that a reasonable assurance exists that the individual has sufficient net liquid assets to meet these commitments. See CHM Broadcasting, 24 F.3d at 1457 (applicants must have firsthand knowledge of the sufficiency of the assets upon which their personal certification is based). Moreover, assuming that he has a deep enough pocket, Applebaum made no commitments. In short, Solar's stress upon inconsistencies in the Commission's interpretation of Form 301 is but a red herring; Solar is unable to point to any Commission [324 U.S.App.D.C. 308] decision, before or after 1984, that is inconsistent with the facial requirements of Form 301 discussed above.