During an average day of property management you may find yourself confronted with an issue and asking yourself “what am I supposed to do now?”. We may or may not realize during the heat of the moment that there are resources that are afforded to us within our industry to answer that very question. Continue reading Our HUD Multifamily Industry Resources
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Selecting the right affordable housing software vendor is a task which, in my opinion, is like shopping for a new car. How much do you have to spend? Do you want just a car? Do you want an SUV? Or do you need a truck? Once you pick the type of vehicle you want, then you have to choose the vehicle with the right options. It should be that easy Notice to all tenants: Your affordable housing property owner’s insurance policy will not cover your losses due to theft or damage. Renters’ insurance is one of the best investment a tenant could make and it’s very inexpensive. It covers you when there is loss due to theft or damage caused by other people or natural disasters; Renters Insurance Protects Your Possessions and Helps With Living Expenses. Pipes burst, a spark ignites a blaze, thieves find the unlocked door. Sometimes stuff just happens. That’s why tenants need to take a hard look at the big what-ifs. What if your possessions are ruined or stolen? What if you’re forced to find a new apartment? Replacing laptops and your other possessions can also drain your savings in a hurry. And what about the expenses if you’re forced to live somewhere else for a while? Hotel costs, restaurants for every meal, even replacing all the little things like toothpaste and socks. Can you afford all of that? Continue reading Renters’ Insurance for all Section 8 Tenants What to do, Where to go and What about the office? We never expect tragedy to hit home, but what if…. Listen, if we could predict the future, we would all be very wealthy. But we can’t! What you can do is be as prepared as you can be. Let me ask you, when is the last time you had a fire drill? Do all of your tenants know what to do or where to go. Where is the nearest shelter you can suggest to your tenants? Is there a map or evacuation plan which is given to your tenants as well? Where is the Gas shutoff? Do you have the emergency phone numbers handy? What about all of the tenant records, your computer, and most important when is the last back up you made? Are you storing anything off-site? Continue reading Disaster Recovery for your affordable housing property…are you prepared? HUD recently published regulations intended to ensure that it’s housing programs are open to all eligible persons, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. I think that it is important to note that we don’t see this as any political debate but rather an issue of fairness. Discrimination is never okay. What ever our views are when we sit behind the desk of a HUD subsidized property it is vital that you put your ideology aside and treat your applicant/tenant with complete fairness. I know that some of us feel very strong in our convictions and I certainly wouldn’t want you to abandon that, however when you work in a society of mixed demographics it is imperative that you follow the law of “equal opportunity”. Here is the link to the HUD web page with the complete article: http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/press/press_releases_media_advisories/2011/HUDNo.11-006 Since I have had recent inquiries abut this policy it spurred me to think how such a policy could affect the multifamily affordable housing owner. The HUD issued Notice H10-21 “Optional Smoke-Free Housing Policy Implementation” encourages owners and management agents to implement smoke-free housing policies in some or all of the properties they own or manage. There has been no statutory or regulatory provisions governing smoking in assisted housing previous to this notice. However, when it comes to reducing costs to a property, perhaps this could also be a great way to reduce the cost of insurance and liability. Call your your insurance agent to see if in-acting such a policy will reduce your cost of insurance. Safety should always be priority #1 over cost so here you have an opportunity to accomplish both. Continue reading HUD Notice H10-21 “Optional Smoke-Free Housing Policy Implementation.” In today’s TRACS 202d working group conference call, progress was made in our discussion of the MAT 202d MAT User Guide. Clarification and some discussion made understanding the changes much more clearer. Policy changes are also still in the works and HUD has been working very closely and most importantly very cooperatively (as they usually are) in making these policy changes final. The TRACS Industry meeting agenda has also been established for March 8th & 9th. If you haven’t made your reservations, don’t wait too long. Airfares seem to be inching up every day!. Check our website for the TRACS Industry Meeting Agenda. Although this is not yet a requirement, it is obvious that there is a push in the affordable housing industry to reduce the amount of times the SSN is disclosed in the tenant file to minimize the risk of identity fraud. We were told during a recent TRACS Industry meeting that the SSN will not be masked is the HUD Form 50059. Since the tenants signature is required to attest to the accuracy of the infomation that is reported on the 50059 this SSN cannot be masked. According to the HUD Notice 2010-10, Pg 17 there is a note that says: “NOTE: To minimize the risk of exposing a tenant’s SSN, O/As may remove and destroy, at the time of recertification, copies of verification documentation received from the tenant at the time of disclosure of their SSN once the Identity Verification Status shows “Verified”. O/As are encouraged to minimize the number of tenant records that contain documents that display the full nine-digit SSN. O/As must not include the full nine-digit SSN for a tenant in emails or other electronic communications. We suggest you check your Verification Forms and other tenant included documentation to begin masking the SSN to protect your tenants data. You may want to check with your vendors as well to see if they can assist you in this matter. HUD Notice Requiring Owners with Project-Based Rental Assistance Contracts or Section 202 or 811 Project Rental Assistance Contracts to Obtain Dun and Bradstreet Numbering System (DUNS) Numbers and to Register in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) HUD Notice H 2011-01 was issued on January 5, 2011, providing the regulatory reporting requirements and guidance for legal entities receiving federal assistance. Rental assistance payments made under Project-Based Section 8 or Section 202 or 811 Project Rental Assistance Contracts are covered under these requirements. Owners must obtain a DUNS number and have an active, valid registration in CCR within 60 days of the publication date of this Notice. An owner’s failure to obtain a DUNS number and CCR registration within the time-frame allotted may result in the suspension of housing assistance payments or rental assistance payments. The notice includes guidance for the following: · Background on Public Law 109-282, The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 · Deadline for obtaining DUNS Numbers and Registration in CCR · Process for Obtaining a DUNS Number and Registration in CCR · Utilization of CCR and DUNS information The Notice is posted on HUDCLIPS at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/hudclips/notices/hsg/ Welcome to AHTCSOnline. This is our first post. The purpose of this blog will be to field comments or questions from clients and friends in the HUD affordable housing industry. We hope that this will be informative and I will try real hard to keep things up to date when there are any announcements from HUD. |
           
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. Well, there may be a bit more to it than that, but you get the point. However, when it comes to affordable housing software, just like shopping for a vehicle, first you need to decide on a budget and think what functionality is needed to stay in compliance with HUD program and reporting requirements. . . and more. 
