Security deposits provide owners with some degree of financial protection when a resident moves out of a unit and fails to fulfill obligations under the lease. Security deposits can be used toward reimbursing unpaid rent or repairing any damage the outgoing resident may have left behind.
Some managers may not bother to collect security deposits from move-ins or the full amount due. Maybe that's because they don't fully understand HUD's rules on setting the amounts of security deposits, or they just simply forgot to do it. Whatever the reason, not collecting the full...
As manager of an assisted site, one of your most important jobs is to keep the owner updated on how well you're managing the site. The owner wants to know on a monthly or quarterly basis how well the site is doing financially and that there's no major occupancy or other problems...
HUD's Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) conducts approximately 20,000 physical inspections of sites each year to ensure that residents are living in assisted housing units that are “decent, safe, sanitary, and in good repair.” During an investigation, REAC inspectors will look...
You may have some assisted residents who don't pay their utility bills for electricity, gas, or water. This can create a dangerous situation at your site. If the utility company shuts off service to the resident's unit, the resident may try to make do with candles, use the oven for heat...
The stock market has been incredibly volatile this past year. As a result, some of your residents may have experienced significant reductions in the value of their stock portfolio and may be asking for interim recertifications. Others may have had the benefit of a positive swing in their...
You're probably familiar with HUD's requirement that you calculate elderly households' medical expense allowances at each recertification based on the households' medical expenses during the prior year. Generally, HUD says, the allowance covers households' “anticipated...
Suppose a household member is injured on the job and tells you that he'll be getting workers' compensation benefits for a number of weeks. Like many managers, you may have little experience with income from employee benefits. But with the increasing popularity of welfare-to-work programs...
As HUD's largest rental assistance program, the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program plays a key role in preventing homelessness and supporting local rental markets—particularly in a bad economy. Over the past three years, the country has struggled with persistently high...
Many site managers don't know how to handle applications from households headed by minors or including minor co-heads or spouses. By definition, a minor is an individual under the age of full legal responsibility. Therefore, a minor's signature on a lease is generally not legally binding...
Households often report changes in their composition, employment status, income, or allowances. As a result of such changes, a household may have to move to a smaller or larger unit or pay a higher or lower share of the rent. To determine what effect the reported changes will have on the...
If you think your local tax assessor may have overvalued your site, it may be a good idea to hire a company that specializes in appealing real estate tax assessments. While you can take basic steps on your own to check the fairness of a tax assessment, you'll need a tax appeal specialist to...
