Keeping your residents cool and comfortable in the summer will do much to keep your residents happy, reduce resident complaints, and avoid HUD scrutiny. If your site's air-conditioning system breaks down this summer, some residents may even try to deduct money from their rent for the time...
In today's struggling economy, providing affordable housing to low-income families is more important than ever. There may be plenty of qualified applicants, but there are also considerable challenges in keeping up with rising operational costs and program compliance requirements. Last month...
Getting cost estimates before you hire contractors to do work at your site is not only a smart business practice, but it's also a HUD requirement. If you don't get those required estimates, you could run afoul of HUD or your contract administrator. And you put the site owner at risk of...
A household may report to you that one of its members will be absent from the unit. For instance, an applicant may report that she has a daughter who's away at school. Or an existing resident may report that his wife had a stroke and will be confined to a nursing home. When certifying or...
Taking over the management of an assisted site from its owner or from another management company is a tricky procedure. Unlike at conventional sites, there are many compliance issues at assisted sites that can complicate the transition. You need to get up to speed quickly on how the site is...
In last month's issue, the Insider explained how to identify when the brick façade on your building needs repointing work. Repointing work is the chiseling out of old, worn mortar between bricks and having it replaced with fresh mortar.
Like some sites, you might end up buying goods or services from an outside contractor or vendor that has close business ties to the site owner or managing agent. In these situations, the vendors or contractors are considered identity-of-interest (IOI) contractors.
As we approach the end of spring and anticipate the coming summer months, you may be directing more of your attention to your site's curb appeal. Well-maintained lawns, trees, and shrubs help create the crucial first impressions that potential residents form of your site. And certain...
With ice, rain, snow, and low temperatures, winter is clearly the season that hits a brick façade the hardest. Problems already present in the façade are sure to grow as moisture in cracks and cavities expands in freezing temperatures. To the site manager, this means that summer is the best time...
This month marks the 44th anniversary of the signing of the Fair Housing Act (FHA), which protects individuals against discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability. In honor of Fair Housing Month, we'll focus on reasonable...
When you calculate a household's annual income, you may encounter a household member who has money in a pension fund or retirement account. It's important to know how to treat this money. But HUD rules on what to do can get confusing.
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...
