Don't count a child as part of two households if her parents live in separate units at your site and share custody. According to the HUD Handbook, you must count a child in a joint custody arrangement as part of a household if that child is “present in the household 50 percent or more...
An owner can claim only the credits allocated to him by his state housing credit agency. Suppose an owner is in the process of leasing up a brand-new 80 percent tax credit building and the marketing department brings in nine qualified low-income households. Eight of the 10 units must be rented...
Don't round down the number of units you must rent to qualified low-income households to meet your minimum set-aside, warns A.J. Johnson, president of A.J. Johnson Consulting Services. Rounding down may seem like an attractive option because it leaves you free to charge market-rate rents for...
If your community room is part of the site's basis for tax credit calculation purposes, meaning that the owner counts it as part of the property for which the state has awarded tax credits, don't permit commercial use of this room. To permit this type of use would reduce the amount of...
Before buying the first pesticide on the shelf that promises to eradicate bedbugs, check the label, warns the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The agency says that this year's widely publicized bedbug outbreaks across the United States have spawned an increase in the number of...
Squatting may be making a comeback in the United States. In the 1970s, it became a widespread problem in cities after the housing market collapsed. Nearly 40 years later, high unemployment, rising evictions, and homelessness along with the surge of vacant housing may be contributing to its...
Finding qualified applicants for your tax credit site is a little like dating. You have to spend some time with each candidate before discovering that he's not a good fit—this person is over-income; that one cannot afford the rent, and the next doesn't meet another screening...
HUD has developed a new brochure that outlines the Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) system for residents of Section 8 and HUD-assisted sites in a clear, concise, easy-to-read format. EIV and You may help to ease residents' concerns about what information is available, how their...
Most site managers have had to handle disputes on occasion with residents or former residents over past-due rents or damaged property. If the money damages that you're seeking are relatively small, typically less than $5,000 (although the amount varies by state), and your preference is for a...
If your residents have ever argued over putting a Christmas display in a common area, be prepared to avoid acrimony over Easter decorations, such as palms for Palm Sunday or other Christian symbols.
Offering dynamic community programs at your tax credit site can help to create a positive identity for your property that will attract more prospective applicants and boost resident retention. And the idea of collecting extra fees from program providers or residents to offset your operating...
