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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 challenge an assessment successfully. Appealing an assessment helps you comply with HUD rules, and if you win, you can save your site a considerable amount of money [Handbook 4350.1, par. 23-5].
The Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) system is a Web-based computer system implemented by HUD. It contains employment and income information on individuals participating in HUD's rental assistance programs. This information is used to meet HUD's requirement to independently verify employment and income when a resident recertifies for continued rental assistance.
Many sites store their resident, financial, and other site-related records in electronic computer files at their management company's office. These files include the site's most vital information: resident files, HUD certification and billing forms, maintenance records, income and expense statements, balance sheets, checking accounts, and more.
Most sites ban door-to-door solicitations for the protection and comfort of residents. But HUD says you must allow this practice in one specific situation—for resident organizers. Here's a look at what you can and cannot do, and how to make sure your policy doesn't violate HUD rules.
Not only is it a smart management practice to keep your household files up-to-date and complete, but it's also something that HUD expects you to do. And not just in time for an occupancy review or audit, but all of the time.
Sloppy files will certainly raise a red flag during a formal review, signaling that you may not know what is needed to be in compliance. On top of that, messy or incomplete files can create headaches for you and your staff in the day-to-day operations of your site.
Suppose you or someone on your staff notices the young son of a resident riding his bike around your parking lot with no adult in sight. Should you scold him and send him home? Ignore him? Find his parent or guardian and lecture them?
Dealing with unsupervised children poses a real challenge. In the scenario above, suppose the little boy is seriously hurt and you are accused of negligence. Or he injures another resident and you are held liable. There are legal as well as practical aspects to how you should handle such situations.
HUD's model lease clears the way for site owners and managers to access residents' units “for the purpose of making reasonable repairs and periodic inspections.” Doing so can help uncover unsafe or unsanitary conditions and unreported maintenance problems. Dealt with early, these conditions can help prevent more serious problems later, such as insect or rodent infestations, flooding, and major repairs.
Requesting photo identification from prospects before taking them to tour a vacant unit is a sound practice for safeguarding your staff, say security consultants. At the same time, fair housing experts caution that, unless you request photo identification from every prospect—not just those who look suspicious or dangerous—you could be guilty of discrimination.
As you work with families and individuals who apply to live at your site, you may give preference to certain categories of applicants. HUD says that it's okay to establish preferences, as long as you follow certain rules. HUD views the process of assigning preferences to applicants who meet certain criteria as a means of providing housing opportunities based on household circumstances. For example, you may give an admissions preference to “working households” or to households that reside within the municipality where your site is located.