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...
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.
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...
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...
Like many owners and managers, you may pay a resident a small amount for part-time work he performs, such as raking leaves, cleaning common areas, or distributing flyers periodically at the site. HUD calls this payment a “resident service stipend” and defines it as a “modest...
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...
If a crime victim sues your site for negligence, you'll probably be second-guessed for taking inadequate security precautions. If only you had managed things more carefully, the victim's lawyer and expert witnesses will argue, you could have prevented the crime. To justify your actions...
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...
