Requiring application deposits for tax credit units is a good way to secure applicants and get signed leases later on, especially when new or substantially rehabilitated buildings aren’t ready. But when you accept a deposit, don’t inadvertently give the applicant the impression that you’re guaranteeing him a unit. Giving the impression that the deposit is a guarantee has led to legal disputes when the applicant’s circumstances changed and he was no longer eligible when the unit was ready.
While the IRS is generally responsible for the low-income housing tax credit program, in 2000 it entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to enforce fair housing laws. HUD is generally charged with enforcing the Fair Housing Act (FHA), and may refer cases to the DOJ. The FHA prohibits discrimination in housing and housing-related transactions, including the sale, rental, and financing of dwellings, based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, and disability.
If you manage several tax credit sites or one very large one, you may find it hard to get an accurate day-by-day picture of how things are going at each of them. That’s because information tends to get altered in the course of reaching you. For example, maintenance staffers and leasing agents report to their supervisors, who in turn report to their property managers, who then report to you. At each stage, less and less information gets passed on.
In these economic times, you may have experienced an uptick in qualified applicants applying for units at your tax credit site. Unfortunately, a small subset of these applicants is probably reporting false income in an attempt to take advantage of subsidized rent rates. Recently, the Worcester Housing Authority (WHA) in Massachusetts reported nearly $1.6 million in fraud over the past five years. According to the report, from 2008 to 2012, WHA staff and investigators reviewed 2,000 suspected cases of fraud.
In the November 2012 Special Issue, we covered move-in procedures that make good first impressions on new residents. In this issue, we’ll cover an important step to perform when good residents move out, so you can assess the effectiveness of your management practices. Maybe they were perfectly satisfied and moved out for reasons unrelated to your tax credit site—because they were relocating, for example. But maybe the residents were dissatisfied with the way you run your site.
Finding enough qualified applicants to occupy your low-income units can be a tough task. And you’ll want to attract enough qualified applicants to be able to choose those who will respect your rules and pay the rent on time.If you don’t find enough qualified applicants for your tax credit site, the owner may not be able to claim all the credits it was allocated. Worse, your site might not even qualify for the tax credit program, in which case the owner won’t be entitled to claim any of its tax credits.
Getting top-quality renters through your tax credit site’s office door is tough. But dealing with their worries about living at a tax credit site is even tougher. Some applicants think twice about renting a unit at a tax credit site. They have preconceptions that the tax credit program adversely affects the quality of housing, the mix of residents, and how well the site is managed. As a result, you may lose out on good renters who end up renting at a conventional site instead.
The Internet has proven to be very beneficial for apartment communities, as it gives prospects the opportunity to shop for apartments 24 hours a day in the comfort of their homes. As prospects continue to do more of their research online, user review and ratings Web sites such as yelp.com and apartmentratings.com play an ever increasing role in how your site is perceived by the public.
Applicants and residents who lie about their income or student status cause big problems for tax credit owners and managers. Many applicants lie about their qualifications for the tax credit program because they think this will increase the chances that they'll appear eligible to occupy a low-income unit and pay below-market rent.
