In a recent television program, a 65-year-old woman living on her own became sick and collapsed in her home. When rescue workers arrived, they found her in the kitchen wedged among mountains of clutter, trash, and human feces. She had to be removed through the window. The show, called Hoarders, is not a television drama or movie of the week. It's a reality series airing on A&E that offers a gripping view into the lives of compulsive hoarders, and the impact that their illnesses have had on their lives and their families' lives.
An operable smoke detector is the most critical device for preventing deaths, injuries, and property loss from fires. According to research conducted by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), almost two-thirds (63 percent) of the home fire deaths in the United States were the result of fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms. And in more than half (53 percent) of the home fires in which smoke alarms were present but did not operate, the batteries were missing or disconnected.
Everyone who has financial responsibility for a low-income housing tax credit site understands the importance of keeping owners informed of how well it's performing. That means you need to be able to identify, document, and deliver the critical pieces of information that owners need to make prompt, informed decisions about their properties.
It is any site manager's worst nightmare—that moment when the phone rings to notify you that your world has been turned upside-down. The potential threats caused by natural hazards, such as hurricanes, wildfires, floods, winter storms, landslides, or earthquakes, happen more often than most people think. While a disaster occurring at your particular site may seem like a low probability, it is possible, and the impact on your site, staff, and residents can be tremendous.
An all-too-common scenario in tax credit site management is the household that becomes uncommunicative at recertification time. You've probably encountered such households before: Multiple notices to make an appointment for a recertification interview are shrugged off and ignored.While you want to make every effort to work with qualified households and maintain a long-lasting relationship, it's also your job to make sure that residents who are no longer eligible do not jeopardize the owner's tax credits.
America's elderly population is growing at a fast pace, and almost a third of those 65 and older are living alone, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Is your site prepared to meet the specific needs of your elderly residents?Accidents in the home are a major source of injuries, which puts safety concerns at the top of the list for elderly residents and their families. Slips and falls are the most common accident-related hazards, says affordable housing risk management consultant Gwen Zander.
According to the 2000 census, approximately 25 million adults living in the United States depend on friends and family members to translate everything from food labels to rental leases. Language issues have created considerable challenges for low-income housing site managers to ensure that residents and prospects clearly understand applications, leases, and other crucial residential forms.
It has become increasingly common to hear about residents suing owners, claiming that they were injured by the presence of mold in their units. Exposure to certain molds or fungus has been linked to a number of ailments, including asthma, headaches, and skin rashes.
HUD requires all applicants to give you their Social Security number. But what if an applicant says she does not have one? HUD rules do not require you to accept applicants who do not have a Social Security number, nor do HUD rules bar you from accepting such applicants. Generally, sites do not reject these applicants. However, sites may also set a policy about requiring that an applicant obtain a Social Security number.
Like many owners or managers of tax credit sites, you probably let residents keep a pet, as long they obtain your prior approval and sign an agreement about the pet. But what should you do when you discover that a resident is keeping an unauthorized pet? You may not want to evict the resident or require him to get rid of the pet. But you want to make sure that residents who have been keeping unauthorized pets know that you are serious about enforcing your pre-approval policy.
