If you, as a site owner or manager, screen applicants yourself, one of the most important steps you take is to contact applicants' current and prior rental references.References' evaluations are valuable in helping you decide whether to rent a tax credit unit to an applicant. But rental references are often reluctant to fill out forms, so you might find it easier to call them to get the information you need. To get an informative reference over the telephone, you need to ask the right questions and keep a record of the answers.
It's a good idea to quiz your staff members regularly to assess their familiarity with the low-income tax credit (LIHTC) program. Testing staff members this way can confirm that you're working with a team equipped to tackle important compliance issues and keep the owner's tax credits safe. Or it can reveal gaps in staff members’ compliance knowledge, so you'll know where they need training to get up to speed.
As a site owner or manager, you probably know that IRS auditors are entitled to look at your resident files to see whether you have obtained asset disposition statements from households at your site.The IRS requires these statements because households have been known to shrink their assets—that is, reduce the value of their assets—to qualify for tax credit housing. A standard method of shrinking assets is selling the family home to a relative for a fraction of its value.
