Managers will accept and process applications in ...



A standard waiting list policy is necessary to provide a fair and equitable means of tracking those individuals who have applied for residence. It assures that each applicant is offered residence in the proper order, thus preventing claims of discrimination or favoritism, and allows for the most efficient turnover of vacant apartments. In order to ensure that all applicants are treated fairly, the tenant selection plan will describe how the waiting list is maintained.

WAIT LIST MAINTENANCE

1. It is important to keep the waiting list as up-to-date as possible to help reduce the amount of time spent contacting applicants who are no longer interested or no longer qualify.

2. The waiting list will be updated regularly in order to maintain a poll of active applicants in order to file vacant units in a timely manner.

3. Management should contact applicants older than six months to determine if their interested using (Form E-2).

4. The waiting list must include the following data taken from the application:

a. Date and time the applicant submitted an application;

b. Name of head of household;

c. Annual income level - income-targeting - extremely low-income, very low-income, and low-income;

d. Need for an accessible unit and/or accessible features;

e. Preference status; and

f. Unit size.

5. Do not include information, such as race/ethnicity, gender, and family size, even though it might be collected on the applications and/or retained in resident files because this information is not directly relevant to tenant selection and might result in discrimination against some applicants.

6. Applicants may be on more than one waiting list based on the number of people in their household.

WAITING LIST SELECTION PRIORITIES AND PREFERENCES

A waiting list is necessary to provide a fair and equitable means of tracking applicants who have applied for an apartment. It helps assure that each applicant is offered an apartment in the proper order, thus preventing claims of discrimination or favoritism, and allows for the most efficient turnover of vacant apartments. If an applicant qualifies for a preference or priority then it is possible to move up the waiting list based on the circumstances.

Preferences are established criteria used to determine the order applicants are selected from the waiting list for housing assistance or an assisted housing unit.  Preferences may be established by federal law, HUD regulations, State or local law, or written owner policy. NHE does not use preferences except when federally mandated, sometimes issued during times of a natural disaster.

Priorities are statutory requirements which include 1) the need for an accessible unit or accessible features and 2) income targeting that at least 40% of new admissions to a 202/Section 8 “Property” (This does not apply to PRACS) in each fiscal year be households with incomes at or below 30% of the area median income.

NOTE: Current residents who meet the qualifications listed in the Transfer Policy shall be given priority over applicants. It is likely that there will be more applicants for housing than can be assisted. In order to select those households most in need of housing, the following categories will be the basis of selecting residents from among all applicants:

1. Households with one or more, members with a disability, when accessible units or features are designated for the disability.

2. Forty percent (40%) of all available (moved-out) units will be set aside for households whose total gross household income does not exceed 30% of the area median income (this is your extremely low income limit) as established annually by HUD.

3. Applicants will be taken from the waiting list in order EXCEPT, if, at any time, the admission of the next qualified applicant on the waiting list would cause the “Property” to fall below the 40% under 30% requirement, the next qualified applicant who meets the under 30% income level requirement will be moved to the top of the list and admitted.

4. Management should pull out of yardi the extremely low income report whenever a vacant unit occurs. This report shows the manager how many move ins for the previous 12 months were within the extremely low income. If you have more than 40% of your new move ins that are over the extremely low income you must skip over very low income applicants to your next extremely low applicant until you fall below the 40%. If you have meet the 40% requirement you would move in the next person on your waiting list regardless of qualified income limit.

NOTE: This testing procedure will be applied to all admissions during the year and records regarding this procedure will be kept on an annual basis and in the rental office. In order to ensure that 40% of our new residents fall within the extremely low income every other applicant you move in from your waiting list MUST fall within the extremely low income limits. (Form E-3)

Example: Your last move in was Peter Jeffery’s and he fell within the very low income limits. Jane Smith’s application was received on June 1, 2010 and falls within the very low income limits, Joe Davis’s application was received on June 10, 2010 and falls within the very low income limits, and Jennifer Williams’s application was received on June 20, 2010 and falls within the extremely low income limits. Your next move-in would be Jennifer Williams because she falls within the extremely low income limits and your last move-in was within the very low.

5. Marketing of these units will be targeted towards potential residents who have incomes that do not exceed 30% of the area median income.

6. Within each of the above listed groups, approved applicants will be housed based solely on the date and time of application.

CHANGES TO WAITING LIST

It is the policy of Management to administer its waiting list as required by HUD handbooks and regulations.

1. Opening and Closing Waiting Lists

In order to maintain a balanced application pool, NHE, Inc. may, at its discretion, restrict application taking, suspend application taking, and close waiting lists in whole or in part as allowed by the current version of the HUD Handbook 4350.3. The property’s waiting list will be updated by stating on waiting list “removed” by the names of those who are no longer interested in or no longer qualify for housing.

If your property has sufficient applications, it may, subject to HUD regulations, elect to close the waiting list if the waiting list contains more applicants than can be housed in a one year period. When the waiting list is closed, an announcement of the closure will be posted in your properties rental office and advertised according to the Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing Plan (AFHMP). During the period when the waiting list is closed, NHE, Inc. will not maintain a list of individuals who wish to be notified when the waiting list reopens.

NOTE: Only your Regional Property Manager can approve closing your waiting list.

When the waiting list is to be opened, an announcement will be made in compliance with your properties approved Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing Plan which will be sent to the locations and entities in the AFHMP.

2. Change in Priority or Preference Status While on the Waiting List

Occasionally households on the waiting list who did not qualify for a priority or preference when they applied will experience a change in circumstances that qualifies them for a priority or a preference. In such cases, it will be the household's duty to contact the NHE, Inc. so that their change in status may be verified to reflect the priority.

To the extent the verification determines the household does now qualify for a priority or a preference, they will be moved up on the waiting list in accordance with the priority and their date and time of application.

If a manager closes the waiting list, and s/he accepts an application, it will be grounds for immediate termination.

CONTACTING APPLICANTS

1. Applicants on the waiting list will be contacted at least once every six months to determine the applicant’s desire to remain on the waiting list based on one or more of the following methods:

a. Phone (phone calls must be documented on the application)

b. First Class Mail

2. Next to the names of those who are no longer interested in or no longer qualify for housing you will state “removed” on the waiting list next to their name in the section provided.

3. If the applicant fails to respond in five (5) business days, the applicant will be deemed ineligible and removed from the waiting list.

4. If we receive any correspondence back stating this letter is unable to be delivered by the United States Postal Service, the applicant will be deemed ineligible and removed from the waiting list.

5. In addition, the applicant household must contact the property, in writing, if any information on the application changes (i.e. number of household members, number of future household members, criminal history, income, etc.).

6. An applicant's name will not be removed from the waiting list unless:

a. the applicant requests their name be removed; or

b. the applicant was clearly advised, in writing, of the requirement to tell management of their continued interest in the apartment every six months and failed to do so; or

c. a reasonable effort was made, in writing, to contact the applicant to determine if there was continued interest in housing but has been unsuccessful; or

d. the applicant cannot be contact by US Mail (letters are returned or undeliverable); or

e. the applicant cannot be contacted by phone (number disconnected or changed); or

f. the applicant was notified, in writing, of its intention to remove the applicant's name; or

g. the applicant no longer qualifies for assisted housing; or

h. the applicant refused second offer of unit for other than medically related reason; and,

i. then the names of those who are no longer interested in or no longer qualify for housing will be removed from the waiting list.

Note: Any time an applicant’s position on the waiting list is changed, the application must be documented in the comment section indicating the reason for the position change. All applicants who have been removed from the waiting list must be sent the application denial letter (Form D-2) stating the reason for the removal.

A waiting list can NEVER BE THROWN AWAY and should NEVER be typed on the computer.

• Your properties waiting list should be kept from the time the property opened until present.

• The waiting list should be kept in a one inch notebook, labeled waiting list and kept at your property.

• The applicants on the waiting list should be in sequential order, with the most current applicants in the front and the oldest in the back of the book, based on the date and time the completed application is received.

• The waiting list should be hand written and white-out should never be used to make corrections to errors on the waiting list.

• If an error is made on the waiting list you should strike though the error with a single line and re-write the correction.

MAINTAINING WAITING LIST FORM

NHE uses the HUD guidelines for creating and maintaining a properties waiting list. The waiting list spreadsheet (Form E-1) will have:

Date of Application: Put the date you received completed application

Time of Application: Put the time you received completed application

Head of Household: Put the name of the head of household listed on completed application

Unit Size: Put the unit size requested from applicant

Income Level: Put a check mark where applicants fall within the Extremely Low Income, Very Low Income or Low Income levels (based on the HUD published income limits)

Need for Accessible Unit: Put whether or not applicant has requested a

accessible unit

Comments: Put date unit was offered (indicate if 1st or 2nd offer)

Removed/Rejected Date: Put denied and date applicant was denied or put

removed and date applicant requested to be removed from the waiting list

Move-In Date: Put the date the applicant moved into the property

APARTMENT AVAILABLE

Existing tenants approved and waiting on unit transfers will be transferred when required unit becomes available before moving in a new tenant into like unit.

If an applicant is drawn from the waiting list to fill a vacant apartment and the applicant has been on the waiting list for over 120 days, the manager will update the application:

Perform a residential background check through Online Rental Exchange

Reverify all income, assets and medical expenses.

Update the application using the recertification questionnaire and have applicant sign a 9887, 9887A and redo the existing tenant search in EIV.

Many things can happen in a one hundred and twenty day time frame that may make the applicant ineligible. If the applicant passes the second outside screening by Online Rental Exchange, the applicant will move into the manager’s resident screening process.

If an apartment is immediately available to the applicant, the manager will set up an appointment for an Acceptance Interview with the applicant. The applicant has 10 days from the date of the acceptance letter to contact the Community Manager to schedule a time to complete the above. During this interview, the manager will perform his/her own verification based on NHE, Inc. Screening Criteria.

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