DASH Compliance

I imagine that you are sitting at your desk right now reading this and hoping that I will give you some tidbit of actually usuable information and not drone on and on about some drivel that really doesn’t matter a hill of beans in what you do every day.  Guess what?  Today is your lucky day.  I’m actually going to give you something you might be able to use!

We have all experienced some kind of audit or review…no matter what our job.  As affordable housing managers, what we experience (every year, I might add) has become more than just a simple audit to see if we understand and are performing the responsibilities of our positions to HUD’s standards.  They have become more of a test to identify one small mistake that can be written up to expose our inability.  Shameful, really.

So, I wanted to give you some pointers on getting through these dreadful Management and Occupancy Reviews…better known to all of us as MORs.  Whether you are an experienced manager who has received multiple superiors, or a brand new manager who has never even been though a MOR, there is always something to learn so that you can be better prepared.

If you haven’t already, or haven’t in a while, you need to read the HUD Form 9834…it’s the TEST folks…ahead of time…all you have to do is read it.  Take time to understand it.  This is the best tool we have to prepare for and do well on an MOR.  Take a look at each and every section and examine it.  Answer it ahead of time.  Heck, write the answers down so you have them ready at the time of the review.  In order to be successful in this day and age, we need to all take advantage of every item we can. 

Print this form and add it to your tool box.  I promise it will be worth it.

I have much more to say on the subject, but my mother always told me to leave them wanting more…so until next time…

I facilitated a training class today for MOR Preparation and it reminded me of how much information new managers of affordable housing have to learn.  For those of us “old timers” we tend to rant and rave about the “good old days” when life was so much easier.  Days before 3rd party verifications and EIV.  Imagine starting as an affordable housing manager today.  There is more to learn than can possibly be grasped in a short period of time.  And let’s face it, all we ever have is a short period of time, right?  I can’t explain the blank look on some of the faces that I saw today and I can hardly imagine how frustrated they must be.  Years ago, life was simpler, so housing was simpler…and yes, we’ve all had to learn the new information, but not at once.

So, I urge you to take pity on those brand new managers this year.  If you meet one, take a few minutes and share with them what you actually LIKE about your job.  Give them pointers on things you find that work; from ideas on how to keep trash picked up to a good attorney in town.  Let them ask you questions – at least a few.  And most of all, don’t discourage them with talk about how it used to be so much better when.  Remember when you first started and then imagine learning it all again but all at once.

 Bless their hearts…

If you own or manage a community that receives federal financial assistance you now have 60 days to make sure that this community is registered through the CCR (Central Contract Registration) government website. 

This new requirement, posted through RHIIP today, leaves little in the way of instructions on exactly how to do this, but is quick to send us to DUNS or CCR for further information.

 If you have already completed this process, we’d like to hear your feedback.  We’ve found it time consuming, but not difficult; and you need to have a lot of information at your fingertips to make the process quicker.

We suggest that the entire process is completed for one community so that you can find out exactly what information is necessary to complete the registration and then compile this information for future registrations.

Good luck!  Happy Registering…