Selecting the correct Income and Rent Limits for LIHTC projects is never easy. Still, when additional housing programs are also funding the project, the determination of the current limits can become very complicated and is further compounded by the consequences that apply when an owner/agent violates these limits. In this 90-minute webinar, Amanda Lee will discuss the Income Limit and Rent Limit requirements for the LIHTC program and will detail how to stay in compliance with the limit requirements for multiple housing programs.

Conquering Compliance – 1040 Method of Determining Income 

The HOME Investment Partnership (HOME) program and the National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) program allows HOME Participating Jurisdictions and NHTF Grantees (the allocation and monitoring agency) to require that housing providers in their jurisdiction use the “1040 Method” to determine a HOME-assisted tenant’s income. However, contrary to popular belief this method is much more complex than simply obtaining a household’s tax return. 

In this 2-hour session, Amanda Lee Gross provides attendees with clear and understandable guidance on how to determine a household’s income using the IRS 1040 Method.

Conquer USDA/RD Compliance 

Learn How to Conquer Rural Development Compliance

Twelve-Hour Certification Course

USDA Rural Development (RD) training seminars provide detail and information that is vital to ensure proper compliance. USDA/RD provides safe and affordable housing for the nation’s most vulnerable families living in rural areas. In order to help these vital housing programs, remain intact, owners/agents need to do their part by operating their properties in accordance with current USDA/RD regulations. However, with the ever-changing housing regulations, maintaining compliance can become a challenge. Yet, failing to maintain compliance can result in dire consequences for the owner, the project and, most importantly, can negatively affect the tenants.

Amanda Lee Gross developed the “Conquering USDA Rural Development Compliance” course to assist affordable housing professionals in conquering USDA project compliance. 

Amanda Lee delves deep into Rural Development’s laws and regulations, while also providing real-world examples with practical application. This engaging and interactive session utilizes numerous examples and exercises to ensure attendees complete the session with a thorough comprehension of how not only how to maintain project compliance, but why it is so important to do so. An optional certification exam is offered on the third day of this course or can be offered as an online exam.

Our Compliance workshops and full certification courses cover all aspects of USDA RD Compliance

Amanda Lee covers all aspects of determining eligibility, including everything from processing applications, evaluating student status to calculating income and recertification requirements.

Amanda Lee’s workshops are always up to date with current regulations and include relevant topics that reflect our ever-changing industry. This workshop includes current real-world examples with practical application and utilizes exercises to ensure attendees finish the session with a thorough comprehension of how to determine household eligibility.

Learn About USDA/RD Household Eligibility

USDA Rural Development Compliance includes many requirements regarding tenant selection and eligibility. The 3560 Handbook breaks down requirements for ensuring that every applicant is eligible for occupancy and rental assistance (RA). This seminar will review the most important elements of the program, including:

• Verifying and Calculating Income and Assets and Adjusted Income
• Tenant Recertification and Changes in Eligibility
• Waiting Lists, Tenant Selection, and Unit Assignment
• Assigning Rental Assistance.
• Working with USDA/RD’s Project Requirements

RD A.C.E. Certification 

All attendees will have the option of taking the USHC Rural Development Accredited Compliance Expert Designation. The RD ACE Certification is a specialized designation for affordable housing management professionals working with RD’s Multifamily programs. Professionals holding this designation have a demonstrable and thorough understanding of determining household eligibility and rent for RD’s Multifamily Housing programs. The ACE certification exam is an optional exam offered online after the course. 

Assistance Animals and Fair Housing 

Animals can play a very important role in assisting persons with disabilities and as part of therapeutic activities and services. Most people are aware of the role of service animals, such as guide dogs, but there are other types of supportive animals that some people may be less familiar with, such as emotional support animals 

Regardless of whether it is a service animal or an emotional support animal, all housing professionals need to be of the requirements related to these types of animals under the Fair Housing Act. 

Reasonable Accommodation Requests for Assistance Animals 

Reasonable Accommodation requests for an assistance animal are one of the most common requests received by housing providers. In this live 90-minute webinar, Amanda Lee Gross will walk attendees through a reasonable accommodation process and will answer questions such as:

• Who is considered disabled under Fair Housing Law? 
• Who can verify an individual's disability, and when is verification permitted? 
• What is a reasonable accommodation? 
• Can a housing provider require that assistance animals be specially trained? 
• Can a housing provider apply weight or breed limits on assistance animals? 
• In what circumstances is it permissible to deny a specific assistance animal?
• Amanda will also review the recently published HUD notice on assistance animals. 

It's the Law, and It's the Right Thing To Do

By understanding the housing providers' obligations of the Fair Housing Act, housing professionals are better equipped to implement policies and procedures that support the principles of the Fair Housing Act and protects the rights of applicant and tenants. 

• A copy of the presentation to follow along with
• Interactive webinar training where you can ask questions and participate in knowledge checks 
• A Certificate of Attendance 

Are Your House Rules and Occupancy Standards Fair?

Fair Housing regulations treat policies like House Rules and Tenant Selection Plans with great scrutiny. The Fair Housing Act prohibits policies from including discriminatory terms and conditions. However, the interpretation of what is discriminatory often requires a considerable amount of clarification, especially when it comes to rules regarding personal conduct.

Good Intentions or Fair Housing Discrimination?

Most housing providers create policies to create a better environment for all residents. This can include rules about what residents can do in common areas, and how they are to maintain their homes. Many times policies are created with the best of intentions but viewed under a different light, they can be considered discriminatory.

Rules of conduct are a vital part of property management. They can be used to ensure proper housekeeping standards and reduce excess noise, and keep the property a clean and safe place for all. However, it is even more important to ensure that these cannot be considered discriminatory against any protected classes under the Fair Housing Act.

Avoiding Discriminatory Policies and Terms & Conditions

In this 75-minute webinar, Amanda Lee Gross will begin with an overview of protected classes under the Fair Housing Act. Then, she will review prohibited actions in general, and how these prohibitions look when applied to policies and procedures.

This includes a detailed review of how the Fair Housing Act intersects with the everyday activity of property management.

• •. Criminal Screening Criteria
• •. Rules of Conduct
• •. Facility Rules (Fitness Center, Pools, and Laundry Rooms, etc.)
• •. Occupancy Standards

Learn to Conquer Compliance

Amanda Lee Gross will take you through a comprehensive and interactive webinar. Amanda will discuss the requirements of the Fair Housing Act from a property management professional’s perspective. First, she will take you through case examples and exercises to provide a real-world connection to the material. Next, Amanda will talk about common mistakes and issues with property policies and procedures and how to best identify these issues and correct them. Above all, she will discuss how to best protect the interests of the property while meeting Fair Housing guidelines.

Navigating the Maze of Layered Requirements 

The majority of Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Projects utilize HOME funds as gap-financing. Must attendees theWhile layering HOME funds with LIHTC is a great way to get a project funded, it can create compliance challenges for compliance professionals and the property staff managing the property. 

To Overcome, We First Understand

To overcome the challenges presented when layering funding, we must first identify and understand the compliance challenges faced. In this two-hour session, Amanda Lee will provide needed information to understand the differences in program regulations and how to maintain compliance with both program's regulations. Topics include the differences in 

• Income Limits
• Gross Rent Determination 
• Allowable Preferences and Restrictions 
• Determining Household size
• Student Eligibility Requirements 
• Verification Requirements
• Income Determination 
• Treatment of over-income households 

Learn to Conquer Compliance 

By fully understanding the program compliance requirements, housing professionals are better equipped to ensure that affordable housing is only made available to those that truly need affordable housing based on annual household income while also protecting the project's funding. All attendees will receive: 

• A certificate of attendance 
• A content-rich PDF manual 
• Interactive live webinar training where you can ask questions and participate in knowledge checks and polls

October is National Domestic Violence Awareness month. In recognition of this, US Housing Consultants presented a free webinar by Amanda Lee Gross, where she discussed the rules and requirements of the Violence Against Women Act. US Housing Consultants also donated $5 per person to the National Domestic Violence Hotline for every attendee during the October 2019 webinar, which registered more than 2,300 people for the webinar.

Residents of affordable housing programs are often among the most vulnerable populations, and protections for victims of domestic violence is one of the most important advancements in HUD requirements. The rules in VAWA create real world protections for residents, and affirms the affordable housing industry’s responsibility to provide leadership and direction on making sure domestic violence victims have proper resources, support, and a safe place to call home.

In this 90 minute webinar, Amanda Lee Gross will discuss the requirements that apply to affordable housing properties under VAWA. 

Topics covered include:

• Overview of Legislative History
• Covered Housing Programs
• Key Terminology

VAWA Protection Provisions, including:

• Denial of tenancy or assistance
• Termination of assistance or tenancy
• Lease Bifurcation
• Emergency Transfers
• Notification and documentation requirements
• Review of HUD’s VAWA Final Rule and HUD’s notice H-2017-05 published Jun 30, 2017 “Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Reauthorization Act of 2013 – Additional Guidance for Multifamily Owners and Management Agents”
• Review of Rural Developments Guidance
• Discussion of VAWA implementation for the LIHTC Program and the HOME Program

Without Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) experience, even the most seasoned property management professionals can find themselves overwhelmed when taking on the management of a LIHTC property. In this 2.5 Hour minute webinar, Amanda Lee Gross and Scott Precourt will outline the fundamentals for someone new to LIHTC Management.

In this 90-minute webinar, Amanda Lee Gross will provide valuable information relating to conducting tenant file reviews. This webinar is essential for any professional who conducts file reviews or oversees a file review department.

Topics Include:

• Recommended policies and procures for On-going File Reviews

• Recommended policies and procedures for Periodic File Reviews

• Writing effective findings and corrective actions

• Necessary Project Data to collect before beginning reviews at a new project

• Audit Techniques

• Red flags in tenant files

Tax Credit/LIHTC Housing Projects are aging and many are in need of rehab and recapitalization. The challenges that come with this are many, and the rules can be complex.

During this informative and engaging webinar, Amanda Lee will provide attendees the information needed to maintain compliance when conducting Acquisition Rehab at a LIHTC project. 

Topics Include: 

• Certification of existing tenants
• Unit transfers
• Key deadlines
• Maximizing Credit Delivery
• Overview of Resyndication. 
• Overview of the Uniform Relocation Act. 

All attendees will receive a comprehensive course manual that can be used as a reference manual long after the webinar has concluded.

In 2018 the Low-income Housing Tax Credit program introduced a significant change - the new “Income Averaging” Minimum Set-Aside election.

In this webinar, Amanda Lee Gross breaks down the changes to Section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code relating to this new election and does so in an easy to understand format. Amanda Lee also highlights the benefits as well as the potential challenges owners may face with making this all-important election.

Topics include:

• Overview of the LIHTC program’s Minimum Set Aside (MSA) Requirements
• Understanding the available options
• Effect of the owner's multiple building election on the MSA
• Method of Achieving the Average Income Set-Aside
• Calculating income and rent limits based of the new set-asides
• Complying with the Next Available Unit Rule at an Average Income project
• Potential affects of Noncompliance at an Average Income Project

Advanced LIHTC Compliance - This course covers credit allocation, applicable fractions, minimum set-asides , acquisition /rehab and resyndication. 

Streamlining HUD Recertifications

In May of 2020, HUD published a Final Rule finalizing the regulatory language to implement the FAST Act which allows for streamlined recertifications. This final rule discusses how these new rules affect:

• Asset Verification
• Utility Allowance Reimbursements
• Triennial Income Verifications

Reducing the Administrative Burden for Owners

This Final Rule reduces the burden of verifying household assets when determining a household’s income upon recertification and also reduces the burden of verifying fixed income sources when determining a household’s income upon recertification. The rule reduces this burden by permitting owners/agents to verify a household’s fixed income (such as social security)every three years as opposed to every single year. For households whose fixed income represents 90% or more of the household’s total gross income, the owner/agent is not required to verify non-fixed income sources in years 2 and 3 after a full third-party income certification has been conducted. Additionally, this new rule allows for utility reimbursements to be paid quarterly in certain circumstances.

Learn to Take Advantage of This New Benefit

This rule makes the process of recertifying households in HUD housing much easier and less time-consuming. So the question is: why haven’t more owners implemented this rule? Some owners and agents have avoided using this new option out of fear the process is too difficult to track. Others are afraid of doing it wrong and getting in trouble.

Simplifying Streamlining

In this 90-minute webinar, Amanda Lee Gross will provide valuable information relating to the streamlining provisions and provide guidance on how to implement these provisions at a HUD Multifamily Property. Topics Include:

• Verifying Assets every three years
• Determining which households are eligible
• Interim Recertifications during the triennial period
• The requirements regarding fixed-income triennial verification
• Utility reimbursements can be paid quarterly

As we all know, many USDA/RD properties have budgets that are tight and provide little flexibility. As such, proper financial management is paramount for these properties. USDA requires proper financial tracking, budgetary controls, and replacement reserves. During this three-hour webinar, Amanda Lee Gross will review the fundamentals of proper financial controls and management. This includes:

• • Project Accounting Systems
• • Required Financial Accounts
• • Allowable Project Expenses
• • Replacement Reserves
• • Budget Requirements
• • Reporting and Financial Examinations

With continued advances in technology, we are now living in the “Age of the App” which has created peer-to-peer payment apps, such as Venmo, Cash, Paypal, etc. The determination of annual income includes considering proceeds from household assets, and one of many challenges for housing professionals in determining when an asset is treated as an asset, and when an asset is actually treated as an income source. 

Learn to Conquer Asset Calculations 

In this webinar, Amanda Lee Gross will review common assets encountered by housing professionals and she will even touch upon some less common assets as well. Amanda will also clarify when an asset source is actually treated as an income source. Amanda will also speak to: 

• Are these peer-to-peer treated as household assets?
• Are deposits made into the app treated as income? 
• Potential changes related to assets under HUD’s proposed rule implementing HOTMA. 
• Handling income and assets utilizing of peer-to-peer apps

In this webinar, Amanda Lee will discuss the components of determining adjusted income and determining tenant rent for HUD, HOME, and USDA/RD. She’ll also review the impending changes regarding adjusted income will also be discussed throughout this informative webinar.

In this content packed webinar, Amanda Lee reviews the recertification requirements that apply to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program and how a recertification can trigger the applicability of the Next Available Unit Rule. This session also includes valuable tips and red flags to be aware of when processing recertifications . 

In this session, Amanda Lee will address the following questions: 

- Which LIHTC projects must conduct annual recertification? 

- How can noncompliance from a Late recertification be corrected? 

- When is the HFA permitted to file an 8823 regarding late/incomplete recertifications, and when are they not permitted? 

- Does the Next Available Unit Rule apply to 100% LIHTC Project? 

- How is the Next Available Unit Rule apply to project that elected the Average Income Minimum Set Aside ? 

Get the answers to these questions and more by attending this webinar!

The special claims process is designed to reimburse owners of eligible HUD projects for the owner’s financial loss resulting from vacancy loss, unpaid rent, and tenant damages. However, in order to get this reimbursement, the owner/agent must file for the reimbursement. While owner/agents are not required by HUD to file for special claims, management agents who do not file special claims are essentially choosing not to collect funds that the project’s owner is entitled to. 

In this 90 minute webinar, Amanda Lee Gross - VP of Training and Compliance Policy for US Housing Consultants - will provide the information needed in order to process special claims for: 

• Vacancies after rent-up

• Unpaid rent/damages

All attendees will receive a comprehensive course manual that can be used as a reference manual long after the webinar has concluded.

It Aint Over till It’s Over – The Treatment of Over-Income and Ineligible Households in Affordable Housing Programs – 90 Minute Webinar (Recorded Live July 11, 2019)

We all know that a household must be income qualified to move into an affordable housing unit, but sometimes even the most diligent compliance professional misses a detail or there is misreporting by the resident and a household is admitted who is not income qualified. What to do in these situations leads to many questions, such as:

• What happens if a household becomes ineligible after moving in? 
• What happens to an existing tenant who does not meet program requirements during Acquisition/Rehab? 

In this 90 minute webinar, Amanda Lee Gross will answer these questions by discussing the requirements regarding the treatment of these types of households for the following programs: 

• LIHTC
• HUD
• RD
• HOME

Amanda Lee Gross will also guide attendees on how to maintain compliance related to over-income or ineligible households when a project has more than one of the above funding sources. All attendees will receive a comprehensive course manual that can be used as a reference manual long after the webinar has concluded. 

Stumped by the Affordable Housing Student Rules? 

There are student eligibility requirements applicable to each of the four major housing programs, LIHTC, HUD, Rural Development, and the HOME Program. These requirements affect whether a household is eligible to occupy a unit or receive rental assistance, and also affects how the treatment of student income determining a household's annual income. While each program has student eligibility requirements, the requirements are not the same for each program, which can pose a compliance challenge for housing professionals dealing with layered properties. 

Student Eligibility in Affordable Housing 

In this 90 minute webinar, Amanda Lee review the student eligibility requirements and exceptions for the following housing programs 

• LIHTC 
• HUD
• HOME Funds 
• Rural Development 

Amanda will wrap up the session by reviewing the treatment of student income, including the student financial assistance .