If you're managing a tax credit site in the first year of its credit period, it's important to know that the owner may not be able to claim all the credits it expects to for that year. According to IRC Section 42(f)(2), an owner isn't allowed to take the entire credit a building is...
Many tax credit sites permit a resident manager, superintendent, or similar site-level employee to occupy a unit. This arrangement may raise a red flag to state auditors if the unit is not being used as permitted in the original allocation agreement with the state. Operating in the dark with...
For a building or site to qualify for the tax credit program, an owner must rent at least a certain percentage of the units to qualified low-income households. These households can earn no more than a specified amount of income. This requirement is called the “minimum set-aside,” and...
In late March, the IRS released an updated version of its Guide for Completing Form 8823: Low-Income Housing Credit Agencies Report of Noncompliance or Building Disposition. State housing agencies use Form 8823 to notify the IRS of a site's noncompliance with tax credit requirements. Your...
Charging residents fees for processing applications, running a credit check, transferring to another unit, or for the use of a parking space seems like a practical way to recoup operating costs. After all, these tasks and services require staff time, maintenance, and additional business expenses...
Some people are uneasy when they're dealing with people with disabilities—mostly due to misinformation or a lack of knowledge about how to act. Fear of possible discrimination complaints often makes site staff nervous about words and phrases to use, what questions they can ask, and...
The tax credit program's requirements are complex, and understanding all of the rules and requirements can be challenging. Even experienced tax credit site staff can make errors from time to time. Mistakes can be costly, though, so we reached out to the compliance experts at several state...
A written resident selection plan ensures that your site's application policies and procedures will be uniformly administered and that all applicants are treated fairly. It outlines for both staff and prospects the tax credit requirements and the site's criteria for screening applicants...
Whether you advertise your site's low-income units online, in local newspapers or community newsletters, in phone recordings, or by putting up signs, your messages must abide by fair housing law. The Fair Housing Act (FHA) prohibits owners and managers of rental housing from discriminating...
There are some distinct differences between managing a mixed-income site versus a 100 percent tax credit site. The most obvious is that, with a 100 percent site, you know that all of your units are low income. But if your site is mixed income, and you rent to both low-income and market-rate...
Do you have a simple system that allows your staff to quickly locate key compliance criteria in a user-friendly format? Whether your site is new or has been up and running for years, putting together a development binder that contains all of the governing documents for that site is crucial for...
