The 2023 Monitoring Season has Begun
The due date for the Annual Owner’s Certification and its supporting documents (i.e., PY2022 CHARTs) has passed, and hopefully, you submitted everything on time. If so, thank you for your timely submission – we appreciate it! The Affordable Housing Connections (AHC) compliance team member who leads your management portfolio should have emailed you the list of your projects due for a site visit this year. As a reminder, all projects are subject to annual Desk Audit reviews, but only some projects will also have a site visit (file review and physical inspection).
We have already mapped out our PY22 review schedule, so if you have a project due for a Site Visit this year and you know of dates that will not work for you or the site staff for a site visit, please get in touch with your portfolio lead if you have not already done so. We will do our best to accommodate your scheduling request; however, we cannot guarantee it. We have about eight months to review almost 2,000 files and inspect nearly 1,500 units. That’s a lot! If you request to reschedule a file review or an inspection after receiving the BLD or Site Visit Notice, we will do our best to accommodate your request, but there are no guarantees. If we can reschedule, you will incur a reinspection fee and will not be notified of the rescheduled date. You will only know that we were able to reschedule.
The significant change for this year’s monitoring season is that physical inspections will be in person again. All waivers due to COVID have expired, so conducting in-person inspections is required. Also, a change for this year – AHC has hired two new contract inspectors, Pat Connolly and Gino Nitti. They, along with Rita Ander and Joe Bjorklund, will conduct the physical inspections for LIHTC and HOME. But wait – not everything has changed! We will continue to complete tenant file reviews at AHC’s office. We have found this to be a much more efficient and quicker way to complete file reviews.
AHC is a hybrid office, so please arrange a file drop-off and pick-up window at the AHC office with your portfolio manager, so AHC can be sure to have a staff member there to meet you. There is a building map on our website’s footer, and while there is free street parking, we can also validate parking in the Blair Arcade lot off Selby Ave.
The notice you receive before a project’s site visit provides the details of the tenant file review process and the physical inspection process, including the reminder that you must notify residents of all assisted units of the scheduled physical inspection. Per IRS regulations, physical inspection units cannot be selected in advance. The inspector will determine the units to be inspected on the day of the site visit, so all residents must have already been notified that their unit might be selected for an inspection. IRS regulations also require that vacant unit(s) be inspected. The AHC Contract Inspector(s) will request a list of vacant units at the onset of the inspection, and priority will be given to vacant units. AHC reserves the right to visit any LIHTC or HOME unit in the project and inspect additional units.
The UPCS inspection includes but is not limited to selected units, vacant unit(s), common spaces, mechanical rooms, building exteriors, the grounds, and any other areas included in Eligible Basis (parking facilities, community room, storage lockers, etc.). The owner or owner’s agent must be prepared with keys to access selected units, all common areas, mechanical rooms, and fire alarm systems. AHC strongly recommends having enough on-site staff and maintenance personnel present to accommodate all AHC inspectors assigned to the project. If an inspection needs to be rescheduled due to a lack of staff, the inspection will have to be rescheduled, and you will incur a reinspection fee!
The AHC Education Leadership Center (ELC) offers continuing education courses that might benefit your on-site staff, including Preparing for Your Site Visit. The course walks you through how to prepare for a successful site visit, including file reviews and physical inspections. Our live training dates have passed, but we are collecting interest through our Contact Us form to determine possible future dates or an on-demand option.
AHC looks forward to working with you to secure a successful PY22 monitoring season!