NMA Blog

Did you know you can receive an official PHM certification without leaving your desk? Nan McKay and Associates and HTVN are now offering our Public Housing Management (PHM) certification online.

Newly updated for 2015, it includes all the latest program information, including new HUD guidance on flat rent, the equal access final rule, the capital fund final rule, VAWA 2013, and more.

The 32-hour class is led by NMA senior trainer Cara Gillette, a seasoned expert in public housing management who will guide you through PHM's key principles and best practices:

Upon completion of this Nan McKay certification course, learners will understand all of the elements of public housing management and their impact on the PHA’s PHAS scores. This course covers basic public housing program information, HUD requirements for fair housing, factors of eligibility, tenant selection and wait list management, rent calculation, the occupancy cycle, resident relations strategies, managing a budget, and an overview of the Public Housing Assessment System (PHAS).

NMA's longtime partnership with HTVN offers students the opportunity to enjoy many training options and earn a Nan McKay and Associates certification upon successful completion. NMA and HTVN are the only IACET-approved training and certification companies serving the affordable housing and public housing industries, which means you get the highest quality training plus the certification to show your achievement. IACET is a nonprofit association dedicated to quality continuing education and training programs, and is the only standard-setting organization approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for continuing education and training.

Other available online NMA certifications include:

• Customer Service
• Fair Housing and Reasonable Accommodation
• HCV Housing Quality Standards (HQS)
• HCV Specialist
• HCV Rent Calculation
• Rent Calculation for Public Housing and HCV
• Public Housing Rent Calculation

For more details, email sales@nanmckay.com. And don't miss this recent blog post with tips to help you get the most out of your online training.

NMA senior associate Cara Gillette trains, consults, and provides technical assistance nationwide in fair housing, public housing management, hearings, economic self-sufficiency, and governing boards. Prior to joining NMA, she administered public housing and Section 8 waiting lists, served as hearing officer, managed public housing, and oversaw resident economic development programs at the San Diego Housing Commission. She has previously written for the NMA blog on Section 3 best practices.

The latest version of the NMA Public Housing Assessment System (PHAS) Master Book has shipped, and subscribers to our annual revision service can expect to receive it this week or next. If you have any questions about your subscription, please contact Laurie Durrett in our accounting department and she'll be happy to assist you.

For the 2015 revision, NMA's PHAS Master Book has been brought current with all recent regulatory requirements and guidance, including:

• Revisions to PHAS Indicator #4: Capital Fund Program, revised and expanded as per the Federal Register notice dated December 16, 2013, in the Federal Register notice dated July 2, 2014, and further clarified in a memo later that month
• Additions to important HUD references

Looking for further guidance? Don’t miss NMA trainer Terry Provance's blog series on the four PHAS indicators and how you can improve your agency's performance.

NMA revision services provide a yearly update to your NMA Master Books and model policies with explanations and guidance regarding the most current HUD rules and regulations. To stay updated on the latest program information, try a free 30-day trial subscription to the PIH Alert. Email sales@nanmckay.com to get started.

One week left to register for the 2013 NMA Housing Conference and GoSection8 User Conference! New track sessions and signups for one-on-one consulting have just been announced. To read the full list of sessions, go here.

Executive Leadership for Performance Excellence

Don't Waste Strategy Time on Goal Setting!
Presenter, Eric Kaufmann, President, Sagatica LLC

Most strategy sessions are merely operational — a missed leadership opportunity. Eric Kaufmann guides leadership teams across the country and coaches corporate CEOs. He will present the way to prepare a strategic action plan that becomes a useful resource to accomplish your agency’s goals within limited funding. You will discover the six deadly mistakes of strategy planning. Ask the right questions, set the right measurements, and get to work!

Regulatory Knowledge for Smart Management

Why Your Agency Should Be Taking a Second Look at RAD
Presenter, Carrol Vaughan

The RAD demonstration program is a unique opportunity for housing authorities to convert their at-risk public housing to long-term Section 8 rental assistance contracts. In this session, we’ll cover the latest information on the program and discuss why your housing authority should take a serious look at whether RAD would work for your agency. We’ll also hear from staff at a large housing authority on why their agency is considering submitting an application, and review the thought process involved in making the decision to apply.

Fair Housing/Civil Rights Reviews: Are You Prepared?
Presenter, Annie Stevenson

Using HUD’s civil rights review checklist, we’ll discuss fair housing requirements for the public housing and HCV programs. Topics will include limited English proficiency (LEP), reasonable accommodations, alternative communication methods, and more. Don’t miss this opportunity to prepare for civil rights monitoring.

Free One-on-One NMA Consulting

Reserve your free session with an NMA industry expert! These consulting sessions are limited and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. In fact, some are already full, so we encourage you to sign up now.

Nan McKay, President and Founder
Expertise: HCV program management






John McKay, CEO
Expertise: Performance management, applying Baldrige principles to affordable housing






Carrol Vaughan, VP of Professional Services
Expertise: Procurement, organizational development






Dorian Jenkins, VP of Program Management
Expertise: HCV program, public housing leasing, tenant relations, rent collection, REAC prep, cost controls





Cydney Jones, Director of Program Management
Expertise: General HCV topics and issues






Sheryl Putnam, Professional Development Manager
Expertise: LIHTC compliance, HOME, PBRA






Samantha Pratter, Writing Supervisor
Expertise: HCV and public housing eligibility, occupancy, and rent calculation






Annie Stevenson, Senior Trainer
Expertise: Fair housing, hearings, EIV, general HCV and public housing topics






Terry Provance, Senior Trainer
Expertise: Fair housing, PHAS, public housing property management, general asset management issues





Sammie Szabo, Associate Trainer
Expertise: General HCV and public housing, PBV, blended occupancy






Jay Ortenzo, Property Services Manager
Expertise: HCV inspections and standards, public housing maintenance management






Teri Robertson, Senior Consultant
Expertise: SEMAP, quality control, HCV program utilization






Betty Turner, Senior Associate Trainer
Expertise: Transition to asset management, supervision, working with commissioners






Please note that you must be a registered conference attendee or new registrant in order to take advantage of free consulting sessions. Non-registrants without an accompanying registration are not eligible. Register online or email sales@nanmckay.com for more information. Winners of the 2013 NMA Housing Awards will be announced at the conference — don't miss it!

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan announces RAD implementation at the Housing Authority of Savannah, January 2013

In a Federal Register notice yesterday, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced to the public the online publication of revised program instructions for the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) in Notice PIH 2012-32, REV-1.

The Federal Register notice serves several functions, including these:

• It provides background information on RAD and summarizes the changes to the program instructions.
• It requests public comments on the revisions to be sent by e-mail to rad@hud.gov by August 1.
• It explains when the program revisions are effective.
• All revisions not subject to notice and comment are effective today.
• Revisions subject to notice and comment will become effective on August 1 unless HUD receives adverse comments that lead to reconsideration.
• It includes an appendix listing new statutory and regulatory waivers and alternative requirements.
• The waivers and alternative requirements that pertain to public housing conversions under RAD are listed in section I of the appendix. They have a separate effective date of July 12.

Notice PIH 2012-32, REV-1, which fills 230 pages, also contains a brief list of the major revisions made to the original RAD program instructions, which were published on July 26, 2012. For public housing, the list includes four major changes that are subject to 30-notice and comment:

• Providing RAD awards for projects requiring multiphased development to facilitate the assembly of financing (see section 1.9.E)
• Allowing a PHA to apply for a portfolio award for a set of projects if the PHA submits individual completed applications for at least 50 percent of the projects and then submits a completed application for each of the remaining projects within a year (see section 1.9.F and Attachment 1C)
• Expanding eligibility of HOPE VI projects (see section 1.11.C.2.c)
• Allowing PHAs to apply for a joint RAD–Choice Neighborhoods implementation grant under the notice of funding availability (NOFA) for these grants (see section 1.11.C.2.c)

Also for public housing, the list includes five changes that are not subject to notice and comment:

• Eliminating the caps on awards to PHAs and to mixed-finance projects (see section 1.11.C.2.c)
• Exempting awarded projects from scoring under the Public Housing Assessment System (PHAS) to support redevelopment planning and the need for temporary relocation during construction (see section 1.5.I)
• Providing contract rents at fiscal year 2012 rent levels (as posted in the RAD application) for all applications submitted before the end of calendar year 2013 (see sections 1.6.B.5 and 1.7.A.5 and Attachment 1C)
• Allowing PHAs to adjust subsidy (and initial contract rents) across multiple projects to facilitate financing (see sections 1.6.B.5, 1.7.A.5, and 1.9.D)
• Allowing Moving to Work (MTW) agencies applying to convert two or more projects to use their MTW block grant flexibility to set initial contract rents, subject to RAD rent caps and continued service requirements (see sections 1.6.B.5, 1.7.A.5, and 1.9.D)

For a more comprehensive section-by-section summary of changes that HUD has made to the RAD program instructions, see Appendix V of Notice PIH 2012-32, REV-1, which includes two tables, one listing program revisions and the other listing program clarifications. HUD has also posted another very helpful tool—a redline version of Notice PIH 2012-32, REV-1, which highlights all of the changes to the RAD program instructions.

To stay updated, follow the #RAD tag to keep up with all related blog posts or subscribe to the PIH Alert and Housing Resource Newsletter.

Tip #5: Plan for the future.

In Tip #2, I mentioned that the property manager should track the occupancy rate on a monthly basis. In doing so, your PHA will know whether the rate is improving, getting worse, or staying the same. But tracking is an ongoing process, and as your PHA approaches the end of its fiscal year, it will need to set new goals and plan for the following year, taking into consideration the identified problems and strengths.

This is an activity that should happen at the time of annual budget planning for the development. Keep in mind that planning is an area where everyone — development staff, the property manager, the asset manager, and executive management — needs to be in agreement.

Each development's occupancy rate is different,

and planning for each will likewise differ.

In order for your PHA to obtain the maximum score for occupancy in the PHAS management indicator, each development needs to achieve at least a 98 percent occupancy rate. How difficult a task this will be depends on the current circumstances at each development. If the development is having difficulty filling units and is experiencing a low occupancy rate, it could be quite challenging to achieve a 98 percent rate in the next year.

Taking such issues into consideration, your PHA needs to set goals that are realistic, but should also push the staff to do the best they can. If little is expected, little will be gained. On the other hand, if the development is already at 98 percent or higher, there may not be much more they have to do to maintain that rate, other than to keep doing what they're doing and monitor monthly in order to spot and correct any negative trends before they become a major concern.

To review, here are the five steps I've discussed to help your agency maximize occupancy under PHAS:

• Be aware of how PHAS measures occupancy.
• Know your current occupancy rate, and track it on a monthly basis.
• Check the occupancy rate against the fiscal year goals and identify problem areas.
• Take marketing into account.
• Plan for the future.

Remember, occupancy is the lifeblood of rental housing, and your occupancy rate has potential effects on every aspect of program operation. Understanding how to fill units and keep them filled is therefore essential — not just for improving PHAS scores, but for improving the overall health of your agency.

Terry Provance has been a trainer and consultant at Nan McKay and Associates since 1999. He specializes in the public housing program and is responsible for writing and keeping staff updated on asset management materials. He took the lead role in creating and developing NMA's new PH Occupancy Tracking Tool, which can be used by any rental development, whether or not it's HUD-assisted, including mixed finance and LIHTC properties.