section 8 adjustments and abatements

SECTION 8ADJUSTMENTS

AND ABATEMENTS

Lora Carney

Section 8Support Programming Liaison

877-359-5492Ext. 1229

lora@tenmast.com

WHAT WILL WE COVER TODAY? What is an Adjustment?

When is an Adjustment needed?

What certification types will get an adjustment question?

When are adjustments automatic and when are they manual?

WHAT IS AN ADJUSTMENT? An adjustment is a retroactive change in the HAP

and/or URP amount already paid.

This could be due to: Late processing by the PHA Failure by the tenant to report a change timely Move In or Move Out Reinstatement of Rental Assistance due to a hearing

ORC ADJUSTMENTS Adjustments are generated at the end of the Certification

Finalization Wizard when the effective date of the certification is in the current month of Section 8 or earlier than the current month in Section 8. Adjustments are created for:

New Move Ins Port Move Ins Annuals Interims Other Change of Units

Changes in Rent with an effective date in the future are

applied with Initialization.

No Adjustments are necessary for Rent Changes that occur in

the future.

ORC ADJUSTMENTS Creation of adjustments in ORC is Optional. The User can

answer No to the adjustment question and enter adjustments manually in Section 8.

Adjustments created automatically are based on the ORC parameters of whether you prorate based on actual days or 30 days in the month. This parameter is found in ORC Setup under the Special Functions Tab.

ORC ADJUSTMENTS Reopening a previously completed certification

does not remove adjustments previously completed. Choosing to create adjustments upon re-finalizing will generate more adjustments.

Get in the habit of checking adjustments in the Section 8 module when certifications are completed.

DIFFERENT CERTIFICATION TYPES DETERMINE HOW THE ADJUSTMENT WIZARD FUNCTIONS

New Move Ins and Port Move Ins are new tenants to your program. The program creates adjustments based on the Certification Effective Date and the Current Month in Section 8.

Certification Effective Date is 3/1/2012

Current Month in Section 8 is April 2012The Wizard Created two adjustments for Each VMS Month of March and April.

IN ADDITION THE WIZARD WILL CREATE UML ADJUSTMENTS,

Scroll the Adjustment Bar over to see the UML adj.

UML adjustments are only created on HAP adjustments. You will never have a Tenant that receives a URP adjustment and does not also receive HAP.

ANNUALS AND INTERIMSIn most cases Annuals are completed in advance of the effective date, but in the case of moves or late re-certifications, an adjustment may be needed. These adjustments which don’t involve a move will create the adjustment based on the:

prior HAP/URP amount in effect

new effective date of the certification

and current month in Section 8.

Prior

Now See Previous and Current HAP/URP

New

Current Month in Section 8 Module is April 2012

ANNUALS, INTERIMS, OTHER CHANGE OF UNIT THAT INVOLVE A MOVE

Annuals, interims and Other Change of Unit can involve a Unit Change or Move. These adjustments do not adjust from prior HAP/URP to current because there is a potential landlord change involved. These adjustments will create the adjustment based on the:new effective date of the certificationand current month in Section 8.

ADJUSTMENTS THAT INVOLVE MOVESARE HANDLED EITHER ONE OF TWO WAYS

BASED ON YOUR BUSINESS PROCESSMove Adjustment Option 1

Housing Agency Allows the Tenant to remain Leased while looking for a new unit. They continue to pay HAP/URP until the tenant nears the end of the process and is ready to lease up in the new unit. At that time the user puts the HAP/URP on hold in Section 8 until the Unit change is processed.

Using this method continues to count the UML and expense for the tenant for VMS each month they are on hold.

OPTION 1 CONTINUED…While the tenant’s HAP/URP is on hold, during Initialization the system will move any expense in the To Be Paid boxes to the adjustment line for the prior VMS month. These are referred to as Balance Forward Adjustments.

Balance Forward Adjustments cannot be deleted. They can only be adjusted out. They cannot be deleted because even though the tenant was on hold their UML and HAP expense is still reported to VMS.

When the unit change is processed in ORC, any amount that is in the To Be Paid for the current month that is liable to the previous landlord is moved to the adjustment line in Section 8. This adjustment can be deleted up until the next Initialization takes place.

Payment Info Tab before Move is Processed in ORC

ADJUSTMENT WIZARD IN ORC

No UML adjustments are needed, tenant was on hold.

PAYMENT INFO TAB IN SECTION 8

The Feb and March Adjustments to Shalimar Gardens cannot be deleted.

THAT IS OPTION I USING A TENANT HOLD

ADJUSTMENTS THAT INVOLVE MOVESARE HANDLED EITHER ONE OF TWO WAYS

BASED ON YOUR BUSINESS PROCESS (CONT.)Move Adjustment Option 2

Housing Agency Requires the Tenant to complete a Lease Cancellation Notice giving the landlord and HA notice of when they will be moving out of their current unit. The HA issues a voucher using the Searching Function in Section 8 Tenant and Landlord. No new HAP/URP is generated with Initialization while the tenant is in Searching mode and the UML and Expense is excluded from VMS reporting.

No holds are necessary in Section 8.

Using this method the user will have no balance forward adjustments, however adjustments can still be paid if necessary.

TENANT IS IN SEARCHING MODE

PAYMENT INFO TAB BEFORE MOVE IS PROCESSED IN ORC

ADJUSTMENT WIZARD IN ORC

UML ADJUSTMENTS

Tenants in Searching Mode are Excluded from the VMS Gather

PAYMENT INFO TAB IN SECTION 8

THAT IS OPTION 2USING THE SEARCHING FEATURE

END OF PARTICIPATION AND PORT MOVE-OUTS

Certifications for End of Participations and Port Move Outs prompt an adjustment question and the user is able to enter the adjustment but the system does not automatically calculate the adjustment.

This is because those adjustments could span multiple months and over multiple certifications.

Also Housing Authorities have different policies regarding taking back overpayments regarding move outs.

THE USER HAS THE OPTION TO ADD, EDIT, DELETE OR CANCEL ANY ADJUSTMENTS CREATED FROM THE ORC

ADJUSTMENT WIZARD

HOW DO I CHECK THE ACCURACY OF AN ADJUSTMENT?

1. Determine Number of Days to Prorate Number of Days in the Month minus the Date of Move In/Move Out plus 1 = Number of Days

2. Determine Daily Rate HAP/URP Monthly Amount divided by ORC Policy of Actual Days or 30 days = Daily Rate rounded to 2 decimal points

3. Calculate AdjustmentDaily Rate multiplied by the Number of Days = Adjustment Amount.

SECTION 8 MODULE ADJUSTMENTS Section 8 adjustments are manually entered adjustments with the exception of Abatements.

Section 8 adjustments can be accessed from the landlord, tenant or check processing menu.

Section 8 adjustments can be created for both Active and Inactive tenants for HAP and URP.

All adjustments regardless of where they are created directly affect your VMS reporting and must be associated with the correct VMS month.

ADJUSTMENTS FROM TENANT PAYMENT INFO TAB

Click the + to add adjustments

THE USER HAS THE OPTION TO CREATE ADJUSTMENTS FOR HAP, URP OR A VMS ONLY

ADJUSTMENT.

A VMS OnlyAdjustment Is Used WheneverYou Need to Adjust the VMS MonthBut a Check Is not Necessary.

When adding AdjustmentsFrom the Tenant, theDescription Will alwaysDefault to Tenant name But can be Modified.

The TotalAdjustmentCan be eitherPositive or Negative and Is the full Amount to Adjust. The MonthlyAdjustment can be used anytime you wish to break the Total adjustment into monthly installments.

The LedgerAccount ProjectDefaults toThe ledger Project from The PaymentInfo tab but The user can Click the drop Down to chooseAnother project if needed.

The VMS DateIs very importantFor accurateVMS reporting.Each adjustment Entered needs To be broken Down by VMS Month so That the expenseAnd UML can Be associatedWith the correctVMS Month.

A VMS UMLAdjustment is Needed Whenever The unit monthLeased needsTo be adjusted, Mostly used in the case of Move InsAnd Move outs.

The ExcludeFrom VMSCheck boxCan be usedAnytimeYou do notWant an AdjustmentTo affectYour VMSReporting. An exampleMight be aTax Levy.

An adjustmentGenerated From the Tenant Payment Info Tab will Always default To the Tenant’sCurrentLandlord, howeverBy clicking theGet Landlord button, the user is ableTo select any Active landlord.

Clicking Get Landlord brings up the Browse Landlord Menu

Since eachAdjustmentNeeds to beAssociated To the correctVMS Month,The Repeat Wizard canBe checkedTo make dataEntry faster.

Adjustments in the Adjustment Next Check Box Are Always payable to the Current Landlord

Adding a Second Adjustment payable to another Landlord does not affect the Adjustment Next Check Box

Now I will see a warning and the landlord that is not the current landlord is highlighted.

To See a Payment Detail report to the current Landlord

To View Who Entered an Adjustment, Move the Scroll bar to the Right

The Adjustment Wizards accessed from the Landlord Button and Check Processing function the

same as accessing from the Tenant Tab, with a couple of exceptions.

The Adjustment Wizard Accessed from The landlord gives the user the option to select an

Inactive Tenant and gives the user the option to enter an adjustment that is not tied to any tenant.

An Adjustment that is not tied to a tenant can never be associated to the VMS gather

automatically.

ADJUSTMENT REPORTS

The Tenant URP Adjustment Report is Accessed from the Reports Menu, Tenant Tab.

The User has the option to include or exclude URP Adjustments on Hold.

The URP Adjustment Report is only viewable for Open URP Adjustments.

The HAP Check Adjustment Report has more options.

The Report can be ran for All Dates or a Date Range.The Report Order is by either Landlord Last name or Tax ID.The Report Status can be All, Complete or Open.The User has the Option to Include or Exclude Adjustments on Hold.

The Future Amount Represents any Amount in which there is not sufficient HAP to recoup.

Total To Be Paid is the Amount paying out on the next Check Run

SECTION 8 ABATEMENT WIZARDThe abatement feature is used to track Landlords/Tenants who are in an abated status. When a landlord or tenant is abated they have failed to meet HQS obligations and are not entitled to HAP or URP payments for the duration of the abated period.

To Access the Abatement Feature:

Click on Tools from any tenant tab in Section 8

Enter the Start Date of the Abatement and an Optional Reason for the Abatement. The user has the option to start the Abatement for the first day of the following month if that is your HA’s policy. Click Start.

Click Finish or Back to Edit.

Three things happened:An Information Bar Appeared at the Top of the Screen that is viewable from all Tenant Tabs and in ORC.An Abatement Start Date is NotatedAn Adjustment was created to Recoup HAP

To Check the Abatement calculation manually:The abatement proration is based on the policy in ORC setup indicating whether your adjustment calculation is based on 30 days or Actual days.

In this case the policy in ORC is set to prorate based on 30 days.

The regular HAP amount already paid for April was $546.

The Landlord was abated on 4/15/2012

Number of Actual Days in Month = 30 30 Days in April minus date Abatement Began plus 1 = Number of Days to Abate. 30 -15+1 = 16

HAP divided by Policy Setting, 30 days = Daily Rate$546 divided by 30 = $18.20$18.20 x 16 days = $291.20Rounded down = $291

The Adjustments created should equal your manual calculation. Please remember to round the daily rate to two decimal places before multiplying by the number of days to abate.

Once the HAP or URP is abated:No new HAPs or URP’s will be generated with initialization until the abatement is ended.

The Abatement Information Bar remains highlighted on all tenant screens and in ORC until the abatement is ended.

An abatement record can not be deleted, it can only be ended. However the adjustment records can be deleted.

Abatement Report

Can be found in the Section 8 ReportsInitialization TabAbatement Report

The report can be run for all dates or a date rangeBy Abatement Type, ALL, HAP or URP.By Abatement Status, All, Open or CompleteAnd can be Sorted by Landlord name, Tenant name or Start Date.

ENDING AN ABATEMENT

Enter the Date HAP Payments Have Resumed.

THE FINAL FAIL OPTION IS ONLY AVAILABLE WHEN AN ABATEMENT IS BEING ENDED. IT INDICATES THAT THE LANDLORD/TENANT IS NOT GOING TO BE MAKING ANY REPAIRS AND THAT THE TENANT WILL BE TRANSFERRED OR TERMINATED. WHEN THIS IS CHECKED NO ADJUSTMENTS ARE CREATED TO REPAY THE LANDLORD/TENANT.

Click Start and Finish to End the Abatement

To Calculate the Abatement Ending Adjustment Manually

The regular HAP amount paid for April was $546

The amount we recouped for April when we started the Abatement was $291.

The Abatement has ended and HAP Payments Resumed on 4/18/2012.

Number of Actual Days in Month = 30

30 Days in April minus date Abatement Resumed plus 1= Number of Days to Repay to the Landlord 30-18+1 = 13

HAP divided by Policy Setting, 30 days = Daily Rate$546 divided by 30 = $18.20$18.20 x 13 = $236.60Rounded up = $237

The Adjustments created should equal your manual calculation. Please remember to round the daily rate to two decimal places before multiplying by the number of days to abate.

The Abatement Status Bar is now gone and Abatement Start Date is blank.

What Questions would you like to ask?

Lora Carney

Section 8 Support/ Programming Liaison

877-359-5492, ext 1229

lora@tenmast.com