Affordable Housing Connections
October 2019 Newsletter
Welcome, Amanda Hitzeman!
Welcome, Amanda Hitzeman, as the Manager of Strategic Initiatives & Training! Most recently, Regional Director of Compliance with Sherman Associates, Amanda brings over 17 years of property and compliance management expertise to this new role at AHC. Along with Lyn Burton, Executive Director, Amanda will help further board-driven strategies and strengthen responses to our affordable housing’s industry’s training needs. Together with our Program Managers Stephanie Newburg and Jennifer Schenck and Program Operations Manager Jessica Hill, Amanda will play a key role in AHC’s leadership team.
Hitzeman received her Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology with a minor in Business and Criminal Justice from University of Wisconsin River Falls. Amanda has earned Assisted Housing Manager (AHM) and Certified Occupancy Specialist–Multifamily (COS) certifications.
Best wishes, Amanda Vergara!
After one year of working as the Office Administrator, Amanda will be leaving Affordable Housing Connections and relocating to Los Angles this November. She has appreciated the opportunity to be part of the AHC team and assist with compliance monitoring; she hopes to continue being involved in affordable housing in her future endeavors.
NOW HIRING!
Appreciation
SAVE THE DATE! AHC Annual Conference 2019
Registration information can be found here.
Wednesday, Dec 11, 2019, 09:00 AM
St. Catherine University, Randolph Avenue, Saint Paul, MN, USA
CHART Trainings
The CHART trainings are now linked on the main page of our website and also under the AHC Training page. To register and find out more information regarding the CHART trainings, please click here.
HOME Rent Reminder
The 2013 HOME Rule states that Participating Jurisdictions must approve rent increases for all HOME assisted units. Increasing rents without approval of the Participating Jurisdiction is considered noncompliance. If you have a project that is monitored by AHC for HOME, you must submit all rent increases to AHC for review using the HOME Rent Increase Request form. This form is available on AHC’s website and must be submitted with a completed utility allowance source document. If the HOME units are also PBA units, please also submit the rent increase approval from the administering agency (HUD, MN Housing). AHC will review the proposed rent increase for compliance with current HOME rent limits and forward it to the Participating Jurisdiction for approval. Please allow at least 60 days to process rent increase requests.
Calculating Income Q&A
Special Diets
Q: If a family has a household member receiving a special diet allowance, should this income be included or excluded from the rent calculation?
A: It should be included. Special diet income does not fall under any exclusion listed in HUD Handbook 4350.3 Exhibit 5-1. Food items are not considered a medical expense under HUD’s guidelines, so special diets don’t qualify for the exclusion:
- (4) Amounts received by the family that are specifically for, or in reimbursement of, the cost of medical expenses for any family member.
- The value of the allotment provided to an eligible household under the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7U.S.C. 2017 [b])
Even if a family member has documentation from a medical professional that they have a prescribed special diet, this income must be included.
Q: If a family claims that the amount they need to spend to meet their special diet requirements exceeds the amount provided in the monthly cash allowance, should the owner/agent treat the amount above the allowance as an additional medical expense?
A: No. Properties can’t use the cost of food necessary for a special diet as part of the medical expense deduction.
4 My Baby
Q: A tenant brought in a letter regarding funds they are receiving on a monthly basis from something called 4 My Baby. Is this considered income?
A: Yes, this is considered income. In September 2018, the Minnesota Department of Human Services published a bulletin regarding this program. It states, in part:
“The Baby’s First Years study is a multiyear, multistate randomized control trial to test whether there is a connection between poverty reduction and children’s brain development in the first three years of life. The study will include 250 Minnesota families living in poverty with a newborn baby. Half the families will get $20 a month ($240 a year) for 40 months, and the other half of the families will get $333 a month (about $4,000 a year) for 40 months. The money is a gift from a philanthropic funder and is called a 4MyBaby cash gift.
Families will get the funds through special debit cards provided to them. The 4MyBaby cash gift is not taxable. There are no requirements about how the family must use the cash gift. Study participants will get a letter documenting their participation (see Attachment A). The study will enroll families with mothers who have just given birth at designated hospitals in the Twin Cities metro area. To qualify for the study, a family must have an income below the federal poverty line. Eligible mothers will have the option to participate or not participate in the research and get the 4MyBaby cash gift. Mothers who choose to participate will be randomly assigned to get either the high amount or the low amount of the 4MyBaby cash gift. Mothers can opt out of the research at any point and continue to get the 4MyBaby cash gift. Recruitment began the week of July 9, 2018. The study is being conducted by independent researchers with support from the National Institutes of Health.
The State of Minnesota is not conducting the study. The 2016 Minnesota Legislature enacted a law directing the Department of Human Services (DHS) to disregard the gift payments to families participating in the Baby’s First Years study when determining eligibility for certain means-tested programs. This helps ensure that the 4MyBaby cash gift actually increase a family’s overall income and does not displace other resources.”
This last statement makes it sound as though the income should be excluded, however the bulletin goes on to say that the funds are counted as income for Section 8 programs. Because of this, it should be treated as income for all programs that calculate income like Section 8 such as the LIHTC and HOME programs.
Affordable Housing Connections
Email: ahc@ahcinc.net
Website: ahcinc.net
Location: 400 Selby Avenue, Suite B Saint Paul, MN 55102
Phone: 651-222-8319