Dealing with Households

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In “Follow HUD Guidelines for New Resident Orientation,” above, we discuss the importance of briefing new residents on the terms of the lease and house rules. HUD's guidelines for conducting this briefing include providing information in written form, such as a packet of handouts, in addition to speaking with the new resident in person. The written material must be clear, HUD says, perhaps with graphics, and may need to be provided in languages other than English.

Loud music. Raucous late-night parties. Constant, excessive noise. Your worst nightmare, right?

Chances are you've probably heard or received complaints about these situations. Some of them were probably easy to deal with. Others weren't. And when they happen frequently, and the same resident is the source of the noise over and over again, that's a completely different story.

HUD encourages—and federal laws require—equitable access to and usage of your site's common areas and community room for all residents. Handbook 4350.3 (HUD Occupancy Handbook), Chapter 2, notes that under the Fair Housing Act, owners may not “treat anyone differently in determining eligibility or other requirements for admission, in use of the housing amenities, facilities or program, or in the terms and conditions of a lease.”

Your maintenance plan includes painting resident units on a regular schedule, but your residents might not always cooperate. For example, they may drag their feet when asked to prepare the unit for painting or grumble about giving the painters access to the unit.

Housing maintenance professionals advise painting units every three to five years to keep painted surfaces in good condition. Failure to properly maintain painted surfaces could cause you to be hit with a HUD inspection violation. Peeling, cracked, or deteriorated paint raises a red flag with inspectors.

HUD encourages and supports a range of environmentally friendly practices, such as the use of renewable energy sources and green construction and renovation techniques. Many sites are taking steps in the right direction, finding that when they use such practices, they can trim operational costs, reduce health risks, and improve comfort for residents.

Residents of sites operated by Cohoes Housing Authority in Cohoes, N.Y., have one less worry in a medical emergency. The housing authority has implemented a medical emergency data card system that puts all the information emergency medical personnel would need at their fingertips.

The weakened economy and poor job market are affecting everyone. In assisted housing, one problem that's hitting site managers around the country is a growing incidence of unauthorized guests.

The Insider talked with a California property management company executive about how her firm is dealing with the issue across its roughly 5,000 units. Gianna Solari is vice president of operations for Solari Enterprises, Inc., of Orange, Calif.

Insider: What is meant by unauthorized guests?

In late October, HUD announced a final regulation that delivers consistency between pet rules and service animal rules, says Denise Muha, executive director of the National Leased Housing Association (NLHA).