Property Manager Release Version 9.2

8/18/2014

Important Notices for 9.2 Users:

These release notes are divided into three. Select a section to jump down to it.

Major Enhancements

Minor Enhancements and Corrected Issues

New Windows/Tasks for Security

Major Enhancements

TRACS 202D Compliance Changes

The following changes were made to TRACS 202D certifications:

·        New, modified, and dropped fields on HUD 50059 file

·        New fields for move-out, termination, unit transfer, and gross rent transactions on HUD 50059A file

·        New move-out and termination type codes

·        New process for mid-month unit transfers as full certifications

·        New model for tenant and owner signatures on forms

The following changes were made to TRACS 202D vouchers:

·        No more paper submissions

·        New and updated forms

·        New records to hold voucher detail and adjustment data

·        New repayment agreement records

·        The ability to receive approved vouchers from a contract administrator (CA) and make them visible for voucher reconciliation purposes

Repayment Agreements

With TRACS 202D, repayment agreements are no longer being reported through Owner/Agent Request Agreements (OARQ) on the Miscellaneous Adjustments tab. Now, repayments are reported on the HAP request as a MAT 30, Section 7 record. To accommodate this change, Bostonpost added a Repayment Agreements tab within Occupancy and Compliance Detail. This tab was also added to the Build New HAP Request task and the Reconcile Selected HAP Request task. Additionally, when a user completes the Build New HAP Request task, the new 52670 Part 6 file can now be viewed and printed.

Any repayment agreements that were paid off prior to the 9.2 update will continue to be listed under the Miscellaneous Adjustments tab.

A repayment agreement ID is also now required with any new HUD repayment agreements created with the 9.2 update. The ID must be unique within the community and can only be modified when a user creates the repayment agreement. The Repayment Agreement ID field was added to the Convert Subsidy Due to Promissory Note task and the Create Unsigned Promissory Note task.

Repayment agreement IDs will be automatically applied to all existing repayment agreements during the 9.2 update.

New charge types for repayment agreements are now named Repayment Agreements instead of Note Payable - Include on HAP, Note Payable - Net Subsidy, or Note Payable - To Agency.

Households may have multiple repayment agreements.

Send Address Record

Single address records or multiple address records for a contract can now be sent to HUD using the MAT15 record. A new Send Address Record task was added to the following areas within Bostonpost:

·        Unit Detail > Compliance/Rent/Transaction (can be used to send an address record for a vacant or occupied unit)

·        Household Detail > Transaction

·        Occupancy and Compliance Detail > TRACS > HAP Requests (can be used to send multiple address records for all units, only vacant units, or only occupied units in HAP contracts)

Extenuating Circumstances

When the Tenant Unable to Sign check box is selected on the Maintain Sign Dates task or the Sign Promissory Note and Related Certs task, reasons for the tenant being unable to sign now appear in a new Extenuating Circumstances field. The selected extenuating circumstance will populate the MAT 10 file, Section 2, Field 99. Available extenuating circumstances include the following:

·        1 - Medical

·        2 - Late annual certification due to accommodation or extenuating circumstances

·        3 - Late annual certification due to owner/agent delay

·        4 - Late annual certification due to third party delay (for example, a guardian)

·        5 - Military Deployment

·        6 - Eviction In Progress. Must be for a valid Handbook reason.

·        7 - Court order

·        8 - No Signature Required (for example, a retroactive gross rent change done after a move-out or a gross rent correction to a previously transmitted 50059 file where the only change is the gross rent modification of the contract rent and none of the TTP, tenant rent, or utility allowance amounts are changed)

·        9 - No signature required for 60 days (based on anticipated voucher reported on date). (for example, a retroactive gross rent causing a correction to a previously transmitted 50059 file where any of the TTP, tenant rent, or utility allowance amounts are changed; a signature is required but the certification may be transmitted immediately and the signature collected within 60 days)

·        10 - Other

Gender and HUD

HUD now accepts a blank value for tenant gender on the HUD 50059 file, Section C, Field 37, and on the MAT10 file, Section 3, Field 8. In HUD-only households, choosing Unknown will leave those fields blank; in households with multiple funding groups, a new Report Blank to HUD check box is available to report the gender as blank to HUD while providing gender information to other program groups.

Special Status Codes

An eligibility code of N/A - Not Applicable was added to the 9.2 update when BMIR, PRAC,or PAC funding applies, as eligibility should be reported as a blank value on the MAT file. Additionally, the following two new special status codes were added to Household Detail > Members and to any Members tab within applicable tasks:

·        M - US Military Veteran

·        P - Temporarily Displaced as a Result of a Disaster

Social Security Number (SSN) Exception

A new SSN Exception check box was added to Household Detail > Members. When this check box is selected, the SSN field is hidden, and a new field with the following options is displayed:

·        Individual who does not contend eligible immigration status

·        Individuals age 62 or older as of January 31, 2010, whose initial determination of eligibility in either a Multifamily or Public and Indian Housing program was begun prior to January 31, 2010 (a break in assistance does not void the exemption)

·        New household member under the age of 6 where disclosure of SSN is delayed for 90 to 180 days (applies only to existing household)

This new field populates the MAT10 file, Section 3, Field 26.

Enterprise Income Verification (EIV)

A new EIV Indicator check box was added to the Create Certification tab and the Rebuild Certification tab when creating certifications for households. The EIV indicator applies to all partial certification types and is also available during the move-out process. This new field populates the MAT10 file, Section 2, Field 18, for partial certifications and populates the MAT40 file, Field 19, for move-outs.

Move-Out Codes and Termination Codes

The following move-out codes were added:

·        5 - Unit Transfer between two projects

·        6 - Reserved for TRACS use only (HQ Move-Outs)

·        7 - Abandoned Unit (6-9.B.2) (8-13.A.2) - PDD

·        8 - Failure to submit SSN

·        9 - Uninhabitable unit - Abated

·        10 - Substantial Rehab or Repair - Tenant Expected to Return

·        11 - RAD to Housing Choice Voucher - Choice Mobility Option Exercised (used only for a RAD tenant accepting a housing choice voucher)

The following termination codes were added:

·        ND - Natural Disaster or Uninhabitable Unit or Presidentially Declared Disaster

·        AB - HUD abated unit

·        RR - Substantial rehab or repair - Tenant expected to return

·        NS - Resident did not qualify for subsidy at move-in (MI) or interim certification (IC) for a reason other than a double subsidy (DS). Typically, this would be a situation where the income at MI or IC is being corrected as a result of an EIV or other investigation and it is found that the tenant was not eligible. Just like the DS code, a TM/NS code gives back subsidy for the TM date. Per the Handbook, properties can only go back five years when investigating misreporting. Therefore, a TM using the NS code cannot apply to a MI or IC more than five years old.

·        OT - Other (a reason not covered by any of the other codes)

Project Owner and  Parent Company DUNS and TIN Numbers

The Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS), stored on Community Detail > Contract, is now required by HUD Notice H 2011-01 for owners with project-based Section 8, PRAC, Rent Supplement, and RAP programs. The MAT header records for tenant and voucher submissions were updated to include these numbers for both the project owner and the parent company. Additionally, the required Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) of the project owner and parent company were added to the MAT header record.

Tax Credit BIN

Tax Credit Building Identification Numbers (BINs), stored on Community Detail > Contract, are now available for projects with HUD and Tax Credit funding. A valid BIN is in the SSYYNNNNN format, where SS is the state postal abbreviation, YY is the last two digits of the allocation year, and NNNNN is any five digits. If the Tax Credit BIN is not in this format, then the MAT15 file, Field 27, will be left blank.

Previous Housing Codes

The following previous housing codes were added:

·        5 - Lacking a Fixed Nighttime Residence (for example, individuals and families who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence and includes a subset for an individual who resided in an emergency shelter or a place not meant for human habitation and who is exiting an institution where he or she temporarily resided)

·        6 - Fleeing/Attempting to Flee Violence (for example, individuals and families who are fleeing, or are attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or other dangerous or life-threatening conditions that relate to violence against the individual or a family member)

The Without or Soon to Be Without Housing previous housing code is no longer valid in TRACS 202D except on a correction to a 202C move-in certification.

Gross Rent Changes and Automatic Signatures

A gross rent change may appear on a HAP request if it is effective on or before the HAP request date. Previously, if a gross rent change was effective after the first of the prior month for Section 8, PAC, and PRAC programs, then it was not allowed on the HAP.

Gross rent change certifications can no longer be automatically signed. Instead, the owner/agent (OA) signatures need to be entered to include the certification on the HAP request. Unsigned certifications are not included on a HAP request. Because of this change, 50059 files and rent change notices can now be printed before the effective date.

Terminations and Automatic Signatures

Terminations can no longer be automatically signed. Instead, the owner/agent signatures need to be entered. Entering owner/agent signatures also confirms the billing schedule.

Secondary Subsidy Type

In TRACS 202D, the Secondary Subsidy Type field located on the MAT10 file, Section 2, Field 86, was expanded to cover BMIR project contracts. Previously, this field was only used to indicate when a Section 8, Rent Supplement, or RAP certification is part of a Section 236 project. Now, this field is populated with an S if Section 236 is involved or a B if BMIR is involved.

The Project Number field located on Community Detail > Contract for Section 236 and BMIR contract properties now must match with the applicable HUD Section 8, Rent Supplement, or RAP programs to correctly set up the Secondary Subsidy Type field.

The project number must be entered for a HUD Section 8 contract on Community Detail > Contract when properties have multiple Section 246 or BMIR contracts.

Miscellaneous Accounting Requests

The following miscellaneous accounting request types were added to the Add Miscellaneous Adjustment task in Occupancy and Compliance Detail > TRACS > Miscellaneous Adjustments:

·        RGRC - Adjustment for a retroactive gross rent change that includes a UA decrease that drives a requirement to provide a 30-day notice to affected residents. This code can only be used for 75 days from the approval date of the schedule.

·        UUTL - Unclaimed Utility Check

·        RSPC - Recouped  Special Claims Funds

·        CEAD - Contract Expiration Adjustment

·        EIVP - EIV Penalty. Five percent of the voucher is subtracted to cover EIV noncompliance when applicable. The amount of the EIV penalty is calculated based on the total voucher amount before calculating the penalty and before applying any RESR transaction that may be needed.

·        RESR - Residual Receipts (used to offset part of the voucher billing; see Notice H 2012-14 for instructions pertaining to the use of residual receipts in this context)

History Baseline Files

A new Build History Baseline task was added to Occupancy and Compliance Detail > TRACS > HAP Request. This task includes certificates and rent information as far into the past as the transactions agree, which is typically five years. Within the task, once the start date and contract are selected, all applicable certifications will appear. If a household has a partial certification effective on the start date, the prior full certification will be pulled. Once the task is complete, a MAT15 file with blank head of household fields is created for each unit in the property. Anticipated uses for this task include the following:

·        OA sending a baseline to a new CA (initial data load)

·        CA sending a baseline to an OA who has lost data

·        CA sending a baseline to a new CA who has been awarded a contract for a state

·        OA using the baseline as an aid in moving to new software

History baseline files are not sent to TRACS.

Interim Recertification and Unit Transfers

TRACS 202D requires that any financial changes or household composition changes typically reported on an interim recertification (IR) be included in a full certification unit transfer (UT) if the UT's effective date is earlier than the IR's effective date, and if the changes are effective on or before the UT date. To accommodate this change, Bostonpost now allows mid-month UTs, also known as interim transfers (IT), that report changes in income, assets, expenses, or family composition.

Voucher Discrepancy Report

A new Print/View CA Discrepancies Report task was added to Occupancy and Compliance Detail > TRACS > HAP Request. This report, only available once the CA responses have been received, displays the differences between what was sent and what was received.

New HUD Funding

New Section 8 subtypes SPRAC and RAD were added to Bostonpost. Additionally, the following HUD fields were added to the certification tasks and to the Add/Maintain Gross Rent Change task on Community Detail > Rent:

·        TTP at RAD conversion (only applicable when RAD rules apply)

·        TTP before override

·        Rent override

Rent Overrides

A new field was added to the 50059 file and the 50059A file, along with a flag on the MAT10 file and the MAT70 file, to notify TRACS or CAs when HUD calculations are being ignored or modified. Examples of when the calculations could be ignored or modified include the following:

·        RAD Phase in Period

·        Plan of Action rent calculations that differ from the standard HUD calculations

·        HUD 236/Tax Credits where the Max Rent for LIHTC is more restrictive

·        PRAC - Failure to Recertify

In the case of a PRAC household failing to recertify, a new Force Household to Operating Rent task was added to Occupancy and Compliance Detail > Annual Recertification > Send Notices and is available after the third notice. This task is also available in the sign certification step of the annual recertification process if the certification has not been signed.

HUD Housing Choice Vouchers

HUD is now requiring that multifamily households with Section 8 vouchers do not have certifications transmitted to TRACS. Households that were previously transmitted to TRACS need to be terminated (using the termination code of Other) so that EIV does not report a double subsidy.

Adding and Deleting Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers

If a household loses their HUD voucher, an initial certification needs to be transmitted to TRACS to establish the tenant within the TRACS system. In the Initial Certification task on Household Detail > General, users must select None on the Voucher Information section. This action cannot be done from the Add/Modify/Terminate Voucher task.

Voucher Lookup Table

The Housing Choice Voucher check box on System Administration > Maintain Lookup Tables > Table to Maintain: Voucher now triggers different behavior for HUD 236 and BMIR households. Previously, this field could only be modified if a USDA subsidy code was selected. Now, this indicator is maintainable without setting a USDA subsidy code.

Excess Income Report

Households with HUD vouchers are now excluded from the Excess Income report.

Adding a HUD Voucher to an Existing Tenant

When a household moves in without a voucher, a normal HUD 236 or BMIR move-in certification is processed and transmitted through TRACS. If the household later gains a HUD voucher, a termination now needs to be sent through TRACS. To accommodate this change, the Add/Modify/Terminate Voucher task was expanded. Now, when a user adds a new Section 8 voucher through this task, a termination certification is created that is only visible when building the tenant files from Occupancy and Compliance Detail > HAP Request.

HUD Unit Transfers and LIHTC Move-Ins and Move-Outs

When a household that is counted in both a HUD program and an LIHTC Tax Credit program is transferring between BINs which are not part of a multiple building project, the user can continue to process the move-out and the move-in certification for the LIHTC Tax Credit program, and Bostonpost now generates the accurate unit transfer or interim transfer certification for HUD. The unit transfer certification is created automatically for HUD once the move-in is confirmed.

Foster Children and Adults

The following foster children and adults status changes were added:

·        They now count as family for income limit purposes.

·        Their expenses can be counted for medical and disability deductions.

·        They are subject to the noncitizen rule and must now declare citizenship.

·        They may have special status codes assigned to them and their student status counts.

Fix Pre-Conversion Certification

A new Fix Pre-Conversion Certification task was added to allow users to correct mistakes made at tenant conversion without detaching single items. This task can fix the certification that was added at implementation to match the last transmitted certification before the conversion to Bostonpost and adjust counted layers and program, member information, income and expense information, next certification dates, utility allowances, and initial tax credit information. This task also results in the following:

·        No General Ledger entries are created.

·        The certification is marked as transmitted.

·        The changes do not cascade forward to any of the subsequent certifications.

·        Any changes made to the members will only modify the original household composition. Changes to any subsequent certifications will need to be made through the Correct Selected Certification task on Household Detail > Transaction.

To create a certification with a different effective date, users need to either detach the household and reenter the certification or use the Add Transaction to Household task.

Minor Enhancements and Corrected Issues

·        Occupancy and Compliance Detail

·        HAP Requests

·        IR 68720 - The Cost Retained section now appears correctly when a user initially sets a repayment agreements (previously known as a Note Payable - Include on HAP, Note Payable - Net Subsidy, or Note Payable - To Agency).

·        IR 69632 - The result box appears properly, and any error messages are no longer incorrect on the Build Status tab of the Build New Hap Request task.

·        IR 72509 - After a user creates a promissory note using the Create Unsigned Promissory Note task and signs it, the Correct Selected Transaction for HAP task, Maintain Signed Dates task, and Delete Transaction task are now available. Previously, only the Insert New Transaction task and Manage Attachment task were available.

·        IR 73208 - The Send Address Record task is now only available for households in a community with a HUD contract.

·        System Administration

·        Define Access

·        IR 68448  - All reports now appear in System Administration > Define Access, enabling users to define access to these reports and to run them.

·        Reports

·        IR 71063 - The Tax Credit report TYD (NY) now correctly pulls the correct date into the Current Certification Date column for households in the USDA/Tax Credit program group after an unscheduled recertification is processed.

·        IR 75620 - The Tax Credit report YTD (NY) now respects the end date parameter for the Current Certification Date column.

New Windows/Tasks for Security

IMPORTANT!

Following are the new tabs and tasks for which a System Administrator must set security before they will be available in Property Manager and in task lists. Security is set on System Administration > Define Access.