Author: lmather

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Spring Clean Up Starts Tomorrow!

Are you ready for the 2014 Spring Cleanup?

This is a great way to motivate residents to clean their apartments and patios and they will definitely appreciate the convenience of having dumpsters on site.

Make sure your drop boxes are ordered and your residents have been informed!  Here are the flyers that were included in your Spring Into Action packet and also emailed on March 7th in case you need to post some more around your property.

community cleanup 2014 – manager flyer

Dumpster flyer (english) – local portland

Dumpster flyer (english)

Dumpster flyer (spanish)

If you have any questions, feel free to contact your property supervisor.

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April Operations Calendar **Update**

Please take note that the April operations calendar was updated today.  If you had already printed the April calendar, please discard the older version.

The older version showed laundry deposits on 4/7 and 4/21 but in order to get two deposits in the A/R month, they need to be collected on 3/31 and 4/14 because Powersite month end is on 4/15 this month.

Links to the current calendar and calendars for the rest of the year can be found in the filing cabinet section of the eExchange:

https://cresapts.com/eexchange/filing-cabiinet/order-forms-2/administrative-forms/operations-calendar/

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Maintenance Door Hangers

Maintenance door hangers have arrived!

Every property was recently mailed a stack of maintenance door hangers.  These door hangers are to be used by maintenance technicians and vendors to let residents know that someone is working inside.  They should help you avoid that awkward situation when a resident comes home and doesn’t know that someone’s inside their apartment.

Let us know how they work out for you and if you have any feedback!

Door Hanger

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Calendars

We’re already one month in to 2014!  Have you been using your calendars effectively?

We’d like to remind everyone about the calendar available on the eExchange with the many interactive links to training material.  https://cresapts.com/eexchange/calendar/  The calendar events give step by step training for your recurring tasks, like BCL transfers and manager reports.  See something that’s missing or have suggestions?  Please let us know!  We’d like to make the calendar as useful as we can for our management staff.

Weekly Manager Report Instructions

The Outlook version of the Operations calendar is still available to everyone as well. In the past, it was emailed to sites monthly but now everything has been loaded onto the website for quick downloading and printing.

These files are located in the administrative forms section of the Filing Cabinet.  https://cresapts.com/eexchange/filing-cabiinet/order-forms-2/administrative-forms/operations-calendar/.

Print them every month or go ahead and download an entire year’s worth of calendars and save them on your computer.  It’s up to you!

operations calendar instructions

If you have any questions about these calendars, feel free to contact Chelsa Harper or Laura Mather.  Happy organizing!

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Outlook Tips & Tricks

Learn how to master your Outlook email!

Calendar

If you attended Janeen’s “Managing your Calendar” class during last week’s Symposium, you probably took home a useful booklet called “Time Management for Microsoft Outlook: Increasing Your Productivity Through the Effective Use of Outlook 2010”.  We want to make sure that all of our staffs have access to this training material, so the booklet has been posted to the eExchange.

Inside, you will find tons of tips and step-by-step instructions for how to master Outlook and use functions like Tasks, Calendar, and the To Do list to help organize your schedule.  Want to turn an email into a task?  Use multiple calendars?  Color code your incoming emails?  Find emails quickly by viewing them in conversations?  You’ll be able to do all of this plus lots more!

You can download and print the booklet here: Outlook 2010 Tips.

It is also saved on the eExchange under https://cresapts.com/eexchange/filing-cabiinet/it-help/outlook-email/outlook-2010-tips/.

 

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Christmas Tree Removal

After the holidays please make sure to have a defined plan for Christmas tree removal.

  • Contact local landscape contractors, garbage hauler, or other local tree recycling program
    • Costs can vary, so doing some research might be to your property’s benefit
  • Identify a location where residents can put their trees
    • Should be confined to a space the size of a parking stall or two
    • Should be in reasonable proximity to the apartment units
    • Should be handicap accessible
    • Area that is easily accessible for vendor picking up trees
    • Mark area with cones, safety tape or other appropriate materials
  • Communicate with residents
    • Let them know where they can put their trees
    • Include the date the trees will be picked up
    • Remind them to remove all decorations

Properties in the Portland/Vancouver area should have already received confirmation from their landscape provider that included a schedule for tree removal.  Properties outside this region should contact their landscape contractor.

Also, please note that when staff is entering occupied apartment during this season, please make sure to check to ensure that remaining trees have not become fire hazard and that furniture and other items moved around to make room for trees have not been pushed in front of heaters.

Thank you for your attention to this and let your supervisor know if you have any questions.

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Powersite Year End Close

On Tuesday, December 17th all sites are scheduled to complete their Powersite Month End Close in AMSI. With just under 2 weeks to go, we recognize that this task holds particular importance for each of your properties as it is the Year End Powersite Close. This process represents our final opportunity to make our mark in 2013 and start 2014 with the best foothold possible.

Please take a few minutes to read and print off this email, checking off each of the items listed below.  Please send a copy of this email along with the normal Month End Powersite Transmittal cover page when you submit your Powersite Documents.  If you have any questions about the specific items listed or are unable to mark any items off as complete, please contact your supervisor to discuss.

As always, we thank you for your continued help and for your hard work each and every day.

 

Checklist for Year End Powersite Close

 

Aged Delinquency Report

There are no more 5% of the total number of units for the property appearing on this report.

There are no outstanding balances listed beyond the 0-30 day column.

There are households listed as old status that show a move out date older than 11/15/2013.

There are no households showing a balance owed to the code “R” beyond the 0-30 day column on 12/15/2013, unless an eviction has been filed.

All remaining balances or credits less than $15 have been adjusted off in accordance with company policy (Excludes: Tax Credit, RD, Section 8, or HUD occupants).

 

Security Deposit Audit Report

Totals for Security Deposits and Pets deposits “On Hand” match the total listed as “Required”.

Affordable housing sites that have agency approved pet deposit payment arrangements, have all arrangements in writing.

 

Exceptions Report

All entries listed pertain to current units on notice only.

 

NSF Checks

All notifications of NSF checks from the central office have been entered into AMSI with the appropriate follow up conducted with the resident.

 

Move out’s

All residents with move out dates listed prior to 12/15/2013 have been processed in AMSI through the SODA function.

Appropriate documentation for all move outs with refunds due occurring prior to 12/15/2013 have been mailed to the central office for processing.

All remaining residents with a move out date prior to 12/15/2013 and with a move out balance owed have been mailed from the site manager’s office.

All eligible write off’s have been completed.

 

Move in’s

All Guest Cards, Traffic, and Applications have been entered into AMSI.

Move in’s occurring prior to 12/15/2013 have been entered into AMSI.

 

Property Income

All forms of resident payment have been entered and deposited the bank as of 12/15/2013.

All forms of miscellaneous income (i.e. laundry coinage, vending monies) have been entered into AMSI and deposited in the bank as of 12/15/2013

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Handling Resident Disputes for Damage Charges

Damage caused by a resident, whether it be a hole in a bedroom door or a baseball through a living room window, is in almost all cases, billable to the resident.  Sometimes these charges can be assessed when processing a SODA at move-out while other times, this happens with a current resident household.

carpet damage

Below are a few helpful tips for assessing charges and dealing with residents that wish to dispute them.

When assessing charges be sure to:

-Document the event or damage thoroughly.  Pictures, Manager Log notes, and Maintenance Requests can all be useful tools.

-Notify the current/former resident of charges being assessed in writing.

-Be factual in your description of the charges, including dates, times, locations, etc.

-Address the damage promptly.  You do not have to wait for a resident to respond before fixing the damage.

 

Disputed charges:

-Residents do have the right to dispute charges assessed.

-Advise them to put their disputes in writing and send them to the Site Leasing Office.

-Disputes received on site should be reviewed and responded to by the property manager in writing.

-Managers should consult their property supervisor with questions.                          

 

If you have any questions, please contact your property supervisor.