Author: mstuker

Posted on

Compliance File Reminders

reminderHere are just a few quick reminders for affordable housing managers:

  • When calculating income from employment, you are required to do all three (3) calculations on the Income Worksheet (Note: Idaho properties are permitted to do just the EV and YTD calculations). In almost all cases, you will reflect the highest of these calculations on the TIC.
  • Use the 6-month AVERAGE balance for checking accounts.
  • Use the CURRENT balance for all other accounts such as savings, money markets, CDs, etc.
  • Any and all cash on hand listed on the questionnaire must be reflected on the TIC as an asset.
  • Always use the GROSS amount for Social Security (before any deductions).

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact the compliance team at the Site Employee Resource Center: 503.450.0230

 

Posted on

Q&A – Off Season Pool Care

empty poolQ: How often do you have to clean the filters?

A: There’s no concrete answer to this question. Usually, during the off season, the filters don’t get a lot of debris, so you’ll only need to clean them periodically. By the time winter rolls around, you may be cleaning them as little as once a month to every few months. The easiest way to keep track is to check the pressure gauge on top of the filter. They normally operate at 10 to 20 psi, but you’ll have to find out what your ideal range is. The next time you thoroughly clean your filters, look at the reading on the gauge. When the pressure rises 5 to 10 psi from that initial point, it’s time to clean again. There are a dozen different variables that can cause you to need to clean the filters more often, such as the water getting cloudy, blowing dust, or debris from trees.

 

Q: How often to test the water?

A: Start by testing daily, then as you notice your test results don’t vary from day to day, you can then back it to testing once a week. Although you may find that the water chemistry stays consistent, you should never go more than a week or two in the off season without testing the water. Dust, rain, and unexpected sunshine can all affect the chemistry of the water, and water chemistry that isn’t in the ideal range can ruin the plaster, pumps, and heaters.

 

Q: Do you have your lights on still?

A: Absolutely. They’re considered a safety device, so if someone hops the fence at night, and falls in the pool, they may be seen. Lights in the pool are good, but you never want a light shining down on the pool from a post or an adjoining building, as they can reflect off the surface and impede the ability to see under the surface of the water.

 

Q: Does it need to be brushed, how often?

A: Weekly, as well as a good vacuuming every couple weeks, or when it starts to look dirty. Even though the pool may look clean, it will have small particulate that needs brushing and vacuuming to keep the plaster from staining.

 

Posted on

Carbon Monoxide Detectors

Carbon Monoxide Detectors are now widely adopted as an essential safety feature in each apartment which has any of the following features:

  • Any appliance or fixture which relies upon natural gas as its fuel source
  • An attached garage
  • A wood burning fireplace

In addition, any dwelling located in the same structure as a common area (i.e. laundry room, site management office, community room, resident lounge) which has any of the features noted above must also be equipped with at least one carbon monoxide detector.

If you have not yet implemented a plan to retrofit your property with carbon monoxide detectors, please contact your portfolio supervisor at once so a plan can be implemented without further delay.

Thank you!

Posted on

Social Security Income Reminders

Here are just a few friendly reminders on Social Security Income:

  • The state agencies are now requiring that the award letter(s) for Social Security Income and / or SSI cannot be dated more than 120 days before the effective date of the certification.
  • Updated and current award letters can be obtained by the resident / applicant calling Social Security from your office (1-800-772-1213) to request a current letter. The Social Security Administration will then fax a current award letter to the management office with the resident or applicant’s permission. Please note this information is also on the Verification of Social Security in eforms.
  • You must always use the GROSS amount of Social Security income received (ex. use $785.40 instead of $785.00) to calculate income. Never use the rounded down amount or the amount after any Medicare deductions.
  • For elderly RD and HUD properties, you can use the monthly Medicare premium(s) as a medical expense.

As always, please feel free to contact the Compliance Department with any questions.

Compliance Resources

Kristin Strong
p: 503.450.0231
e:kstrong@cambridgeres.com

Breana Thomas
p: 503.445.2791
e: bthomas@cambridgeres.com

 

Posted on

Time Records Due

The pay period closes today 8/31/12

To facilitate timely processing of payroll within the holiday schedule, please make sure to fax all time records no later than 11:00 AM Tuesday morning 9/4/12. You may fax time records once all shifts are completed today.

Please fax time records only to 503-548-4399.

We appreciate your attention to this matter.

Posted on

Office Closure | Labor Day

Monday September 3rd is Labor Day Holiday! Except for a few special circumstances all offices, sites and central office will be closed in observance of the holiday.

As a reminder, if an employee’s regularly scheduled day off is Monday, another day during the pay period should be taken as the holiday. Whether the holiday is taken on Monday the 3rd or another day, the holiday should be listed with the appropriate number of hours in the holiday column on that day and no time in or out listed.

For those few sites that will be open on the holiday and therefore have staff working, please make sure to show the total of the hours worked and the holiday hours in the “Total Hours Pay Due” column to receive holiday pay in addition to hours worked. Otherwise payroll will assume that the holiday was taken and not noted on the time record. Contact your property supervisor if you are unsure as to whether your office will be closed.

Posted on

BCL Invoice Posting Tips

Managers,

You will soon be completing the Month End invoice posting to the Budget Control Ledger (BCL), sending countless invoices out into the great abyss also known as the United States Postal Service. Upon arrival, our crack team of accounting personnel will spend countless hours painstakingly stacking, sorting, and ultimately paying the many vendors and suppliers we rely upon to effectively manage our properties.

Join us in thanking our accounting department for their continued efforts by helping make your invoice processing just a little easier for them. A little extra time spent reviewing your BCL before you send it in will save them countless hours of extra work both for you and the accounting team.

As you enter invoices into BCL, you’ll notice that most invoices are automatically coded to the appropriate G/L Code (that little 4 digit number usually beginning with a 6 or an 8). These codes tell our accounting department where to route invoices so that they can be paid promptly. Most of the time the default G/L code that pops up is the right one but sometimes certain invoices will get posted to the wrong account by mistake.

All invoices should be divided up and posted to the correct account in BCL before sending to the central office for payment. For a refresher in how this process works please reference your AMSI Manual, page 87.

Below we have included a short list of invoices we commonly find posted to the incorrect account.

Many thanks to each of you for your help and please let us know if you have any questions.

Posted on

Move Out & Collection Process

moving truckIt is common for a manager to deal with the collections process on a regular basis, as this occurs when a resident owes money to the property after move-out. It is important to know when it is appropriate to assign a move-out case to OCSI (our collections agency) and what happens once the agency takes over.

Move-Out Statements:

Any resident owing a balance at the time of move-out must be mailed a move-out statement to the forwarding address. If no forwarding address was given, then the move-out statement should be sent to the last known address, as well as emailed to the resident. If a move-out statement is returned through the mail, the manager must retain the returned letter in the permanent site file. Once a move-out statement is mailed, it is up to the resident to remit payment. The manager is not responsible for pursuing the resident. However, it is in the best interest of the property to collect balances before they are sent to collections because the collections agency keeps 40% of any collected balances.

Collections:

At the end of each month, resident move-out files received at the Site Employee Resource Center (SERC) are reviewed for balances due and then sent to collections. Files are sent to collections 60 days from the last day of the month in which the move-out occurred. Once a file is sent to collections, all payments are handled through Oregon Credit Systems, Inc (OCSI). If a resident wishes to make a payment after they have been sent to collections, please direct them to OCSI (contact info below). At that point, Cambridge no longer handles payments. If you aren’t certain whether a move-out has been assigned to collections, feel free to contact SERC and ask.

OCSI Contact Information:

Contact: Karla Eldred

Phone: 503-639-6993

Email: karlae@oregoncreditsystems.com

Cambridge Payment Plan Policy: Cambridge does not accept payment plans EXCEPT IN CASES WHERE REQUIRED UNDER A COURT ORDER OR BY GOVERNMENT POLICY OR REGULATION. All payments must be submitted within 60 days of move-out, prior to the resident being sent to collections.