announcements - eExchange

June 30, 2016

4th of July Holiday Announcement

To All Site Management personnel: Please read this carefully and let your supervisor know if you have any questions.

The 4th of July Holiday falls on a Monday this year. Offices will be closed Monday, July 4th in observance of the holiday.

If an employee’s regularly scheduled day off is Monday, another day during the same pay period should be taken as the holiday.

Reminder, the timely depositing of rents during the July 4th weekend is of critical importance. Managers should schedule office hours and vacations with that in mind. Please also note that with the holiday occurring on a Monday, every effort should be made to minimize the closing of properties for three consecutive days — Saturday, Sunday and Monday, unless the office is normally closed on Saturday and Sunday.

If your property assesses late fees for any payment not received by the close of business on the 4th day of the month, we recommend that an early arrival to your office on July 5th to gather rent payments from the drop slot is a “best practice”. Any rent payment you do not gather upon opening the office is to be considered delinquent and subject to a late fee. Please make banking a priority on Friday July 1^st AND on the morning of July 5th. Also, for Properties scheduled to be open on Saturday, July 2^nd, the depositing of rents on that day should also be a high priority for administrative and leasing staff.

How to record your time in Kronos-

Your holiday hours are already recorded in your online time sheet. Unless you work on July 4th, you do NOT need to put in any hours for that day.
Record your alternate day off during the pay period as your holiday on your time sheet and email Diane (drunyan@cambridgeres.com) noting the day you took your holiday.

Holiday Pay: Who is eligible?

Employees who work 20 or more hours per week are eligible for holiday pay after their first 30 days of employment.

To receive holiday pay an employee must work both the scheduled day prior and after a holiday unless you have pre-approved paid time off (PTO) by your Manager/Supervisor.

If you have any questions, please ask your supervisor.

June 21, 2016June 21, 2016

Air Conditioners

Residents are allowed to install window air conditioners. These may be left in place between May 1^st and October 31^st. Installation must comply with the policies below.

By Wednesday June 22^nd, 2016, please evaluate the conditions of all air conditioner units installed throughout your community. Issue Air Conditioner notices where necessary. And, include a summary of the notices delivered and the responses received in your June 30, 2016, Monthly Manager Report.

All households utilizing window air conditioner units should be adhering to the following policies:

Air conditioner units must be in good working order
Installations are limited to through-the-window air conditioner units only
Must be installed with clear Plexiglas panels and clear caulking
Must be installed properly in the window with the use of exterior metal brackets only without causing damage to the building
Must be 120 volt only
Must use existing house wiring
Must not overload circuit
Air conditioner units cannot be installed by maintenance personnel
Residents are responsible for the storage of the air conditioner units when not in season
For HUD properties, if a room only has one window, a window air conditioner unit cannot be installed as it represents an egress issue.

Please reach out to your supervisor if you have any questions.

June 15, 2016

Patio’s and Porches

Patio inspections should be performed on an on-going basis. A well-kept patio reflects a well- managed community.

Before Friday, June 17^th, 2016, please evaluate patio conditions at your community. Issue Patio Notices where necessary. And, include a summary of the notices delivered and the responses received in your June 30, 2016, Monthly Manager Report. Before June 30^th, you might even have time for a second follow-up notice to residents, where appropriate.

Aside from neat and clean, the following issues are of critical importance.

Outdoor furniture only
No Trash or any other debris.
Remember the BBQ rules: Propane, charcoal, etc.
Nothing should block the patio door to the dwelling or to a storage / utility / mechanical closet, if one exists..
Patio furniture and plants must be kept to a reasonable quantity; no overcrowding
Exterior shades are not permitted
Storage of any kind is not permitted

Please reach out to your supervisor if you have any questions.

June 3, 2016

401k Open Enrollment – July 1, 2016

Please print and distribute the following as noted below:

– FOR DISTRIBUTION FOR ALL ELIGIBLE 401K PARTICIPANTS –

(Eligible employees have regularly scheduled hours per Employment Understanding

on file equal to or greater than 20 hours per week)

Eligible 401K Participants,

As a reminder and as provided in the Cambridge 401K Summary Plan Description, if you are eligible and not a current or active participant, you may begin contributing to the 401K Plan. If you are an active participant and would like to change your contribution percentage, you may do so at this time.

The 401K Plan provides an opportunity to save money for your future and earn additional compensation via matching contributions from Cambridge. Below are some great features of the Cambridge 401k plan:

Retirement investment advise is available at no cost through Merrill Lynch by contacting:

Brett Fisher @ 503-221-4671

Matthew Floberg @ 503-221-4610

800-937-0750 (for participants out the Portland metro area)

Cambridge provides an employer match of 50% of your contribution on the first 10% of your wages. What does that mean and how does it work? That means….

If you contribute 2% of your wages toward your 401k retirement plan, Cambridge will match 50% of that contribution, and make a contribution toward your 401k account for an amount equal to 1% of your wages. The Cambridge contribution is on top of your normal salary or wages, so it is truly incremental compensation.
The same 50% matching contribution applies to any employee contribution you make up to 10% of your wages. So, if you contributed a full 10% of your wages, Cambridge would add an amount equal to 5% in incremental compensation to your 401k account.
Employee contributions can be made in any whole percentage of your wages to a maximum of up to 100% however not exceeding IRS statutory limits (contact Brett Fisher or Matt Floberg for IRS limits).

After five years of service, this match increases to 60%.

Cambridge vesting period of the matching contributions is 3 years after a 1 year waiting period. The vesting period determines how quickly you have access to the Cambridge matched contributions. The Cambridge plan gives employees 25% of the Cambridge contributions after 2 years, 50% after 3 years, and the full 100% of the Cambridge matching contributions after working at Cambridge for 4 years.

401k contributions also save you money on income taxes, because contributions are taken out of your paycheck pre-tax, so your taxable income on your paycheck is lower.

An after tax Roth deferral is available with the Cambridge plan.

In service withdrawals are allowed at age 59 ½.

As always, once starting, you may stop your contributions at any time, but may not resume until the next open enrollment period (January 1^st2017). In the event you stop, the employer match stops as well.

If you don’t wish to make any changes, no action is required. If you would like to begin participation or change the amount you are currently contributing, please complete and mail the attached form to my attention at the Central Office. Deferrals must be designated in percentages only, our plan does not support fixed amount deferrals. If you are interested in beginning participation for the first time and would like to receive an enrollment booklet, please contact me and one will be mailed to your home. Forms must be mailed or faxed so that they are received at Cambridge no later than July 1, 2016.

To see additional details on plan and program rules and guidelines, please consult the summary plan description, available on the e-Exchange.

May 27, 2016

Please Read – Memorial Day Holiday

Monday May 30^th is Memorial Day Holiday! Except for a few special circumstances all offices, sites and corporate 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.

How to record your time in Kronos-

Your holiday hours are already recorded in Kronos. Unless you work on Memorial Day, you do NOT need to put in any hours for that day.
If you took/take your holiday on a different day, record your alternate day off as your holiday in Kronos and email Diane with the date you took your holiday.

Holiday Pay: Who is eligible?

Employees who work 20 or more hours per week are eligible for holiday pay after their first 30 days of employment.

To receive holiday pay an employee must work both the scheduled day prior and after a holiday unless pre-approved by your Manager/Supervisor.

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” 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.

May 13, 2016

REQUIRED – Grace Hill Training

Part of our employment requirement/ongoing training includes online classes through Grace Hill. Those classes are “Sexual Harassment” and “Fair Housing I & II” These three must be completed annually. If you or your staff have not completed these training’s within the last year, please do so. The attached packet includes instructions on where and how to take the training’s. For continuing training, everyone at the site must take an additional 5 courses throughout the year (2 courses per quarter). You can choose from the entire course list for those additional 5.

We will need each site staff to complete the minimum required classes AND one additional by June 15^th, 2016. If you have completed these within the last calendar year, you will not need to take them again.

Note: There are different courses if you are a manager/assistant manager or if you are maintenance and other site staff as well as if you are in CA or not.

Summed up:

All site staff must complete a minimum of 8 classes per year and 2 classes per quarter.
All site staff must complete Fair Housing I and II and Preventing Sexual Harassment each year.
Each site employee has the freedom to select 5 additional classes from the course list included with this letter based on their own individual interests.
By June 15^th, you must complete the required 3 courses and one additional course.

If you have additional questions, please let either Brian (bharrison@cambridgeres.com) or Jasmine (jkwatra@cambridgeres.com) know.

May 13, 2016

Translation Services Offered at your Community

As part of our ongoing commitment to providing equal housing opportunities for all, we wish to take this opportunity to remind all Cambridge employees of our ongoing responsibility to provide translation services at our communities. Site staff is authorized and instructed to offer and utilize translation services for purposes of interpreting to anyone showing up or contacting your property that speaks a foreign language , or that shows signs of limited English proficiency. This includes but is not limited to: Residents, Applicants, Prospects, and applies to any phone calls, email correspondence, and in-person interactions.

Your communities already have access to translation services in your state, most notably through BTB Translation Services, who we have worked with on a long term basis. As a reminder their contact information is provided below.

Btb Language Solutions Inc – 208.906.2996

Additional translation services can be utilized though one or more alternative translation service providers that include but are not limited to the following:

Certified Languages International – 1.800.225.5254

AT&T Language Assistance through Language Line Solutions – 1.800.752.6096

If you have any questions, please contact either Jeff Passadore or myself at 503.450.0230.

*Managers, you are instructed to print this reminder and distribute to all employees at your communities to ensure they are aware of these translation services offered by their community.

May 11, 2016

HR Tip of the Week – Employee Referrals

Cambridge will pay a referral bonus to any employee who refers an applicant to our company who is ultimately hired by the company. The bonus is payable upon completion of the newly hired employee’s introductory period of 90 days. The referring employee must still be employed with the company at the time the bonus is to be given.

We currently have many open positions in the Portland area (both east and west side), so this is a great opportunity for both you and Cambridge!

Please note property managers are not eligible for a referral bonus for positions at their own properties. They will be eligible in the event that they refer an applicant for a position at another Cambridge property.

If you have any questions, please let either Jasmine (jkwatra@cambridgeres.com ) or Brian (bharrison@cambridgeres.com) know.

April 11, 2016April 11, 2016

Properly completing and documenting a Maintenance Request form

As a reminder,

Thoroughly completed Maintenance Request Forms are essential. Every data field on the form must be completed to create an exceptional business record. Special attention should be put forth to document Cambridge’s right to enter the apartment to complete the repair.

Management staff should take the time to review the comments of the responding maintenance technician. All pertinent details regarding the repair must be documented in writing. In addition, it is essential maintenance staff respond to the queries at the bottom of the form.

The yellow copy of the Maintenance Request Form is to be left in the apartment. The white copy of the request should be permanently filed in the Maintenance section of the Unit File in the management office.

Log all Maintenance Requests in the Maintenance Log. Follow the directions found on the EExchange and the inside, front cover of the Maintenance Log book.

Appropriate documentation provides all of us with the following:

Assurance that no request is missed or left incomplete
Compliance with Fair Housing
Data on the frequency, type and volume of requests
An excellent tool for follow-up customer service with residents

Below are examples of both properly and improperly completed maintenance request forms. Also below is Chapter 20 of the Operations Manual for a more detailed overview of the maintenance process.

Maint request – Bad example

Maint request – Good example

Operations Manual – Chapter 20, Maintenance

March 31, 2016

Application Process

As a reminder-

Anyone interested in applying for a conventional or tax credit apartment will go through the same, consistent application process. Key tips to remember include:

Each adult member of household, regardless of marital status, must complete a separate application and pay a separate screening fee (not applicable at HUD properties)
We strongly recommend confirming the applicant has read and understands the criteria for residency.
Have each applicant submit a legible, complete, and accurate application; make sure it is signed.
Carefully review the application (and supplemental compliance paperwork for affordable communities) for completeness and accuracy.
Collect the appropriate and collect the screening fee.
Verify the applicant’s photo identification.
Provide the applicant with a copy of the signed application along with the Criteria for Residency.
If the household contains more than one applicant, submit all applications to the screening company at once and make sure the other household members are named in the appropriate place on each application.

OREGON PROPERTIES ONLY:

All applicants must receive a completed Supplement of Application Form at the time the application and criteria are distributed. This form provides the applicant with a list of all applicable deposits and charges.