CEO MTW Landlord Update
A note from Interim CEO Terril Bates:
“Property Owners/Managers:
On behalf of the Greenville Housing Authority, I would like to thank you for participating in the Housing Choice Voucher Program. TGHA assists over 3000 households in the Greenville area because you provide housing opportunities that are at the core of the lives of these families. TGHA has issued over $25 million in rental assistance payments on behalf of these families to property owners like yourselves. Many of these households represent families whose members are elderly, disabled, or veterans. A significant portion of the population we serve works in the service sector in our community. Again, your participation in the program makes housing possible for them.
During the past few months, there has been an intense focus on correcting issues with payments, inspections, and HAP contracts. I certainly understand and appreciate that there may have been some frustration in working with TGHA in some of these areas. I hope that any outstanding issues have been corrected. If there are remaining unresolved issues that require attention, please send an email to [email protected], and a copy will be sent to me at [email protected]. We have onboarded an experienced HCV Director, Candice Tollison, who can be reached at [email protected], as well as an HCV Manager, Lee Bivings, who can be reached at [email protected].
We are currently undergoing a transition to a new software called Yardi. It is well known in the affordable housing and property management arena. Ultimately, it will make all of our processes more efficient. As with any significant conversion, there may be glitches and a learning curve for users. We do not want this conversion to impact your payments or other critical processes. Please get in touch with us immediately regarding issues that arise at [email protected]. Please feel free to contact Ms. Tollison or myself should there be a need for escalation. You will be requested to sign up in the Yardi portal so that you can have access to data related to your tenants and other vital resources.
Our Moving to Work designation requires participants to engage in education or employment. We will be working on implementing several actions designed to support this effort. More importantly, we have signed on to be a “Landlord Cohort,” which focuses on improved relationships and outcomes with landlords for the project. Benefits like vacancy loss and damage claim payments, tri-annual inspection options, incentives for first-time owners, and rents exceeding the usual payment standards have been adopted. We want a few owners to serve on an MTW Committee to voice owner perspectives regarding our services and progress. If you would like to participate, please get in touch with me at [email protected].
This year, the inspection protocol will change to a new HUD platform called NSPIRE. There will be a workshop and links to videos for those who cannot attend. Information will be provided on our website as well. We look forward to your continued participation in providing safe, decent, and sanitary housing for the HCV participants.
Sincerely,
Terril Bates
Interim Chief Executive Officer“