Beacon prides itself on building vibrant communities, providing housing to a range of income levels, including affordable housing. We have a multifaceted approach to supporting affordable housing which includes community service and partnership with a variety of nonprofit organizations.
Beacon has developed extensive experience managing multi-family properties associated with the Affordable Housing Program, sponsored by state and local municipal government agencies. Predominantly, the properties are financed by tax exempt or tax credit bonds which are accompanied by regulatory agreements identifying the extent of the very low, low and moderate-income requirements of the residents and the associated percentage of occupancy requirements. Beacon manages properties with 20/50, 40/60 and 75/80 set aside requirements within the entire State of California, with various monitoring agencies scrutinizing property compliance.
To meet these requirements, Beacon must obtain a Tenant Income Certification (TIC) for each existing resident and prospective new resident until compliance is achieved. These forms and the information required can vary widely by state and municipality. To ensure adherence to the compliance requirements as identified in the regulatory agreements, Beacon employs a Director of Compliance.
The Director of Compliance establishes the onsite procedures for accomplishing the task of collecting resident information, maintenance of the files, auditing of the forms for accuracy and completeness of information and, finally, submission of the monthly reports to the various monitoring agencies and owners. In all cases, particularly properties financed with tax-credit bonds, the penalties for non-compliance are onerous and present grounds for termination of the property manager. To date, Beacon has not been removed as manager on any AHP property.
Beacon has had an extensive background in the management of tax credit and bond financed affordable housing communities. Some of these programs were first of their kind in the country, and required the Beacon team to determine new ways to certify residents, for which Beacon had to obtain specific TCAC approval. Based on the uniqueness of these programs and Beacon’s ability to think outside of the box in determining new means to achieve affordability requirements, Beacon was awarded the nationally recognized 2001 Tax Credit Excellence Award.
In addition to onsite compliance issues, the property managers must operate the properties within specific financial parameters to meet the Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR) predetermined by the underwriters and identified in the regulatory agreement and trust indenture. The operating budget prepared by Beacon and approved by the owner acts as the operating guideline with Beacon’s Regional Managers, affecting fiscal control to maintain profitability.
Beacon also manages properties with HUD financing. These properties are accompanied by various affordable programs and require strict adherence to operational and reporting requirements.
In the aforementioned properties, annual audits are conducted to ensure accuracy and integrity in financial reporting and compliance with affordable housing requirements.
Although these properties are financed with an instrument requiring an element of affordability, Beacon does not deviate from managing these communities with strict operating procedures to maintain the qualification standards of each resident, provide resident services and property maintenance to ensure a clean, safe environment in which the residents can live.
