The Property Solutions & Services (PSS) philosophy in housing management is to respond to the particular needs of the resident population we are serving, while meeting the goals of the owners. We offer owners a range of involvement in the management of their properties. One approach is to work as a team, acting more as a consultant and guide to the owner in helping formulate policies, reviewing budgets, responding to the requirements of their funders, while providing daily management of the property. The other extreme is to provide the full range of property management services that meet the goals set for the property while minimizing the involvement of the owner  We tailor our management to the goals of the owner and needs of the property.

As the managing agent of a property, PSS offers the following property management services:

MARKETING OF VACANT APARTMENTS
  • Develop a marketing plan
  • Provide appropriate advertising and marketing materials
  • Show apartments to prospective tenants
  • Take written applications from prospective tenants
  • Review applications against the resident selection criteria
  • Complete the income verifications required by funding organizations
  • Make sure necessary inspections and paper work are done to insure a timely move-in
  • Do move-in and move-out inspections
  • Provide tenant orientations
FINANCIAL
  • Collect, record and deposit rent, and send out late rent notices
  • Make vacancy and/or damage claims
  • Approve and code all bills for payment
  • Pay bills semi-monthly
  • Provide required financial statements to funders in a timely manner
  • Furnish detailed financial statement to owners monthly
  • Develop an annual budget; discuss ways to reduce expenses with the owner
  • Help the owner to prioritize expenses
  • Modify the budget in accordance with the owner’s suggestions
JANITORIAL AND MAINTENANCE
  • Formulate a detailed caretaking program
  • Develop a preventive maintenance schedule
  • Clean, paint, and perform maintenance in apartments upon unit turnovers
  • See that routine, emergency, and preventive maintenance is performed in a timely manner
  • Identify needed repairs and see that the property is well-maintained
  • Work with the owner and the residents to determine areas in which the residents can reduce costs
  • Get bids for items such as snow removal, lawn care, or for large repairs discuss the bids and make recommendations to the owner)
RESIDENT RELATIONS
  • Work with the residents to understand and comply with lease and house rules
  • Provide any termination of tenancies where necessary through negotiation or Eviction Action
  • Facilitate mediation between residents when appropriate
  • Work with residents and their counselors to resolve housing issues
GENERAL MANAGEMENT
  • Assist the owner in arranging for property insurance and file necessary claims
  • Make recommendations to the owner regarding the operations of the property
  • If applicable meet regularly with social service staff to discuss issues related to the housing and the residents if applicable
COMMUNITY RELATIONS
  • Respond to any concerns or issues raised by the neighbors
  • Work with residents and neighbors to understand each other’s needs
  • Work to make residents a positive part of the community
COMPLIANCE
  • Maintain strong working relationships with government housing agencies including but not limited to: HUD, MHFA, AHC, Janken, County Services, City Housing Authorities, CPED departments, banks, and limited partners.
  • Maintain expertise in understanding and complying with funding program requirements including: Section 8, MHFA first mortgages, Housing Tax Credits, LTHIF, MARIF, PARIF and HOME
  • Keep current with changes in program funding requirements
  • Review all applications for compliance with the property’s funding requirements before the application is accepted
  • Track recertification dates to insure timeliness of annual recertifications

Property Solutions & Services, Inc. (PSS) provides comprehensive maintenance services to its properties under management using a combination of in-house maintenance staffing and outside contractors. We can also provide maintenance services to properties that we don’t manage.

IN-HOUSE MAINTENANCE STAFFING

Our maintenance staff is directed by our Director of Facilities and Regional Maintenance Supervisors, using a database that automates and prioritizes maintenance requests and regularly-scheduled preventative maintenance. The system generates work orders which track time spent and materials used, and  provides documentation for property or resident charges.

Maintenance requests are generated either by residents or management staff and are prioritized as follows:

  • Emergency for life safety issues, running water, no heat, etc., addressed immediately.
  • Urgent Maintenance are items that cause serious inconvenience to the resident (e.g., non-working appliances, a clogged sink, a non-working air conditioner), addressed the next business day.
  • Routine Maintenance are non-urgent repairs performed on a designated day each week, increasing efficiency and minimizing costs
  • Preventive Maintenance is scheduled and performed at designated times thoughout the year

After-hours emergency maintenance requests are routed to our emergency maintenance service, which responds to all resident calls within 30 minutes.

Maintenance work is billed at our contract maintenance rate, The properties  are charged only for the time spent on that development. Our goal is to have repairs done in the most cost-effective manner for the development.

SERVICE CONTRACTORS

Outside contractors are used when they can provide better or more cost-effective service for our developments. The service providers used by PSS have proven themselves to be both reliable and competitive on pricing. Typically, we contract out for painting, carpet replacement, replacement of furnaces and hot water heaters, or structural repairs. There are times when we use outside contractors for complicated repairs. Our goal is to always provide the most cost-effective service for the property.

CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS

At the direction of the owner, large capital improvements are typically contracted out.  The site manager and property manager work together to develop specifications for the job and then let bids for the work. All bids are reviewed to determine which company will provide the most professional and cost-effective work.  Bids are presented to the owner for approval. All contractors hired by PSS must be licensed and insured, and provide proof of this before they will be accepted for the job.  All coordination for the repair and any notification of the residents are handled by PSS.  Once the improvement is complete, we inspect that the work has been done accurately and completely prior to payment.

Compliance services are provided as part of our standard property management services package.  We also offer our expertise in this area on a contract basis to owners of properties that we don’t manage.

Given the importance of government funding and the diverse nature of the affordable housing properties we manage, we have developed a strong working relationship with a number of government funding agencies. These funding agencies and programs include HUD, MHFA, AHC, Janken, County Services, City Housing Authorities, CPED departments, banks, and limited partners. The high quality of our relationship with these government funding agencies is demonstrated by the number of affordable housing properties in our current portfolio resulting from agency referrals.

In order to provide the best possible management for affordable housing, we have developed an expertise in understanding and complying with various complex funding program requirements.  We have become highly skilled at verifying the income and assets of applicants and residents, and have designed systems that enable us to provide accurate and timely information to various funding organizations.

Our Occupancy Manager maintains a strong working relationship with all of our funding agencies and stays current with the changes in funding program requirements. The occupancy manager trains all new staff members, keeps current staff updated on new guidelines and reviews all applications for compliance with housing and funding regulations.  For Tax Credit, HOME, and Section 8 properties, all recertifications are reviewed for accuracy. Our Occupancy Manager tracks recertification dates to assure timeliness of annual recertifications.

In addition to making sure the properties we manage are in compliance, we also provide tax credit verifications and monitoring for owners of other properties that we don’t manage. We also act as consultants to assist owners and managers to bring their affordable housing properties back into compliance with funding program requirements.

PSS also provides consulting services and assistance to both profit and non-profit owners and developers of affordable housing.  We provide the following kinds of consulting services, always tailoring our services to the specific needs of our clients.

COMPLIANCE WITH FUNDING

We have more than 20 years experience providing compliance services. We successfully navigate the complex and sometimes inconsistent rules of Section 42 (Housing Tax Credit) and Section 8 programs. We also have over a decade of experience ensuring that projects are in compliance with HOME, CDBG, MARIF, PARIF, HOPWA and SHP funding.

  • Assist organizations in obtaining funding for capital improvements and rent subsidies
  • Help organizations understand the implications and requirements of various funding programs
  • Develop procedures for compliance with regulations
  • Train staff on the procedures and rules to maintain compliance
  • Provide review of and corrections to compliance certifications
  • Coach staff on compliance questions and issues
  • Submit regular reports as required to funders, as required
  • Provide complete occupancy compliance services from initial certification of resident’s income and eligibility for funding to annual reporting of compliance to funders
  • Bring properties back into compliance and clean up resident files which previously did not meet funding guidelines.
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

We provide a full range of property management services to non-profits, including:

  • Aid non-profits in setting up a new property management entity
  • Advise non profits on ways to structure or restructure their current property management division to better achieve their goals
  • Help non-profits dissolve their existing property management services when they determine that is the best course of action

As part of our property management services, we provide full service accounting/ bookkeeping services. We also provide these services as a stand-alone option for entities that want to self manage or for owners not quite large enough to support an in-house accounting department.

Our Director of Accounting Services has more than 15 years experience in the housing industry. In addition to rent collection and bill payment, we provide detailed financial statements that include:

  • Income Statement
  • Balance Sheet
  • Delinquent Rent Report
  • Budget Comparison Report (comparing the income and expenses to the budget)
  • Security Deposit Report (showing all outstanding security deposits and accrued interest)
  • Bank Reconciliation Report and Bank Statements
  • Payables Register
  • Check Register
  • Deposit Register