Travis County Commssioners Court
May 25, 2004
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Housing Finance Corporation
Let's call to order the Travis County housing finance corporation. 1. Consider results of compliance audit of woodwind chase I and ii apartments, and take appropriate action.
>> good afternoon, I'm harvey Davis, manager for the corporation. We've met several times on this audit. As you will recall last December, we met with the owner of the apartment complex and his representative. At that time you gave the owner 60 days to regain compliance of woodwind chase 1, which used to be called royal crest apartments. And 120 days to regain compliance of woodwind chase ii, which used to be called prime crest apartments. Then I came back to the board in March, last March, after doing an onsite visit of woodwind chase I and reported to you that they had not regained compliance because they were not securing income certifications from all the adult tenants in the apartment complex. They were under the misinterpretation that they only had to secure income certification from one tenant in each apartment. So -- so earlier this month, I went back out and did a -- did another onsite visit of both woodwind chase I and woodwind chase ii. For woodwind chase i, I'm happy to report that they, in my opinion, have regained compliance. I reviewed all of the tenants that have moved in since I was out there in March. And they have significantly improved their reporting system, their documentation of income and income certifications and all of the necessary work that they have to do to -- to -- to properly classify the tenants. So their record keeping system is like night and day from when this audit was started back in September. For woodwind chase ii, which is the one that in December you gave them 120 days to regain compliance. They had -- they have not regained compliance yet of the eligible tenant requirement and if you will recall that is state law in which 90% of the units have to be leased to tenants who are classified as eligible tenants and in this situation it's residents whose income does not exceed 120% of Austin area median income. The -- the -- the principal reason that they have not been able to regain compliance at woodwind chase ii is because of the low occupancy out there. Right now, the occupancy rate is at 57%. And so -- so it's been a slower, getting up to the 90%, the eligible tenants are now at 85%. This apartment complex has 148 units. It's -- so it's not a -- a very big complex. But 72 units are vacant. And what I -- what I would propose that the -- that the board approve me doing to resolve this issue is that they send me each month their tenant roll list and that they have made -- they have made a commitment to me, at least, that they would give the priority to leasing new tenants to vacant units that are out of compliance. In -- in this situation, they are -- there are 18 vacant units that are out of compliance. So they would give priority to leasing those until they reach the 90% figure, they are six units short. If they are -- if for some reason they don't lease one of the vacant units to a non-compliant unit, then they will give an explanation. For example, it could be that -- that the tenant wants a -- wants a one bedroom and there's not a non-compliant one bedroom or they want an upper or lower unit. So I -- I do believe that maybe in the next these or four months they will get those six units in compliance and I would monitor this, you know, on a monthly basis.
>> [indiscernible] the recommendation -- did you share the recommendation with the manager of the apartment?
>> yes, I have gone over the recommendation and they are -- they are in agreement and will comply with that.
>> anybody here from the woodwind chase apartments?
>> one is in compliance, one is not. For the one that is not, you basically recommend monthly monitoring in a manner that you worked out with the apartment manager.
>> that's right. I do not believe another onsite visit is necessary because they -- they are doing a good job of -- of properly certifying the residents as they move in.
>> and when will you -- when would you expect to visit with the court again about this matter? 90 days soon enough.
>> yeah, I would say three or four months, yes.
>> move approval of the recommendation and request that mr. Davis report back to us in 90 day was a status report.
>> second.
>> any more discussion? I was reading your mind wasn't i, mr. Davis on the 90 days?
>> you sure were.
>> all in favor? That passes by unanimous vote. You and I have been working together much too long: there being no further business.
>> move adjourn.
>> all in favor? That passes by unanimous vote. With a full complement of board members here. Now let's call to order the -- that does it, we have a working session planned for this Thursday at 1:30, three very important items.
Last Modified: Friday, May 26, 2004 7:00 PM