HDC - Item 2 - Revised Tenant Selection Criteria for Garvey Senior Housing ProjectMemorandum
To: Bill Crowe, Executive Director
From: Stephen Copenhaver, GRC
Date: July 17, 2002
Subject: Revised Tenant Selection Criteria for Garvey Senior
Housing Project
Attached, please find a copy of the tenant selection criteria for the Garvey Senior
Housing Project that reflects the discussion at the Board meeting of July 9, 2002.
Although Board action on the tenant selection criteria was continued to the July 23rd
meeting, the Board expressed interest in exploring the possibility of bringing the
selection criteria in conformance with the PRWORA commonly referred to as the
Welfare Reform Act. This federal law became effective in August of 1996; however,
to date, not all federal departments have adopted administrative regulations for
implementing the law. The lack of administrative regulations implementing the law
represents some risk that the criteria could be challenged, but Agency Counsel believes
that Board's attempt to apply a federal law that has been in place for six years is a
reasonable position for the Board to take. The revised tenant selection criteria now
contains a provision that requires all applicants for rental units to be U.S. citizens or
permanent legal aliens as defined in the Welfare Reform Act.
If the revised selection criteria achieves the Board's goals for bringing the selection
criteria in compliance with the most recent federal law, the property managers will
commence processing applications and selecting tenants in the order that they appear
on the waiting list. The property managers have advised us that the vast majority of
the applicants on the waiting list are U.S. citizens or permanent legal aliens although
preliminary information submitted by the applicants has yet to be verified. This
indicates that few, if any, applicants will be impacted by the revised criteria. The
waiting list was initiated upon achieving lease up at the Angelus Senior Housing
Complex. Since many of the applicants with interest in the project have been in the
country and the local area for more than a couple of years, they most likely would
meet the criteria in federal law.
The property managers believe that lease -up of the complex will require approximately
45 to 60 days and another 30 days or so to accomplish actual move -in.
JUL 2 3 2002
ITEM No.
HOUSING AGENDA
July 17, 2002
Page 2
Attached are the following documents: the revised Tenant Selection Criteria and the
original staff report from the July 9" Meeting.
Recommendation
Direct staff to: a) proceed with pre - leasing efforts verifying incomes following the
procedures outlined in the July 9th staff report; and b) approve the attached revised
Summary of Tenant Qualifications and Selection Criteria.
The following Criteria have been adopted by the RHDC Board to establish the
minimum age, income, residency, health standard and the maximum level of
financial assets for suitable tenants. These criteria are as follows:
Minimum Qualifications
• Citizenship/Oualified Alien Status: All applicants shall be U.S. citizens or
be qualified aliens, as defined at 8 U.S.C. section 1641, eligible for Federal
public benefits under the provisions of the Personal Responsibility and
Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act ( "PROWA "), commonly referred to
as the Welfare Reform Act.
• Age: 62 years or older for at least one occupant and 45 years or older for
co- applicants and live -in attendants for the handicapped.
• Maximum The maximum income shall be 40% of area median income as
adjusted for household size. The minimum income shall be $8,800 per
year. For calendar year 2002 the maximum income for a single occupant
would be $13,120 and the maximum income for a two- person household
would be $15,000.
• Residency: Each tenant shall have been a Rosemead resident for six
months preceding the application submission date. This criteria shall apply
to multiple person households as well as single person households.
• Health Suitable for independent apartment living.
• Maximum Assets Ownership of no other real estate and no more than
$20,000 per individual in liquid assets such as stocks, cash deposits, bonds,
etc.
• Existin¢ Housing Assistance Applicants shall not have lived in another
subsidized unit or benefited from another rental assistance program for one
year prior to submitting an application.
• Rent: Consistent with the Angelus project at $250 - $300 per month for a
one - bedroom and $450 for two- bedroom units. Two bedroom units will be
reserved for not less than two occupants.
• Handicapped Handicapped adapted units will be reserved for
handicapped residents only and be selected in order of filing of
applications.