Initial Lease-up

Your available unit.

The prospective tenant finds YOU / YOUR UNIT. It is illegal for MHA to refer tenants to you.   We urge landlords/owners to list their units at www.georgiahousingsearch.org, a free service to tenants and landlords alike. If you are not a current landlord on our program, please see “How To Become A Landlord” for more information on this set-up process.

The Initial Inspection

Upon acceptance of the RFTA Packet [3550], your prospective tenant will meet with the caseworker. If the caseworker determines this unit is otherwise affordable for this participant and meets HUD affordability criteria, the inspection will be set up in our software for an inspection. The inspector will contact the landlord/manager identified on the RFTA and will call that person in order to gain access to the proposed unit. You will be notified via email when the caseworker has accepted the RFTA, what are the expected rent portions by MHA and the tenant, and that the unit has been entered into the software for the assigned inspector.

At a convenient date and time that you established with the inspector, he/she will inspect your unit according to HUD Housing Quality Standards (HQS) plus additional provisions in our Administrative Plan (see Admin Plan, Chapter 8, Landlord Workshop and/or HCV Landlords, General HQS). The inspector will certainly share his observations with you or your representative, but MHA now utilizes mobile inspection devices to more efficiently record results notices to landlords and tenants.

If any deficiencies are noted, a contract cannot be offered until these items are resolved and you have arranged a re-inspection with the inspector. If the unit fails upon the re-inspection, or, we have not been notified that a re-inspection is needed within 30 days, we will reject the unit and allow the prospective tenant to seek other suitable housing.

Executing the HAP

If the unit passes, you will see a Pass status on the Landlord Portal but will also receive an email from the Inspections Coordinator that the unit has passed. This email will also advise that you will be contacted by the caseworker who will request  an executed Lease and will ask you to execute a HAP (Housing Assistance Payment contract).   When both the lease and the executed HAP are received, the assistance is finalized and you will receive your portion of the HAP on the next check run.

Checklist for the Lease-Up process

ü  RFTA accepted; email confirmation from caseworker;

ü  Inspection is completed; unit passes;

ü  Landlord Portal results; email confirmation from results;

ü  Executed lease is submitted to caseworker;

ü  Caseworker coordinates with LL to execute HAP;

ü  Check runs = direct deposits; direct deposits are made on or about the third and the fifteenth of each month.