April 2002 Owners Update

Owner Update “Question Of The Month”

A tenant has told me that his assistance is in jeopardy because he is in arrears with his Repayment Agreement with TMHA? What is this about?

Sometimes a tenant family will fail to report all the income coming into the family. This can be the result of an oversight or a conscious act to conceal. Unless the action is flagrant, TMHA will usually give the tenant the opportunity to right the situation by repaying the extra dollars that we have paid to you the owner because we did not know of the extra income. This is done through a Repayment Agreement.

The Repayment Agreement is a document entered into between TMHA and the person who owes the debt. It is similar to a promissory note, but contains more details regarding the nature of the debt, the terms of payment, any special provisions of the agreement, and the remedies available to TMHA upon default of the agreement.

At time of execution of the agreement, TMHA will explain to the tenant the
reason(s) for the repayment, and the way in which the repayment amount was calculated. The tenant has a right to see documentation that led to the repayment situation, and can ask for clarification of the repayment amount. When these issues are resolved, the tenant signs and completes the agreement.

TMHA allows the tenant to decide how much and how often repayment will be made. The only stipulations are that the amount of the regular repayment not be less than $5.00, and that at least one payment be made monthly. Our goal is to recover the funds in a way that is not too burdensome to the tenant.

Some other guidelines are:

TMHA retains a running record of repayment balances, and reports such on our State of Ohio audit, A receipt is always given to the tenant for a payment, This is a biggie - tenants must be current on their repayments in order to recertify their annual assistance. This is occasionally a problem for clients who entered into an agreement, and then ignored it. It will catch up with them! Termination of assistance will result for those who ignore repayment agreements, If a tenant leaves the program owing TMHA a repayment balance, we won’t accept them on to the program again until full repayment has been made, TMHA will not move the tenant to another assisted unit, if their repayment is in arrears, A tenant owing money on a repayment cannot get assistance from another housing authority if the second HA learns of the outstanding balance, If the family is in arrears, but has shown a willingness to make payments, TMHA may allow the family to renegotiate the agreement with a smaller, more manageable payment.

Repayment agreements are a way to keep fairness and accountability in the Section 8 program. TMHA wants to send the message that we are willing to work with our tenants to correct an oversight or right a wrong. We also want to send the message that we will be diligent in holding them to their promise to repay. Repaid funds help other families receive needed assistance.