Resident Eligibility

Welcome to our Community and thank you for choosing us for your new home!

In order to approve your application, we have guidelines that help us to process and determine approval for residency. The procedures used for the selection of residents shall be implemented in compliance with Section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code, the Iowa Finance Authority Regulatory Agreement and all other applicable federal statutes and regulations.

NON-DISCRIMINATION
The Management Agent shall comply with Federal State and Local Fair Housing and Civil Rights laws. Federal laws forbid discrimination based on race, color, national origin, gender, handicap or familial status, creed, sexual orientation, gender identity and retaliation.

ELIGIBILITY
Applicants applying for housing under the Section 42 program must meet the follow eligibility requirements.

• All applicants (age 18 and older) must fill out a separate application packet and be willing to submit to a credit, rental history and criminal background inquiry, as well as income and asset verifications. Refer to Exhibit A below for credit and criminal eligibility.
• The households annual income may not exceed the applicable income limit. Refer to attached Exhibit B for the current income guidelines.
• An application fee of $20.00 per applicant must be paid before assigning a spot on the wait list, an address and/or processing of the application.
• To be financially eligible, the households total gross income must be verifiable and documented via third party. Other sources of verification may be used only after all resources have been exhausted to obtain the third party verification.
• The total Household Verified Annual Gross income must be adequate evidence that income for the 12-month period following the initial occupancy is not anticipated to exceed the current income limits published for the Program eligibility.
• The Households Monthly Gross income must be at least 2 times the monthly rent amount. Section 8 Voucher holders need not meet the minimum gross income criteria.
• If Household is composed of entirely ALL full-time students (Kindergarten thru College) and does not meet one of the exceptions outlines in the Section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code, such household is not considered eligible for the program. Refer to Exhibit C below for full-time student exceptions.

 
WAIT LIST
The property shall be rented up and occupancy maintained on a first-come, first-serve basis. All persons wishing to be admitted to this community must comply with the steps listed above in the Eligibility section.

• The initial application shall be times and dated when received and the Property Manager shall maintain a chronological list of all applicants at the rental office.
• Applicants shall be admitted, placed on the waitlist, or rejected.
• Potentially eligible and acceptable applicants for whom the right size unit is not available shall be placed on the waiting list.
• Applicants will be notified upon unit availability and have the opportunity to decline the first apartment offered and retain the place on the waiting list.
• Should an applicant decline the next available unit, the applicant will be moved to the bottom of the waiting list.
• The waiting list will be reviewed every 120 days. Each applicant will receive a letter from the Property requesting updated information and ask about continued interest. This letter must be returned within 10 days of date sent or the applicant will be removed from the wait list.
• It is the responsibility of the Applicant to maintain a current address with the office in order to receive waiting list correspondence.
• The waiting list will remain open until there are sufficient families as determined by the Management Agent that the wait for housing would be at least 1-year long.
• Prior to closing the waiting list, the Management Agent will run an ad in the local newspaper for 2 subsequent weekends its intention of opening or closing the wait list on the prescribed date.

 
ASSIGNING UNITS FOR PERSONS WITH PHYSICAL DISABILITIES
The property will always give a household that have indicated a need for certain unit accommodations, because of a disability, the option for the household to decide whether a unit meets the needs of the members. The property will notify the household whenever any unit becomes available, without regard to unit accessibility. The property will never prohibit an eligible household with a member who has a disability from accepting a suitable non-accessible unit if no accessible unit is available when the household reaches the top of the waiting list. If the household decides to accept a standard unit, s/he may request some modification to the unit as a reasonable accommodation.

• When a unit becomes available, the property will first offer the unit to an individual with disabilities who is currently residing in a non-accessible unit who requires the features of the unit. If there is no such current resident, the property will offer the unit to the next qualified applicant on the waiting list who needs features of the accessible unit.
• When neither a current resident nor the qualified applicant requests the features of an available unit, the property will offer the unit to another resident or applicant and will incorporate as an addendum to the lease, an agreement that the resident will move to a non-accessible unit within the property when one becomes available. This addendum will also cover whether the resident or the property will pay for the cost of such move.  
• The property will consider requests for reasonable accommodations from applicants/residents with disabilities, in order that they may benefit from the use and enjoyment of the community.

OTHER INFORMATION

• Government issued photo identification is required from at least one applicant in order to view an apartment home.
• Your administrative fee and/or security deposit is refundable. Your application fee is nonrefundable.
• You are strongly advised to hold a minimum of $100,000 in liability insurance coverage prior to the signing of your lease.

Occupancy Standards:
 
a) The apartment home may be occupied by up to three (3) persons per one bedroom
apartment, five (5) persons per two bedroom apartment, seven (7) persons per three
bedroom apartment or nine (9) persons per four bedroom apartment. Rooms such
as dens, studios, or bonus rooms should be counted as bedrooms for the
purposes of this occupancy guideline.
b) In the event a child less than the age of twelve (12) months becomes a member of a
household and the addition of such child would otherwise cause such a household to
exceed the general occupancy guidelines described in subparagraph (a) above, such
household shall be permitted to remain in its current apartment unit (a) the expiration
of the households current lease or (b) the end of the calendar month during which
the child becomes twelve (12) months old, whichever is later.
c) In the event any request to exceed the general occupancy limits set forth in
subparagraphs (a) and (b) above, Buckingham Management, LLC, will consider such
a request on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration factors such as the
number and size of the sleeping areas or bedrooms, the overall size of the dwelling
unit and other special circumstances (including, but not limited to, maximum
occupancy limits imposed by applicable federal, state or local law, regulation or
ordinance) when determining appropriate occupancy for an apartment.
 
GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE
Management will follow the grievance process in compliance with requirements set forth in the HUD Handbook 4350.3 when rejecting an application, management will:

• Provide notification in writing of reasons for rejection
• Inform the applicant they have 14 days to request in writing a meeting to discuss the rejection
• Participate through a representative in an informal meeting
• Provide a written determination to the applicant within 10 days of the meeting

 
EXHIBIT A: RENT GROW CRITERIA FOR CREDIT AND CRIMINAL ELIGIBILITY
 
CRITERIA DESCRIPTION

• Score only the previous 1 year of Collections, Charge-Offs, Judgments, Open Bankruptcy
• Score only the previous 1 year of late payments
• Score only the previous 6 months of closed (discharged) bankruptcy
• Do not score Student Loans
• Do not score Medical Debt
• Do not score Account Balances under $100.00
• Do not pull from 2nd bureau

 
CREDIT RECOMMENDATIONS
Limited Established Credit (Accept Applicant)
No Established Credit (Accept Applicant)
Minor (Accept Applicant)
Moderate (Accept with Conditions: 1/2 Months Rent)
High (Accept with Conditions: Full Months Rent)
Severe (Reject Applicant)
No SSN (Accept Applicant)
 
INCOME CRITERIA
Rent to Income Ratio Recommendation
Less than 45% (Accept Applicant)
Over 45% (Reject Applicant)
 
APARTMENT COMMUNITY FILTER
Amount Scoring
Total in last 84 months exceeding $1.00 (Decline)
1 or More (on Credit Report) (Decline)
 
OTHER CRITERIA
Non-Credit Factors Type of Applicant History Action
Rental History Negative Housing History (Reject)
Employment History Negative Employment History (Reject)
Other Rejectable Criminal History (Reject)
Other Applicant knowingly provided false information on the application (Reject)
 
EXHIBIT C
STUDENT EXCEPTIONS
If the household is currently comprised entirely of persons who are FULL-TIME students (kindergarten and higher), anticipates becoming a FULL-TIME student household in the next 12 months, or consisted entirely of persons who were FULL-TIME students for parts of five or more months out of the current calendar year then one of the following exceptions must be met.

1. Household is currently receiving assistance under Title IV of the Social Security Act.

• This would be cash assistance received through Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

 
2. Applicant is enrolled in a job training program receiving assistance through the Job Training Participation Act (JTPA) or other similar program.

• This DOES NOT include On-the-job training.

 
3. Applicants are married and entitled to file a joint tax return.
 
4. Household consists entirely of single parent(s) with a depend child(ren) and neither the parent(s) nor the child(ren) are dependents of another individual with the exception that the child(ren) may be claimed by the absent parent.
 
5. Applicant was previously under the care and placement responsibility of the state agency responsible for administering foster care.