Lease & Property Management Policies
April 27, 2021
Tacoma Housing Authority (THA) changed the funding of its homes under Public Housing to a project-based voucher through a program called RAD. This change in funding means a few good things for our communities:
- We will update our properties using $40 million in private dollars.
- Over the next 18 months, each home will receive some upgrades. This is one of the reasons there have been so many inspections recently.
- We will improve the exterior painting at Salishan, the community rooms and hallways at our high-rise buildings, the playground equipment at Bergerson Terrace and Dixon Village, and the landscaping at all of our properties.
- With these upgrades, rent will remain the same (unless there has or have been a household change that would cause a change in rent calculation).
- After 12 months on this new program, households will be eligible to move to another home in Tacoma with a Housing Opportunity Program (HOP) voucher. This program is similar to Section 8.
We will need the help of our tenants to complete all of the paperwork necessary for THA to access these new federal and private dollars. We will also need to make more visits to homes to assess the work that will need to be completed over the next 18 months. We apologize in advance for these inconveniences. Below is a list of what we’ll be asking for before the end of the year.
We will need to change your lease and THA’s policies to conform to the new program.
These changes mean:
- There will be some new lease terms. There is more detail about this later in this letter.
- Public Housing leases will end, and we will need to send a 30-day notice telling all tenants that. This notice will go out at the beginning of November. Tenants will not have to move, but will need to sign a new lease before November 30th in order to stay in their home.
- THA will hold a number of meetings in October to answer questions about the new lease and about the RAD program.
- In November, tenants will be given the new lease to sign. They will be able to sign it online, in our offices, or at a one-on-one appointment.
- Also beginning in October, new paperwork about updating tenant income will go out for some households. This paperwork is for other new funding that is going into the property. This funding is through a low-income tax credit program that will help pay for the work in the homes. All of this paperwork will need to be done by the end of October. Tenants will need to sign a certification that the income THA verified is correct. This will need to be done before the end of November.
- Throughout the end of the year, we will be making more inspections related to work that will be completed in 2016.
- We might begin to talk to some tenants about temporary relocation. If a lot of work is planned for a home, we might need to ask that tenant to stay in another unit or hotel for a few days up to a few weeks. THA would pay for any costs for this. We’ll give plenty of notice about any need to move temporarily and we might start these conversations before the end of the year.
Below is the new lease information: