LIHTC Ethical Standards & Professional Conduct 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A LIHTC property's resident services coordinator learns a tenant is experiencing domestic violence. Under ethical professional standards, what is the priority consideration?
- Report the situation to the owner before taking any action
- Protect tenant confidentiality while connecting them to resources and honoring VAWA protections (Correct answer)
- Document the situation in the tenant file to create a record for potential eviction
- Contact law enforcement immediately regardless of the tenant's wishes
Correct answer: Protect tenant confidentiality while connecting them to resources and honoring VAWA protections
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) protects LIHTC tenants experiencing domestic violence, and staff must prioritize confidentiality and survivor-centered support.
Question 2: In a LIHTC partnership, what constitutes a breach of the general partner's duty of care?
- Hiring a third-party property management company to oversee operations
- Failing to maintain required minimum set-aside compliance due to willful neglect (Correct answer)
- Distributing cash flow to limited partners after reserves are fully funded
- Refinancing partnership debt to obtain a lower interest rate
Correct answer: Failing to maintain required minimum set-aside compliance due to willful neglect
Willful neglect of compliance obligations, such as failing to maintain set-aside requirements, breaches the general partner's duty of care to the partnership.
Question 3: A LIHTC owner is pressured by a city official to lease a specific unit to the official's associate. What is the ethical response?
- Comply as long as the associate meets income and household size requirements
- Refuse, document the request, and report it to the appropriate oversight authority (Correct answer)
- Agree conditionally and place the associate on the waiting list like other applicants
- Request that the official submit the request in writing before making any decision
Correct answer: Refuse, document the request, and report it to the appropriate oversight authority
Selecting tenants based on political pressure rather than neutral criteria violates fair housing and program integrity rules and must be reported.
Question 4: Which behavior by a LIHTC property management employee constitutes a violation of professional conduct toward applicants?
- Explaining the income certification process in the applicant's primary language
- Requiring applicants of one nationality to provide more documentation than others (Correct answer)
- Maintaining a written waitlist policy that is available to all applicants
- Notifying applicants of their right to request a reasonable accommodation
Correct answer: Requiring applicants of one nationality to provide more documentation than others
Requiring additional documentation from applicants of a particular national origin is discriminatory and violates fair housing laws and professional conduct standards.
Question 5: Under California law and LIHTC ethical guidelines, a property manager who learns of a habitability defect has an obligation to:
- Inform the tenant only when the defect poses an immediate safety risk
- Disclose the defect promptly, make repairs within a reasonable time, and document all actions (Correct answer)
- Withhold disclosure until the landlord's insurance adjuster completes an inspection
- Repair the defect only if the tenant formally requests it in writing
Correct answer: Disclose the defect promptly, make repairs within a reasonable time, and document all actions
California law and professional ethics require prompt disclosure of habitability defects, timely repair, and complete documentation.
Question 6: A LIHTC developer submits a cost certification that excludes certain eligible basis items to keep the project's credit amount below a politically sensitive threshold. This is:
- Acceptable if the developer discloses the decision to the allocating agency
- An ethical violation because cost certifications must accurately reflect all eligible costs (Correct answer)
- Required if the project received a gap loan from a public agency
- Standard practice to avoid triggering a basis limitation review
Correct answer: An ethical violation because cost certifications must accurately reflect all eligible costs
Cost certifications must accurately reflect all eligible costs; intentionally excluding eligible basis items misrepresents the project to the allocating agency.
Question 7: When LIHTC staff observes a co-worker asking a prospective tenant questions about their religion during an application screening, the ethical response is to:
- Ignore the incident since the co-worker is more senior
- Intervene to stop the questioning and report the incident to management immediately (Correct answer)
- Document the incident privately but take no action unless it happens again
- Ask the prospective tenant whether they want to file a formal complaint
Correct answer: Intervene to stop the questioning and report the incident to management immediately
Questioning applicants about religion during screening is a fair housing violation, and observing staff are obligated to intervene and report the incident.
LIHTC Ethical Standards & Professional Conduct 4
A LIHTC property's resident services coordinator learns a tenant is experiencing domestic violence.
Under ethical professional standards, what is the priority consideration?