TCS Fair Housing and Lease Requirements 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What must a LIHTC lease include regarding the income and rent limitations of the property?
- A disclosure that the unit is subject to LIHTC restrictions (Correct answer)
- The exact dollar amount of the tax credit received by the owner
- Contact information for the IRS
- The owner's partnership agreement
Correct answer: A disclosure that the unit is subject to LIHTC restrictions
LIHTC leases must include a disclosure informing tenants that the unit is part of a tax credit program with income and rent restrictions.
Question 2: A tenant with a mobility disability requests a ground-floor unit that is currently occupied. The owner must:
- Immediately evict the current tenant to accommodate the request
- Place the requesting tenant on a waiting list and offer the next available accessible unit (Correct answer)
- Deny the request because it would require displacing another tenant
- Refer the tenant to a different property with accessible units available
Correct answer: Place the requesting tenant on a waiting list and offer the next available accessible unit
The owner must offer the next available accessible unit to the tenant with a disability and maintain them on a waiting list in the interim.
Question 3: A property applies a policy requiring all applicants to have a credit score above 650. This could constitute discrimination if:
- It was adopted after the property opened
- It has a disparate impact on a protected class without business justification (Correct answer)
- The threshold was not approved by HUD
- Applicants were not informed in writing
Correct answer: It has a disparate impact on a protected class without business justification
Neutral policies that disproportionately affect protected classes may violate the Fair Housing Act under the disparate impact theory unless there is a legitimate business justification.
Question 4: Under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), LIHTC properties must:
- Evict tenants who are victims of domestic violence
- Provide emergency transfers and protections for survivors of domestic violence (Correct answer)
- Report domestic violence incidents to local law enforcement
- Screen out applicants with records of domestic violence complaints
Correct answer: Provide emergency transfers and protections for survivors of domestic violence
VAWA requires housing providers to offer emergency transfers and prohibits denying housing or evicting tenants solely because they are victims of domestic violence.
Question 5: A LIHTC lease addendum is required to address which compliance-specific item?
- The owner's tax credit application details
- The tenant's obligation to provide annual income documentation for recertification (Correct answer)
- The investor's partnership equity contribution schedule
- The state agency's contact information for complaints
Correct answer: The tenant's obligation to provide annual income documentation for recertification
LIHTC leases typically include an addendum requiring tenants to provide income documentation annually for recertification purposes.
Question 6: What is the legal standard for a reasonable modification under the Fair Housing Act?
- The modification must be approved by the state housing agency
- The tenant may make structural changes at their own expense if disability-related (Correct answer)
- Modifications are only required for units in federally assisted properties
- The owner must pay for all disability-related modifications
Correct answer: The tenant may make structural changes at their own expense if disability-related
Under the Fair Housing Act, tenants may make reasonable structural modifications to their unit at their own expense for disability-related needs, and owners generally cannot refuse.
TCS Fair Housing and Lease Requirements 2
What must a LIHTC lease include regarding the income and rent limitations of the property?