THE KEYS TO BUCKINGHAM PALACE
Earlier this week, the Town of Mammoth’s new Community Development Director Nolan Bobroff provided the following document regarding housing eligibility for the first phase of The Parcel (“The Sawyer”).
The Sawyer Documentation Tenants Must Provide:
• Check or Money Order for $30 PER adult in the household for Application Processing Fee
• Photo ID for Every Adult in Household (We will take a photocopy)
• Birth Certificate for Every Minor in Household (We will take a photocopy)
• Social Security Cards for Every Household Member (We will take a photocopy)
• Current Income Documentation.
If Income is from Employment – we will need your most current three months of
consecutive pay stubs. If paid monthly we need 3 stubs, if paid bi-weekly we need 7 stubs. They must be consecutive and the most recent.
As an example, if an applicant comes in at the beginning of March – they will need to provide all paystubs for February, January, and December.
If income is from Social Security or SSI – we will need a current award letter that is less than 30 days old.
If income is from a business – we will need your most recent taxes and a profit and loss statement.
If income is from cash aid – we will need a Passport to Services less than 30 days Old.
If income is retirement or Veterans benefits – we will need a current statement of amounts.
If you were one of the initial 150 households contacted by Buckingham Property Management regarding potential tenancy for The Parcel—the much anticipated 25-acre affordable housing project at the west end of Tavern Road—these requirments look familiar.
Buckingham began reaching out to households on the housing project’s interest list during the week of March 4 in order to schedule intake interviews for the following week of March 11. To determine eligibility, candidates were required to provide documentation as to verify household income, residency, and employment status.
The full list of eligibility requirements and project updates can be found by visiting https://www.townofmammothlakes.ca.gov/883/FAQ.
Eligible Income Range
According to the Town website, for this first phase of The Parcel, the eligible income range depends on household size, but will be “up to 80% Area Median Income [AMI]” and accommofate those who make between $17,000-$75,000/year.”
It’s important to note that AMI thresholds are not determined by Buckingham staff. Nor are they determined by the Town of Mammoth Lakes.
“These projects use federal and state dollars,” explained Mammoth Lakes Town Council Member, Amanada Rice. “So, those limits are federally- and state-set.”
Candidates, then, that both had priority on the interest list and passed the sniff test insofar as aligning with the mandated income thresholds and Buckingham’s documentation parameters, were given a tentative move-in date of late April for “The Sawyer” units—comprising Building ‘B’ (15 units) and Building ‘A’ (65 units, and additional facilities).
However, on March 20—nearly a week after Buckingham had conducted its initial intake screenings—housing developer and project overseer, Pacific West Communities, reported to Town Council that, while Building ‘B’ would in fact be ready by end of April, the larger Building ‘A’ wouldn’t be ready for occupancy until July due to construction delays.
When Regional Director of Buckingham Property Management Jennie Reed visited the construction site during the week of tenant interviews, it was apparent that even the smaller of the two buildings would not be ready for occupancy until May.
And as with any crisis, in the case of Mammoth Lakes affordable housing, timing really is everything.
“I’m being transparent,” said Reed, the Regional Director of Buckingham Property Management. “There are people that are very frustrated they came to the appointment—brought their pay stubs, their documents, and now are being told they won’t get housing until July … I get it.”
According to Reed, the interview and verification process for potential tenants is extensive.
Candidates are contacted for their intake appointment, based on their position on the interest list. From there, candidates must report both assets and income. If a candidate is actively employed, they may be required to present three months of consecutive, back-to-back pay stubs. Additional verification information is also requested from their employer. For those dependent on Social Security or cash aid, an award letter is required. Then there’s the criminal background check. And the confirmation of two years of “housing history.”
For all of it, Reed explained that there’s a specific—and relatively narrow—window of time in which these documents, as presented by potential tenants, are verifiable for affordable housing qualification.
“What we were being told was that we would have both buildings [ready] in April,” said Reed. “That was our reason for picking the date to start processing.”
But, explained Reed, tenant processing and construction don’t always function in lockstep. From the property management side, candidates’ documentation has to be dated within 120 days of when the tenant physically signs their lease.
“That means that basically everyone who collected paperwork for the bigger building will have to redo their paperwork,” said Reed. “Right now, we’re just working through the people that were first in line for the smaller building—for the most part, all of those units are slated.”
For now, all other potential tenants are “on hold” until the end of April or beginning of May.
“We’ll have to reach out to those people again … schedule to have them sign fresh-dated paperwork, and collect additional pay stubs,” said Reed. “It’s exactly what we were trying to avoid.”
To make things more interesting, springtime in Mammoth is defined by “nomadic employment.” The seasons change, and so too does seasonal employment. Schedules change. Hours get cut.
For Reed, the name of the game in the application and interview process is capturing the most accurate understanding of a tenant’s situation, as possible.
“We don’t want to waste anyone’s time … collecting documents right now. We need documents that [refer[ to April, May, and June if we’re moving [people] in, beginning of July,” said Reed. “And that was one of the huge concerns from the community—hours were really high during the months we were collecting pay stubs (January, February, and March).”
So the delay could actually be a blessing in disguise for many candidates.
The Sheet asked Reed if, in her experience working in property management, she had encountered people “gaming the system”—making agreements with their employer to take their name off the shift, or fudging their hours for a month or three so they can massage their profile to meet the housing project’s eligibility requirements.
“There are people that I would describe, more legitimately, as trying to make life decisions [rather] than game the system,” said Reed.
Reed used the example of one potential tenant she met with, during a scheduled appointment. He was already working two jobs when one of his employers—Mammoth Mountain—offered to bump him up to full-time. He’d figured out how to make the schedules work, and needed the income, but configuring those additional hours would put him over the income threshold for The Sawyer.
“He told me he’d really have to think about it,” said Reed. “And those are the decisions people are having to make.”
Because The Parcel is a tax credit property, tenants are required to completely re-certify their eligibility, annually. Within 120 days prior to the anniversary of a tenant’s move-in, Buckingham verifies that a tenant’s income and assets are within the qualifying range.
“And if someone ends up being over the income limits at that time, we do have to ask them to leave the property because they were not qualified for the whole 12 months,” said Reed. “So it’s not as easy as skewing a few pay stubs.”
