N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 9 §§ 1642-4.3

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 45, November 2, 2024

Section 1642-4.3 - Tenants accounts receivable ledger

This record has been given the short title, tenants ledger. The procedures described herein are generally applicable to all types of operations.

(a) Preparation of ledger. The preparation of the tenants ledger sheets, the assigning of account numbers, and the arrangement of the sheets by account numbers has been described in section 1642-3.13, to which reference should be made.

(b) New accounts. As described in section 1642-3.13, a new tenants ledger sheet is prepared as a unit or space is leased. The authorization for a charge to a new tenant moving in shall be a move-in and collect notice (Exhibit 32, Appendix S-8) prepared and approved by the project manager. A charge to a tenant transferring from one unit to another shall, be supported by a move-out notice (Exhibit 33, Appendix S-8) and move-in and collect notice, prepared and approved by the project manager. The pro rata rent specified in the move-in notice shall be checked against the pro rata rent schedule to ascertain the correctness of the computation. Referring to the pro rata rent schedule, outlined in section 1642-4.2, where the effective date of tenancy of a tenant moving into a dwelling unit with an authorized monthly rent of $19.95 was June 2, the pro rata rent charge to the tenant for the balance of the month would be $19.29.

(c) Posting monthly rent charges. As of the first day of the month, there shall be posted to each tenant's account, the authorized monthly rent appearing in the heading of the tenants ledger sheet or card. The authorized monthly rent consists of the basic rent and the rent surcharge, if any. It will not be necessary to post the basic rent and the surcharge separately. Simultaneously, all units vacant or vacated on the last day of the preceding month shall be listed, by account number, in the rent roll and vacancy loss control book (Exhibit 26, Appendix S-8), the full monthly basic rent being entered in the vacancy loss debit column (column 18). The sum of the total charges to tenants accounts and to vacancy losses, as determined by an adding machine tape, shall agree with the total authorized dwelling rent roll, as of even date, as reflected in the rent roll and vacancy loss control book. Interim rent charges shall be posted to the tenants ledger from move-in, and move-out notices, and rent change authorizations, signed by the project manager. In order to post the rental charges before the first day of the month, it may be necessary to close the last day's business early. If this practice is followed, subsequent transactions that day shall be dated as of the first day of the following month.

(d) Collections.

(1) In most instances, tenants will be required to pay a full month's rent prior to occupancy. In the instance cited in subdivision (b) above, a tenant moving into a unit with an authorized monthly rental of $19.95 would be charged to $19.29 for the remaining part of the month if the effective date of occupancy was June 2. Prior to occupancy, the tenant would, however, pay the full month's rent of $19.95. As of June 30, the tenant's ledger sheet would show a credit balance, indicating prepaid rent, of $.66. On July 1, the tenant would be charged the full month's rent of $19.95, but would pay only the difference between the full month's rent and the prepaid balance, or $19.29.

(2) Receipts shall be issued for all collections and shall be prepared in duplicate. A specimen form of receipt, for a hand posting system, is shown as Exhibit 21 of Appendix S-8. One copy shall be given the tenant and the duplicate copy shall be kept at the project office for posting purposes. Receipts for hand posting shall be prenumbered. When a receipt is "voided", the original and duplicate shall be so marked and both copies stapled and retained. The receipt shall be signed by the person handling the transaction and may be further validated by an official stamp. Each person authorized to collect rents should be assigned a set of receipts for his or her sole use. A control record shall be kept of all receipt forms purchased and issued.

(3) As an aid in proving the cash received against the receipts issued during the day and in making up the summary entry in the cash receipts register, it is recommended that a daily collection sheet be utilized. A specimen form of daily collection sheet is shown as Exhibit 27 of Appendix S-8. The essential minimum information which should be recorded on a daily collection sheet (if used) upon the issuance of a receipt is the receipt number, tenant's account number, name of tenant, and amount received. The specimen form of daily collection sheet exhibited provides additional columns to indicate the mode of payment, the analysis of the amounts received and to record such circumstances surrounding the payment as may be deemed pertinent. The information provided by such additional columns is desirable but not essential as it is already of record on the duplicate receipt. It should not be insisted upon if its recording simultaneously with the minimum essential information proves to be too burdensome on the cashier and unduly holds up the line of tenants seeking to make payments. The daily collection sheet exhibited can also be used to handle amounts received at the project office from others than tenants, such as commissions on washing machine and coin telephone installations. If so used, all cash received at the project office can be more readily accounted for and controlled.

(4) Adequate provisions shall be made for the safekeeping of collections while on the project premises or in transit to the bank. Collections, for example, should not be permitted to accumulate in the cash drawer, but should be placed in the project safe until the daily deposit is made up, etc.

(e) Posting receipts. The medium for recording the individual amounts of cash receipts in the appropriate individual tenant's accounts shall always be the project's copy of the rental receipt. The receipt shall be initialed by the employee after posting. Tenants' receipts shall be posted currently to the credit side of the tenants' ledger accounts, and the date of entry shall be the date the payment was received, as indicated on the receipt. After posting the receipts, they shall be arranged in numerical sequence, including voided receipts, and bound with an Acco or similar fastener, so that the receipts of each day are fastened together in a permanent file and are not mingled with the receipts of other dates. However, if a bound book form of receipt is used, the duplicate receipt shall not be detached from the book. In small projects, the use of a counter-register machine has been found to be advantageous.

(f) Deposits. Deposits shall be made daily. Procedures in connection therewith, the various safeguards and precautions to be taken, the use of night depositary facilities to avoid keeping collections overnight in the project safe, the use of duplicate deposit tickets, etc., having been described in section 1642-1.3.

(g) Move-outs and rent refunds. As described in section 1642-4.2, standard provisions in lease agreements require the tenant to give the local agency one full month's notice of intent to vacate. The accounting section should be furnished with a copy of the tenant's notice, which it should maintain in a tickler file against the receipt of the move-out notice, prepared and approved by the project manager, when the unit is vacated. The move-out notice establishes the charge-through date. On the first of the month, all tenants are invariably charged a full month's rent. No change in this procedure is made upon receipt of the copy of the tenant's notice of intent to vacate. When the move-out notice establishing the charge-through date is received, however, the unearned rent, if any, is determined from the pro rata rent schedule and a miscellaneous credit ticket for the unearned rent, supported by the move-out notice and the tenant's notice of intent to vacate, is prepared and posted to the tenant's account. After the necessary rent adjustments have been made and it is determined that a refund is due on the tenant, the accounting section prepares and certifies a request for rent refund for the project manager's certification. An account payable voucher, supported by the certified request for rent refund, is then prepared and a check is drawn. All refunds shall be made by check. No refunds shall be made out of cash receipts. The latter must be deposited intact. When the refund is made, a miscellaneous charge ticket is prepared and posted to the tenant's account to close out the credit balance. If a tenant moves prior to the expiration of the period for which he has paid rent, and the unit is subsequently rented, a refund should be made to the former tenant for any portion of the period occupied by the new tenant. Under no circumstances shall rent be charged for the same period to two tenants for the same space.

(h) Surcharge adjustments.

(1) Rent surcharges refer to that portion of the rent charged to tenants which is in excess of the basic rent for the dwelling unit. Rent surcharges are made in instances where families are permitted, in accordance with the provisions of the Public Housing Law, to continue in occupancy after their incomes exceed the statutory limit. Rent surcharges may be made, and, once made, may be adjusted upward or downward, or eliminated entirely, as a result of a voluntary disclosure by the tenant or of a periodic income recheck. In no event, however, may a tenant be charged less than the basic rent established for the dwelling unit.

(2) Surcharge adjustments are ordinarily made effective with the date of the change in the family income and may therefore result in retroactive surcharges. To avoid confusion in adjusting the rent roll control totals, the last day of the month in which the rent change authorization is approved by the project manager should be used as the cutoff date for the period to which the retroactive surcharges shall apply. Retroactive surcharges may result in a charge or a credit to the tenant.

(3) A change in a rent surcharge and the retroactive surcharge, if any, not resulting from a move-in, move-out, or transfer, shall be authorized by a rent change authorization, prepared and approved by the project manager. After checking the rent change authorization for arithmetical accuracy and conformity with local agency policy relating surcharges to family income, the accounting section shall use the rent charge authorization as the basis for charging or crediting the tenant's account. An entry reflecting the surcharge adjustment and the retroactive surcharge, if any, shall be simultaneously made in the rent roll and vacancy loss control book (see § 1642-4.7).

(i) Miscellaneous charge and credit tickets. Charges to all accounts, with the exception of monthly rent, and credits to all accounts with the exception of cash receipts shall be supported by miscellaneous charge and credit tickets. Miscellaneous charge and credit tickets shall be numbered consecutively, contain complete explanatory information and be approved by the project manager. Miscellaneous charge and credit tickets shall be posted daily to the tenants ledger.

(j) Trial balance of tenants ledger.

(1) The taking of a trial balance of the tenants ledger at the close of each month, to agree with the control balance of the tenants charges and credits book, has been described in section 1642-3.13. It is recommended that trial balances also be taken around the 15th and 25th of the month, so that errors that may have occurred during the month may be localized. An extra copy should be retained by the project account to be made available to the State auditor on his visits.

(2) At the end of each financial reporting period, the tenants accounts receivable balances shall be analyzed and the debit balances separated from the credit balances. The former shall be reported as Tenants Accounts Receivable (1122) on the assets side of the balance sheet and the latter as Tenants Prepaid Rents (2240) on the liabilities side. The journal voucher entry to reflect the above, is a debit to account 1122 and a credit to account 2240. At the beginning of the following reporting period, the above entry is reversed.

(3) As an aid to managements' collection policy, the accounts receivable should be "aged" periodically. The separation of debit and credit balances and the aging of accounts receivable can be readily accomplished from a trial balance of tenants accounts receivable.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 9 §§ 1642-4.3