Tenant ledgers
Each household has one account, its ledger. Every charge, credit and payment is an entry on it, with the balance after each.
- Entries are never edited or deleted. A mistake is put right with a reversal, posted beside the entry it undoes.
- The balance is what the resident owes. A negative balance is money owed to them.
- The balance moves in the same step as the entry that moves it, so the two cannot disagree.
A ledger opens on the first monthly run after the cutover month, or when the office first posts to it. It is for households living in a unit, from the cutover month on; a household that moved out before the cutover month gets none.
The Tenant ledgers page
Tenant ledgers lists every household with a ledger, largest balance first. Rent and subsidy post on the 1st; CivicPort payments arrive by themselves.
| Total | What it adds up |
|---|---|
| Owed by residents | Every balance above zero |
| Owed to residents | Every balance below zero |
| Households | The households listed |
Program narrows the list to one program, and Only households that owe to balances above zero.
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Household | The household, with its unit and property |
| Program | The household's program |
| Rent | What is charged each month: rent and add-ons |
| Subsidy | What is credited against it each month |
| Balance | What they owe now |
| Status | Owes, In credit or Paid up, and Moved out when they have left |
A row opens the household's ledger. So does Ledger on the household's page under Residents.
Post this month now runs the month straight away rather than waiting for the daily run. It posts only what is missing, so it is safe to press at any time; with nothing missing it says "Everything is already up to date".
How rent posts
The monthly run posts each month's rent as a charge and the subsidy as a separate credit, so the balance only ever counts the resident's share. It runs every day and posts each month once per household.
What it charges depends on the rent rules of the household's program. "The resident's rent" is the monthly rent on the household's rent worksheet. See How rent is worked out.
| Program's rent rules | Charge | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Section 8 project-based | The unit's contract rent | Subsidy applied: the contract rent less the resident's rent |
| Connecticut state moderate rental, with rental assistance and a base rent | The base rent, or the resident's rent if that is higher | Subsidy applied: the state's assistance, the base rent less the resident's rent |
| Housing Choice Voucher (tenant-based Section 8) | Nothing: the family pays a private owner | Nothing |
| Any other | The resident's rent | Nothing |
- On Section 8 project-based, a unit with no contract rent on file is charged the resident's rent, with no subsidy.
- On Section 8 project-based, a household whose utility allowance is larger than its total tenant payment has a negative rent. It is credited the difference each month as a Utility reimbursement.
- Add-ons the household's building charges for (internet, a parking space) are charged as their own line each month. See Add-on names.
Part months and changes
Each day of the month is charged at the rent in force that day. A move-in or move-out part way through the month is charged for its days, and so is a rent that changes mid-month.
The ledger keeps its own dated list of each household's rent. When a recertification changes the rent from a date in a month already posted, including one backdated months, the next run trues those months up: what the rent says now, less what was posted, is posted as a correction (Rent correction, Subsidy correction, Utility reimbursement correction or Add-ons correction), from Recertification. A month the office reversed on purpose is not put back by a true-up.
Rent and subsidy are never posted by hand. They come from the household's rent in Housing, and a recertification corrects them.
Payments from CivicPort
Rent paid in CivicPort posts here by itself, as a Payment credit, as soon as it settles. Nobody needs to be signed in.
- Only payments on the fee the linked community bills rent through are taken, and only from the cutover month on.
- The payment is matched to the household by the CivicPort account that paid it. The entry's note is how it was paid, such as card.
- A payment refunded or reversed in CivicPort is reversed here by itself.
- A payment from CivicPort cannot be reversed on the ledger. Refund or reverse it in CivicPort and the ledger follows.
A household's ledger
The page opens with three cards.
| Card | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Balance owed (Owed to them when negative) | The balance, and when they owe, how old it is: 0–30 days, 31–60, 61–90 and 90+. See aging |
| Each month | Rent, Add-ons, Subsidy applied and Utility reimbursement, then the Resident's share, and the date the current rent started |
| Posted through | The last month the run posted |
Below them are Repayment agreements and Security deposit, then every entry.
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Posted | The day it was posted |
| What | What it is and the month it is for, with the note under it. Reversed when it has been |
| From | Monthly run, Recertification, CivicPort, Office or Opening balance |
| Charge / Credit | The amount, in one or the other |
| Balance | The balance after it |
The header has Household, Statement, Credit or adjust and Add a charge.
Charges and credits from the office
Add a charge and Credit or adjust post a one-off entry.
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| What | Charges: Tenant damage, Maintenance charge, Refund paid to the resident, Other charge. Credits: Adjustment, Concession, Other credit |
| Amount | A dollar amount, up to $100,000 |
| Why | Required, such as "Broken blind, work order 1182" |
| For the month | The cutover month or later, and not a closed month |
Reversing an entry
Reverse on an entry asks for a Reason, such as "Charged to the wrong household". The entry stays on the ledger and a reversal of the same amount is posted beside it.
- A reversal cannot itself be reversed. Post the right entry instead.
- An entry can be reversed once.
- A CivicPort payment cannot be reversed here.
Closed months
Once a month is closed, the office cannot date anything in it. Whatever arrives for it on its own, such as a late CivicPort payment, a reversal or a true-up, posts in the first open month instead.
Opening balances
Opening balances on the Tenant ledgers page brings in what each household owed at the end of the month before the cutover, from the previous system.
- Each household living in a unit is listed with a box under Owed.
- Type what they owed. Leave it blank for nothing owed; use a minus sign for credit owed to them.
- Press Post (it counts the households filled in).
Each household takes one opening balance ever. Posting again skips the ones already there, and says how many. It shows on the ledger as Opening balance, for the month before the cutover.
Repayment agreements
A repayment agreement lets a household pay back what it owes over time. There are two kinds, because HUD's unpaid-balance figure treats them differently.
| For | What happens |
|---|---|
| Back rent and charges | What they owe now moves off their balance (Moved to a repayment agreement) and is charged back one instalment a month. It cannot be for more than they owe now |
| Unreported income | Owed for income that was not reported. It was never on the ledger, so nothing is moved; the instalments are charged each month |
Set one up on the Repayment agreements card:
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| For | One of the two kinds above |
| Total | Starts at the balance when they owe |
| Each month | The instalment. More than zero and no more than the total. The number of instalments is shown under it |
| First instalment | A month, starting next month. The cutover month or later, and not a closed month |
| Note | Such as "Signed at the office on 10/12" |
The monthly run charges each instalment as a Repayment agreement instalment until the total is reached, and the agreement becomes Paid. An active agreement shows On track, or Behind while anything on the ledger is unpaid more than 30 days.
Mark defaulted or Cancel asks why.
| Ending it | What is left |
|---|---|
| Defaulted | Goes back on the balance at once (Repayment agreement defaulted) |
| Cancelled, back rent | Goes back on the balance at once (Repayment agreement cancelled) |
| Cancelled, unreported income | Dropped. It was never on the ledger |
Security deposits
A security deposit is money held, not money owed. The Security deposit card shows what is held, "Held, not part of their balance".
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Record received | Adds to what is held. Does not pay anything down |
| Apply to balance | Usually at move-out. Pays down their balance by this much, as Security deposit applied |
| Refund | Paid back to them. Their balance does not change |
Each asks for the Amount and a Note; receiving and refunding also ask How, such as check, money order or ACH. Nothing can take what is held below zero. The card lists the last few movements.
The household statement
Statement opens a statement for one Month, without the sidebar, ready for Print or save as PDF.
- It carries the authority's logo, name and contact email.
- Balance at the start of the month is everything posted before the month, then each entry posted in it, then Amount due, or Credit owed to you when the balance is negative.
- Rent shows in full with the subsidy credited against it, as on the ledger, so the resident sees why their share is what it is. Office notes are not shown; a payment shows how it was paid.
- Any active repayment agreement and any deposit held are noted under it.