DHA notice re: Operations in response to COVID-19 guidance

Following the Dallas County stay-at-home order and to help look after the health and safety of our community, DHA has closed its offices to the general public in response to increasing risk of COVID-19. Offices will be closed as long as shelter in place orders continue.

With DHA’s deployment of several digital tools many DHA workflow processes can be initiated by our clients, landlords as well as the general public online.

While DHA’s physical offices may be closed during this time, we are still conducting as much business as possible online through our Client and Landlord Portals, which are accessible via the homepage of our website.

Here are the things you can do on the Client and Landlord portals:

CLIENT PORTAL:

• Submit a work-order (public housing residents only)
• Report an interim change in family income and/or composition
• Complete an annual recertification
• Submit documents digitally
• Request a DHA team member contact you

LANDLORD PORTAL:

• Review your HAP payment ledger
• Submit documents digitally
• Request a DHA team member contact you
• Landlords can submit a rent increase request through the DHA website

GENERAL PUBLIC:

• Complete an application for rental housing assistance
• Get information/watch helpful videos on how to submit a preliminary application
• If you need a DHA team member to contact you please provide details of your inquiry in an email to us at: info@dhantx.com.

We have put measures in place to adhere to federal and local guidelines at this time, while also continuing to serve as many of our clients and business partners as possible.

Impact to the Housing Choice Voucher Program

• DHA anticipates we will be able to continue to make housing assistance payments to landlords on behalf of our clients. If there is a delay in funding from HUD that impacts payments, we will notify you.
• Housing Choice Voucher clients are expected to continue making their rent payments on time to their landlords. If you are concerned that you are not able to make a payment, please contact your landlord.
• Assisted tenants that have experienced a loss or decrease in employment should report an interim change in household income, which will result in a commensurate adjustment if their portion of rent.
• If you are a tenant with a Request for Tenancy Approval Packet that needs to be processed and are in the process of finding a home, please email LLServices@dhantx.com with questions.
• If you are a landlord with a Request for Tenancy Approval Packet that needs to be processed, please email LLServices@dhantx.com to plan next steps. The DHA Housing Choice Voucher team will process these as diligently as possible.
• Our maintenance team will continue to work any emergency Health & Safety inspections with a higher level of distancing and infection prevention measures in place.

What is being paused until further notice:

• Relocation requests
• New voucher issuance
• All Housing Choice Voucher, Family Self-Sufficiency, and Homeownership orientation briefings
• All Housing Quality Standards inspections (unless it is an emergency health and safety issue or is a new admission that is already in progress)
• All in-person meetings at Lone Star and Services HQ

Helpful Links for Housing Choice Voucher Program Tools:

Client Portal (also known as the Rent Café):

https://onlinedha.securecafe.com/residentservices/dha-live/userlogin.aspx

Landlord Portal:

https://onlinedha.securecafe.com/landlord/dha-live/login.aspx

Impact to DHA Residential Communities (Our Public Housing Families)

• All property offices will be closed to non-DHA staff.
• Clients can continue to handle essential DHA requirements such as reporting an interim change or completing a recertification through the Client Portal (also known as the Rent Café).
• Residents can communicate with their DHA property manager through the Client Portal in addition to contacting them via email or phone.
• We are taking extra precautionary measures at each property to help disinfect common areas on a daily basis. We ask that you do not congregate in common areas at this time.
• Emergency maintenance and repair requests related to health and safety will continue to be processed and completed with a higher level of distancing and infection prevention measures in place.
• Emergency work orders can be submitted through the Client Portal or via our 24/7 assistance line at 469-249-9012.
• Any non-emergency maintenance work orders that require entry into units are paused until further notice.

Additionally, the following activities are suspended till further notice:

• Unit Transfers
• Annual and housekeeping inspections
• All resident group activities
• Pest control that requires entry into resident units – we will continue with pest control services for building exteriors and common areas

If you are a current DHA public housing resident, you can use our online Client Portal (also known as the RentCafé) to get access to helpful information:

https://onlinedha.securecafe.com/residentservices/dha-live/userlogin.aspx

As per federal and local guidelines, DHA team members will be on a telework model for the near-term, so please be patient with us as we try to limit disruptions in support of our families and business partners.

Thank you.