Annual Owner Certification
ARO units should be leased, per the terms of the covenant, within 6 months after the earlier of (a) the issuance of the certificate of occupancy for the project or (b) the first day of the initial lease of units in the project. If they are not leased within that time, the Owner may be penalized, per the terms of the Covenant recorded against the property prior to permitting.
Once all ARO units have been leased, DOH staff issue an Affordability Commencement Letter certifying that the ARO units have been leased and the 30-year affordability period has begun.
To maintain compliance of the Affordable Housing Agreement (AHA) or Inclusionary Housing Agreement (IHA), Owners or Authorized Agencies of rental properties, when assigned by DOH LTMC, must submit the Annual Owner Certification (AOC) documentation by June 30 of each year during the affordability period. More details can be found in Article 10.6 of the ARO Rules.
Note: The Annual Owner Certification (AOC) is only required during the 30-year affordability period, which begins once the Department of Housing (DOH) LTM division has confirmed that all required Affordable Rental Ordinance (ARO) units designated in the Inclusionary/Affordable Housing Agreement (AHA) have been initially leased. LTM will send the property owner or agent for the owner an Affordability Commencement letter which will indicated that start of the affordability period. An assigned auditor will notify the property owner/agent via email, providing the ARO Annual Owner Certification packet and specifying the due date for the AOC report.