
Providing Housing Resources With an Eagerness to Serve
Helpful Hints
1. Internet Browser:
COL only works with Windows Explorer. Your Internet Browser is what you use to surf the Internet. COL does NOT work with Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, Opera, Netscape Navigator, Camino, etc. (NOTE: We believe this issue has been resolved with the new website.)
Internet Explorer 10 Compatibility Instructions
2. Upload one year at a time:
(For those that are “catching up” to the 2010 reporting period). The developments are on an annual reporting basis. So if you are using software to upload data, it must be submitted (and we must process) a year at a time BEFORE you move on to the next year. Otherwise, the data is superseded.
For example, in a particular building that you wish to upload, you will need to identify the earliest move in year of the tenant with the longest history in that building. The upload should begin with this year (01/01/XXXX – 12/31/XXXX).
3. Illegal characters:
The following are illegal characters.
< | less than | |
> | greater than | |
& | ampersand | |
' | apostrophe | |
" | quotation mark |
4. AOC before TC’s:
The current Annual Owner Cert must be submitted and then processed by OHFA before you can enter any tenant data. The amount of time the processing takes varies but typically takes 24-48 hours.
5. Market designation:
The unit designation will show as market until the initial household has been submitted and processed through OHFA. In a property with less than 100% tax credit units, the unit designation will show as market if the household income exceeds 140% of the low-income maximum at recertification. The vacant units will keep the same designation as the last tenant until a new tenant is moved in.
6. Move-in dates for Rehab:
If your tenant lived at the property prior to the rehab Placed In Service Date, you will get a warning that the move-in date is prior to Placed in Service. If the move in date is correct, you can click “OK” and proceed. This is just a warning and will not prevent any data entry.
7. Utilities:
If utilities are paid by the property, enter the rent that the tenant pays and leave utility allowance as zero.
8. Format
The unit and address must be the same in the software and COL (including dashes). The software must be set to upload in DETAIL, not SUMMARY format.
9. Unable to Read Error
If you get the message: unable to read; call agency, click refresh and wait for the page to fully load before clicking or entering any data.
10. Manager’s Unit
To identify a unit as an exempt manager’s unit, enter the household data in Proceed to Buildings> Proceed to Units> New Tenant cert> select “Employee Occupied” in drop down menu in Owner Designation (middle of page on right side).
11. TIC
Some fields in Part V and VI will not populate as they are not required in COL. If you are printing these for the tenant file, please fill out the information by hand as it is required for the audit.