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Are you documenting your program monitoring and enforcement activities systematically? If not, consider keeping a running log of important monitoring issues you’re working to resolve. Track the same information for each issue and keep the information in a central, accessible place. By logging your monitoring activity you can:
- Increase institutional memory and reduce risk,
- Be fair and consistent in your interactions with homeowners,
- Evaluate staff resources need for monitoring and enforcement, and
- Identify trends allowing you to spot a homeowner requiring additional attention.
With HomeKeeper, users can log “monitoring events” to help track issues needing staff attention. Monitoring events are either “Active,” when you’re working on an issue, or “Resolved” once the issue has been taken care of. Here’s a view showing a list of monitoring events logged in HomeKeeper. You can see down the middle the types of monitoring events being tracked such as occupancy certifications, inspections, delinquencies, and so on.
If you aren’t in HomeKeeper yet, you can still track standardized information on monitoring events. To give you a head start, we’ve created a Monitoring Events Log Template in excel that you can customize and start using today. In addition to logging cases in the template, find ways to loop in coworkers and appropriate program partners and leave behind a trail of discussions and decisions. You don’t need to document every interaction with a homeowner in the log, just the ones that qualify as a monitoring event. The template is compatible with HomeKeeper, so when you’re ready to make the transition, you can easily bring your monitoring data with you.
Download the template for a full list of monitoring events and event data that we believe every program should track. Our list is not comprehensive, but it’s a great place to start. Depending on the reporting and management needs of your program, you may wish to add more events that would trigger an entry in your log. For example, some groups really do want to systematically log a change in household composition or employment status because these events have historically indicated a subsequent change in ownership.
By the time a homeowner sells, you should have a full transcript of monitoring and enforcement activities over the course of the seller’s tenure. Over time, you will also have comprehensive historical documentation on how you resolved monitoring and enforcement issues in the past. Your future-self and colleagues will thank you!
To learn more about logging monitoring events and hear how your peers are documenting and tracking enforcement activities (and more!), watch the recording of a recent Cornerstone Partnership Peer-to-Peer webinar on Strategies for Effective Enforcement of Homeownership Programs. To learn more about HomeKeeper as a monitoring tool, join us for a scheduled tour or contact us for an individual demo.