National NAHRO Conference

Event recap

By Niki Kolisch on Oct 4, 2024 in Events

Last week, our PHA team attended the National NAHRO Conference in Orlando, Florida.

We especially enjoyed the keynote speech by rapper Roxanne Shante who grew up in Queensbridge Public Housing Projects. Her story highlighted how vital safe and affordable housing is for many artists growing up. It’s inspiring to see icons like Shante actively engage with their community and use their platforms to instill change.

A big thank you to our friends at NAHRO for giving us a platform to share how technology can shape the future of public housing. We find it incredibly rewarding to witness the real impact we have on our community and to engage in conversations that challenge us to think and act differently.

But we didn’t just share our expertise. We also learned about the inspiring work others in the industry are doing. Our team left the conference feeling more motivated than ever to contribute to this positive change.

In case you missed us, here’s a quick recap of what our team covered:

Harnessing AI in public housing

Jeanette Porter and Jeff Bischoff from Yardi took the stage to discuss a hot topic: AI and its potential in the public housing sector. They explored various uses of AI in housing, such as chatbots and optical character recognition (OCR).

We also touched on the importance of safety and security when using AI, especially when handling sensitive personal information. “It’s critical that you have the proper plans, policies and cyber security insurance in place,” said Jeff Bischoff, director at Yardi.

Looking ahead, we’re excited about using AI to simplify everyday tasks in public housing. This innovation opens a world of possibilities and we’re eager to keep the conversation going.

Streamlining PHA operations with Upfront Income Verifications

Next up was Mary Beth Snyder, industry principal at Yardi, who always knows how to engage the crowd and break down the complexities of income verification.

Mary Beth explained the new HOTMA rules and how Level 5 Upfront Income Verification is now the highest form of verification since EIV isn’t available at move-in. She pointed out that Level 4 Tenant-Provided Verification can raise fraud concerns, while third-party verification forms have been lowered to Level 3.

We also heard from Ebony Bell from the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority and Brandi Quiroz from the Corpus Christi Housing Authority. They discussed how their agencies handle to verification and fraud prevention, along with some strategies that have made a real difference for them.

We hope to continue empowering housing authorities to streamline their verification processes and maximize staff efficiency.

Final thoughts

Thank you to NAHRO, Quadel and all the organizations that make this event possible. It was wonderful to see everyone come together, even during a hurricane. We’re grateful our team made it out safely, but our hearts go out to the communities affected by the storm.

For more information on Yardi’s public housing solutions, please visit https://www.yardi.com/products/pha-suite/