PIC Headlines - 2007

DIS not available at year end

DIS "Read Only" 12/24/07 - 1/3/08

[Revised Dec. 31, 2007] - Attention All: As of December 23rd at 8:00 PM EST, all users will have their Disaster Info System (DIS) access limited to "READ" only, while HUD is preparing a final list of bridge payments to submit to FEMA.

Access will be restored on 6:00 AM EST on January 7th 3rd, 2008. We thank you for all your patience.

Release 6.1 Coming Soon

PIC-IMS Release 6.1 to be installed December 7th - 10th

Nov. 30, 2007 - The WASS System will shut down at 8 pm EST on Friday, December 7, 2007 to begin installation of Release 6.1. The system will remain down until Monday morning at 7 am EST or when the release is completed, whichever comes first. A summary of the changes included in the release will be posted soon.

In conjunction with the release, we will be closing PIC-IMS on Friday, December 7th at 4 PM EST to clear the form 50058 upload queue before the release begins.

Because of the release installation, we will delay the normal Form 50058 monthly report generation from the weekend of December 7 to the weekend of December 14. We will return to the normal “first Friday” schedule for monthly reports in subsequent months.

We apologize for any inconvenience these changes cause for users.

9/30 SEMAP Certs Due by 11/29/2007

Nov. 20, 2007 - This is a reminder to 9/30 FYE PHAs with Section 8 programs with more than 250 contracted voucher units (or less than 250 vouchers under contract but in "troubled" status) that your SEMAP certifications are due in IMS-PIC production by no later than Thursday, November 29, 2007.

Failure to complete the certification or to submit it in IMS-PIC by the due date will result in a SEMAP designation of "Troubled" for your agency. Please contact your Field Office staff with programmatic questions and call the REAC TAC line at 1-888-245-4860 or email REAC_TAC@hud.gov with IMS-PIC technical questions.

You should start the SEMAP certification process well in advance of the due date to allow time to resolve any problems within the schedule. If you are not sure whether you are required to submit or if you are a MTW agency, call your local HUD Field Office. Note: The system will be off-line from noon to 5 pm EST on Sunday, November 25.

IMS-PIC technical problems reported to REAC TAC on or after the November 29, 2007 submission deadline will not be considered as justification for a late FYE 9/30/07 certification.

IMS-PIC unavailable on Nov. 18th.

Nov. 8, 2007 - Due to some maintenance activities being performed on the PIC production database server, we will be taking the PIC system offline from 12pm - 5pm eastern on Sunday November 18th.

We apologize for any inconveniences that this might create.

New development numbers in PICTest

Get a preview of your new development numbers after their transition from old development numbers

Oct. 31, 2007 - In early 2008, HUD will replace all existing development numbers in IMS-PIC with a new development number in accordance with PIH Notice 2007-28. To test the process, PIH has already replaced all existing development numbers in PICTest with the new development numbers. Please review the new development numbers and building groupings as they are shown in the Development submodule in PICTest to see if there are any problems with the realignment.

Please note that when the realignment occurs, some buildings could have duplicate building numbers and this cannot be permitted. Therefore, PHAs were given the opportunity to request that PIH change the duplicate building numbers before the realignment. Although the notice says that PHAs must provide the new building numbers for duplicates by October 15th, PIH will continue to accept duplicate building number change requests until November 16, 2007 (that is the Department has extended the deadline for a month). If PHAs do not provide new numbers by the extended deadline, HUD will change the duplicate building numbers using a standard process.

All of the provisions of the transition to new development numbers are described in PIH Notice 2007-28. The notice describes the standard process we will use if PHAs do not provide the new numbers for the duplicates or if they are not entered before the transition. In order to facilitate testing of the realignment, PIH has used this standard process to change the duplicate building numbers in PICTest.

If problems are found, please report them to your IMS-PIC Coach as soon as possible. Your IMS-PIC Coach can also advise which of your building numbers will be duplicates. The Latest IMS-PIC Coach List is at: IMS-PIC Coaches.

PICTest closing for data refresh

The PICTest environment will be closed over the weekend of September 14th for a data refresh

Sep. 6, 2007 - The PICTest environment will be closing over the weekend of September 14th to refresh its data with current data from the regular PIC production environment. The PIC production environment will not be affected and will continue to be open for business.

The data refresh will require that we close access to PICTest at 8pm eastern on Friday, September 14th. We anticipate that the system will be back up and running by 8am eastern on Monday, September 17th. Should any problems arise we will update the WASS welcome page with further details.

IMS-PIC Duplicate Building Numbers

How to request duplicate building number changes

Aug. 30, 2007 - In accordance with PIH Notice 2007-28, PIH will be removing any potential duplicate building numbers that will be caused as a result of regrouping developments by AMP numbers. PHAs may request a specific building number change or wait and PIH will change in the standard way described in the Notice.

Your HUD Field Office Staff has a listing of all potential duplicate building numbers and can inform you whether you have potential duplicates. The list of duplicates is updated bi-weekly.

To request a building number change, the PHA must submit a spreadsheet to REAC_TAC@hud.gov by no later than October 15, 2007. The subject line should include the words "Building Number Change". The spreadsheet must include the following three columns: Old Development Number, Old Building Number, and New Building Number and it must list the ones to be changed in that format. Do not include any other types of changes with this submission.

We ask that for now you restrict the numbers to be changed to the potential duplicates in order to permit orderly and timely completion of all the needed changes for everyone.

Once the info is changed in PIC as you request, if there were tenants in the buildings that were renumbered, the tenant in PIC are now in the renumbered buildings in PIC. No 50058 submission is required to move them. You need only change your local system bldg numbers to match the ones you requested be changed.

We encourage all affected PHAs to submit their change requests as soon as possible to help us plan and conduct an orderly process to complete them.

New 50058 tracking coded added

Aug. 3, 2007 - At the request of the occupancy divisions in HUD, IMS-PIC has added a new code to track the use of Section 8 vouchers (tenant-based or project-based) in tax credit units.

Housing agencies are asked to use the new special program code TCU on line 2n of the form 50058 when assisting a Housing Choice Voucher family (tenant-based or project-based) in a unit that is funded by tax credits.

Changes to the Form 50058 Instruction Book and Form 50058 Technical Reference Guide will be made public in the very near future.

AMP Numbers for New Bldgs

Monthly Reports Problems

July 8, 2007 - Due to certain operational problems, the monthly summarization data for all the Form 50058 Monthly Reports ran longer than expected and was not completed for this weekend.

At this time, all monthly reports are complete except the SEMAP Indicators Report. It is currently planned to run the SEMAP Indicators report Monday night.

We will advise you here when the SEMAP Indicators Report runs successfully.

CapFund Certification Reminder

July 6, 2007 - In response to many questions about completing building & unit data corrections by July 12th, we want to provide the following guidance:

1. In Cap Fund Certification, there are two choices: CERTIFY or REJECT.  
2. Choose one for each development.
3. If you agree with the unit and bedroom counts, select CERTIFY .  
4. If you disagree with the unit or bedroom counts, select REJECT .
5. If you select REJECT, you must   
   • provide a TAC ticket number and
   • the ticket must specify in detail exactly what needs to be done to correct the unit or bedroom counts .
6. You must do this for every development.  
7. Once steps 2-5 are completed, you can submit without concern by July 12th, regardless of the status of the ticket's completion.
8. Once you click SUBMIT, you cannot make any more CapFund Certification changes for this year.

IMS PIC Release 6.0 was successfully installed and tested on June 22-24, 2007. 

Highlights of the release:

• The release corrected several problems in the MTW Submission and Viewer and added "online EOP" for MTW tenants.
• It corrected problems in the Portability Billing Report, the SEMAP Indicators Report (FSS data), and the Newly Leased Units Query of the HQS Inspection Report.
• It updated the Delinquency Report to include demo dispo units that are occupied, removed "annual re-exam searching" from 50058 Received, and added leased units, ports in and ports out to the detailed report.
• It updated the Tenant Rent Calculation Report to include all records in the current database, corrected two column headings and updated Indicator 10 of the SEMAP Indicators Report to agree.
• It improved the building and unit upload process  and modified it to a process that runs once every 30 minutes to improve reliability.
• It made a number of behind-the-scenes system improvements to increase reliability, security, and processing speed.
  
  
• It added functionality in PICTEST ONLY to permit the replacement of existing development numbers with the AMP Group Numbers, so that PHAs and vendors may test the functionality before the change-over in production in 2008.

Cap Fund Bldg & Unit Certifications required by July 12

June 17, 2007 - The new functionality is open for PHAs to certify the Building and Unit data to be used in the CAP Fund calculation. The certification must be completed by July 12, 2007.

Detailed instructions for completing the certification are available for download in a
Step by Step User Guide at: www.hud.gov/offices/pih/programs/ph/capfund/

Exemptions from PIC reporting requirements and sanctions specified in Notice PIH 2006-24

Inquiries about this determination should be directed to Nicole Faison, Director of the Office of Public Housing Programs at (202) 708-0744, by email at Pih_50058_Assessments@HUD.gov, or to the appropriate HUD Field Office.

The PICTest environment is moving behind WASS in March

Feb. 6, 2007 - Following the March 2nd system releases, PICTest will be accessed through the WASS menu. When logging on to WASS, users will see two links:

• PIH Information Center (PIC)
• Test site for PIH Information Center - PICTest

A script will be run to copy WASS user IDs from PIC Production to PICTest. Users with current PIC/WASS ids will automatically have their PIC/WASS ids copied to PICTest. The old URL for PICTest (https://pictest.hud.gov/pic/logon/userlogon.asp) will no longer work after the March 2nd release.

Should you have any questions about these changes please contact your local field office PIC Coach or PICHelp at the Technical Assistance Center (TAC).