Application Process Flow

Homekeeper’s Service File records are used to track a homeowner or renter from their application process to the various steps of placement and beyond to homeownership and sale.

The Public House community shares the common need for an income verification application but they vary greatly in the different housing services they provide, therefore there are two status fields are utilized:

Service File Status: Clients have a variety of custom Status. For this reason, we restrict all Public House activities to the Service File Status: Application in Process. We also use Status = Ineligible to track applications that are no longer being considered. If a Service File is moved from Application in Process to a Status besides Ineligible, we assume they are advancing to the next step in the program process (home ownership, rental placement, etc.) 

You should not use other Ineligible type status to track application outcome (withdrawn, declined, etc.). Public House tracks ineligibility reasons. See this article.

Application Status: used to track the stages of the application and its processing.

The application process is automated once a Service File is created- triggered when an applicant is invited to start the application process or when it is time for a rental applicant to recertify their household income.

Read more about what happens under each Application Status:

A chart displaying the actions occurring under each phase of the application status

Invited -Staff triggered an application invitation to a prospect, but the applicant has not yet accessed it to begin their application.
Deadline: Application Due

Incomplete – Applicant accessed the portal but has not yet submitted their application. This is when the applicant is populating the application information and uploading all required documents. The application remains in Incomplete status until:

  • All forms are completed
  • All Required Documents are uploaded
  • Applicants indicates they are finished and initiates the Confirmation of Completion
  • Application fee payment, if applicable
  • Digital Signature occurs, if applicable

Deadline: Application Due

Applicants that DO NOT submit their applications by the due date are automatically removed from the waitlist and their Service File status is updated to Declined.

Document Review – Applicant completed the application and submitted their documents for review. This stage is strictly for the staff to review and verify that all uploaded files meet the requirements specified in each of the Required Documents Descriptions.

REMINDER: Applicants cannot access their application when the status is Document Review

Document Corrections – Staff identified missing or incorrect documentation or data and submits the file back to the applicant for corrections. Upon correction, the status moves back to Document Review. There is not a limit to how many times an application moves through the document correction cycle.

Deadline: Document Corrections Due (set by staff when the application is returned to the applicant)

Complete – All required documents were submitted and meet the Required Documents specifications. Complete does not imply that the application is approved, but that staff has all the information required to make a final qualification determination.

Applicants can no longer access their application after the Incomplete or Document Corrections cycle.

Approved or Declined – Staff completed the full income calculation and file review and made a final qualification determination.

To create natural attrition and to avoid Applicants floating around in your system indefinitely, there are only two eventual outcomes. Eventually, they will be placed in a home or Declined.

Approved Applicants

Staff selects from Approved Applicants to offer specific housing opportunities. Approved Applicants remain in the candidate pool(s) with a Campaign Member status of Applicant until they are placed in a home, request a waitlist removal, or are removed for not updating their application when necessary.

Deadline: Approval Expiration – This is a formula Field adding the number of days specified in your Public House Custom Setting: Approval Expiration Period to the date the application was approved. Reference Custom Settings Article.

For Approved Applicants not placed in a home in a timely manner, read about Approved Applications past their Approval Expiration in the Reusing Applications article.

Placed Applicants

A Service File status moves beyond the Application in Process Status to another organization specific custom status when they are placed in a housing opportunity. You need to manually* update their Campaign Member status to Ineligible (because they were placed) so that they don’t appear in other Candidate Pools.

*This is automated for some clients and will be for all clients soon!

Applicants must re-apply if they are placed in a home, but are still interested in remaining on a waitlist for other opportunities under the same program (such as an affordable home with different bedroom size).

Declined Applicants

When the staff sets an application to Applications Status = Declined, the applicant is removed from the waitlist and will no longer appear in any Candidate Pools.

These are the automated steps that occur when staff makes a Declined determination:

Applicants are not automatically notified of the Decline status if it is due to eligibility. Organizations must initiate the notification to the applicant. Public House recommends creating a custom template where staff can indicate the specific reason for the declined application.

If an applicant is Declined for missing a deadline, an automated notification is sent.

What Comes Next?

Once the Service File: Status progresses beyond Application in Process, Public House has limited functionality. Organizations may continue to access applications (through links on their Service File links) primarily to view the application and access the PDF archives. Keep in mind that functionality is limited and changes are not recommended.

 

Invited