Become COQ Certified Then Enter NAHMA Communities of Quality Awards Competition
Before back-to-school activities monopolize your time, make sure you send in your application to become a certified Community of Quality (COQ) property through your local AHMA before the September deadline. Without the certification, you cannot enter this year’s NAHMA Communities of Quality Awards competition. To enter the awards competition, a property must first apply for and achieve national recognition as a NAHMA Community of Quality with a minimum score of 325 points on its National Recognition application. If a property is not currently a nationally recognized COQ property, the deadline for submitting an entry-level application to a local AHMA for consideration in the national program is Sept. 5.
For certified COQ properties, the submission deadline for the awards competition to NAHMA is Nov. 7. The COQ Awards recognize outstanding property management companies providing the highest quality of safe, affordable multifamily rental housing in communities across the country. Judging is based on a point system that takes into account your National COQ Recognition Program application and the required COQ Awards application essay. All affordable multifamily properties may compete—it doesn’t matter how big or small your community may be, where it is located, or which affordable rental program (HUD, RD or LIHTC) it participates in. To download a copy of the COQ Awards brochure, visit here.
Detailed application information and submission materials for the NAHMA COQ National Recognition and Awards programs are available on the NAHMA website. All COQ nationally recognized properties are eligible to highlight their accomplishments through the use of Digital Smart Badges on their properties’ websites, enabling web visitors to see, and validate, their COQ national recognition status through a simple “click and verify” process.
“The Communities of Quality Awards honor the achievements of affordable housing providers who make an unprecedented contribution to developing outstanding properties for families of modest means. NAHMA believes it is essential that outstanding affordable properties―and the individuals who establish them―be publicly recognized for providing quality housing that offers a safe, healthy environment,” Timothy Zaleski, SHCM, NAHP-e, NAHMA president, said. “They are communities supplying essential programs and services for their residents. These awards bring valuable well-deserved attention to the important work we are all doing.”
The awards competition has five categories:
- Exemplary Family Development
- Exemplary Development for the Elderly
- Exemplary Development for Residents with Special Needs
- Exemplary Development for Single Room Occupancy Housing
- Outstanding Turnaround of a Troubled Property
Award winners will be notified in early January 2020 and will receive their awards in a special ceremony at the NAHMA Biannual Top Issues in Affordable Housing Winter Conference, March 8-10, 2020, in Washington, D.C.
This year’s COQ Awards program is once again jointly sponsored by HD Supply Multifamily Solutions, a leading supplier of maintenance and renovation products to the multihousing industry, and Navigate Affordable Housing Partners, a leading provider of consulting and development services to public housing authorities and the HUD Section 8 project-based contract administrator (PBCA) for several states.
Entry-level National Recognition applications are due to the property’s local AHMA by Sept. 5. COQ Awards contest application materials should be submitted directly to NAHMA by Nov. 7, c/o NAHMA COQ Awards Entry, 400 N. Columbus St., Suite 203, Alexandria, VA 22314.
The AHMAs will also be honoring their local NAHMA Communities of Quality program participants. Please check your local AHMA’s program details; a directory of the AHMAs is available on the NAHMA website.
For questions about the COQ program and awards, contact Paulette Washington at 703-683-8630, ext. 110 or .