MILITARY HOUSING OFFICE USER GUIDE

Transcription

1 MILITARY HOUSING OFFICE USER GUIDE AUTOMATED HOUSING REFERRAL NETWORK ( Rev April 2013 Use or disclosure of information contained in this document is subject to restrictions. Copyright Runzheimer International

2 Table of Contents Introduction... 3 Website Navigation... 4 System Requirements... 6 Registration and Login... 6 Military Housing Office Homepage... 7 Search Listings... 9 Creating a New Search... 9 Running a Saved Search... 9 Mapping / Route Optimization Availability Summary Site Inspections Enable or Disable Site Inspection Feature: Site Inspection Summary Page How to Assign Inspection Status to Listings How to Map and Optimize Route Site Inspection Change Log Site Inspection Scheduler BAH Selection How to Approve or Decline Listings for BAH Listing Complaints Site Administration User Accounts Property Listings Site Administration Site Inspections (Preferences/Users) PCS Panel User Maintenance ewelcome Messaging Military Member ewelcome Messaging Military Member ewelcome Messaging Setup Landlord/Property Manager ewelcome Messaging Landlord/Property Manager ewelcome Messaging Setup Search for A User Upcoming Training Marketing Resources Housing Office Update Site Activity Tabs Today This Week This Month My Listings My Messages Adding a New Listing in AHRN Deleting a Listing Property Manager Notifications MHO Message Center Frequently Asked Questions Customer Support Page 2

3 Introduction Welcome to the Automated Housing Referral Network (AHRN). AHRN is designed to assist military members and their families with finding housing in their assignment location while providing the housing office with management features to provide oversight of the database. AHRN provides a database of available rental housing (both temporary lodging/short-term and long-term rentals), ranging from apartments to single family home rentals. AHRN has developed a comprehensive network of property managers in each location to offer the military member a wide range of housing options. Property managers and military members can advertise/list their rental properties in the AHRN system free of charge. The AHRN system also allows military members to list Shared Rentals and For Sale by Owner properties. Commercial for real estate listings (under contract with a realtor) are not allowed in AHRN. AHRN serves three primary user groups; the military members and their family, landlords/property managers, and the Military Housing Office (MHO). Each of these user groups has primary functionality/reasons for using the system. Military Members: Military members and their families utilize AHRN to find housing in their assignment location by searching the database for currently available rental units. Military members can also use the property manager functionality to list their own rental property, roommate wanted, or a Military For Sale by Owner property in the system. Landlords/Property Managers: Landlords/property managers are responsible for entering their properties into the system in addition to updating the property information and availability status on an ongoing basis. Property managers can enter temporary/short-term lodging and long-term rentals in the system. Military Housing Offices: The Military Housing Office uses AHRN to monitor the availability and adequacy of rental properties in their area, including monitoring available rental properties by size, type, etc. The MHO also uses AHRN to record Site Inspections and submit rental data for the annual BAH data collection process. As a Military Housing Office, the AHRN system is a valuable resource to manage housing referrals. You are quickly able to determine the availability of rental housing in your location by size, type, location, etc. AHRN can be used as a source of rental data for the annual BAH data submission process. Rental properties approved for BAH can be exported into Excel for the BAH data submission. The primary functions peformed by the MHO in AHRN include; Reviewing the adequacy of currently available rental properties within your MHO area. Monitoring the supply of available rental properties by size, type, etc. Reviewing/assigning Site Inspection status. Reviewing rental properties for the annual BAH data submission. Military Housing Office accounts are pre-registered in AHRN. Each housing office is assigned a unique Username and Password. All AHRN users within a housing office use the same Username and Password combination. Multiple users within the housing office can access the system at the same time. A one-time registration is required for both Military Members and Property Managers prior to entering the system. Basic information for each user is obtained during the registration process. This information is kept strictly confidential (see Privacy Statement). Once a user is registered, they must use their Username and Password to login to the system each session. The type of registration will determine the system functionality the individual will have available to them. For example, registered military members have the ability to search the rental database, view detailed rental information, contact property managers via , view military for sale by owner listings, and enter both rental and for sale by owner listings. Registered property managers have the ability to add their rental properties to the system, update/maintain their listing status, and view other available rental properties in the area. Page 3

4 Website Navigation To navigate within AHRN use the navigation links contained in the navigation menu or the homepage, do not use the Internet browser Back or Forward buttons as this may cause you to lose any changes that you have made. The Navigation Menu allows you to quickly navigate the AHRN website. Some menu items will display a drop down menu when you hover over them with your curser. These links provide easy access to system functions. Navigation Menu Home: Click Home to go to the Military Housing Office homepage. My Listings (All Listings, Available, Unavailable, Reactivate, Expired, Add a Listing): Click the respective link to select from the following; All Listings: Click to display a summary page of all available listings within the defined rental market that are owned/maintained by your Housing Office. You may edit or view the individual listings from this page. These are listings that have been entered by housing office staff or remain from the initial download from your previous housing referral system. Available: Click to display only those listings in the Housing Office account that are currently available (visible). Unavailable: Click to display only those listings in the Housing Office account that are currently unavailable (not visible). Reactivate: Click to display properties in the Housing Office account currently marked as available which are due to be updated/reactivated. Expired: Click to display properties in the Housing Office account which were not reactivated in the indicated timeframe and the system has automatically marked to Unavailable. You can mark expired listings back to available from this page. Add a Listing: Click to add a rental property to the database. Listings will be added to the Housing Office account and thus the Housing Office will receive the update notifications. Search Listings (New Search, All Rental Listings, Favorites, Saved Searches): Click this link to select from New Search, All Rental Listings, Favorites (the Favorites link is only displayed if you have saved search results to a Favorites list), or Saved Searches. New Search: Click to display the New Search page. From this page you can select your specific search criteria to search listings in your area. All Rental Listings: Click to display a summary page of all available rental listings in the destination location. Click the Details icon on individual listings in the summary page to display detailed listing information. Favorites: Click to view properties previously searched and saved to your Favorites List. Note: This link will only display if you have saved properties to your favorites list. Saved Searches: Click to display a listing of your saved searches. For each saved search you have created you can: Click view to display properties meeting the saved search criteria. Click Edit to modify your saved search criteria. Click delete to remove your saved search. Note: This link will only display if you have saved a search. Page 4

5 Messages: Click to access your AHRN Message Center. MHO Admin (PCS Panel, User Maintenance, Site Inspections, Statistics, Site Administration, Marketing): PCS Panel: Click to access the PCS Panel and view military members who have registered in AHRN and when they are scheduled to arrive at your installation. The PCS Panel combined with ewelcome Messaging allows you to proactively contact military members prior to their arrival. From the PCS panel you can send messages to registered military members via the AHRN message center or . You can also view PCSing military members from the MHO homepage (click on the Day, Week, or Month tabs). User Maintenance: Click to access the User Maintenance page. This page gives you visibility to all registered users within your area (military members, military member/property managers, and property managers). Site Inspections: Click to access the Site Inspections Summary page. Note: This link is only displayed when the Site Inspections option is turned on for your location in the Site Setup page Statistics: Click to view property inventory and site usage information. Site Administration: Click to view the administrative functions within AHRN. Within the Administration section you can manage user accounts, review property listings, and perform site administration (site setup, add/modify news, FAQ, links and contact information). Marketing: Click to view marketing resources or to reorder marketing supplies online. Resources (Base Intro, News, Housing Office, PM User Guide, MHO User Guide, elearning Center, FAQ, Links, Help): Base Intro: Click to view information on your assignment/destination installation. News: Click to view information posted by the local installation. Housing Office: Click to view information on the Military Housing Office contact for the gaining/selected installation. PM User Guide: Click to view the Property Manager User Guide in.pdf format. MHO User Guide: Click to view the MHO User Guide in.pdf format. elearning Center: Click to view schedule of AHRN training opportunities. FAQ: Click to review a list of Frequently Asked Questions and answers. Links: Click to access external useful information links for your assignment/destination installation. Help: Click to access online Help system. Contact Us (Contact, Feedback) Contact: Click to send message to AHRN Help Desk. Feedback: Click to send feedback/ideas to AHRN Help Desk. Page 5

6 Logout: Click to exit AHRN and return to the AHRN Homepage. Each of these areas is described in more detail throughout this User Guide. System Requirements AHRN is completely web-based. There is no software installation required on local desktop computers. Internet access is the only requirement to run/use AHRN. Users can login to AHRN from any computer with Internet access. AHRN utilizes cookies to perform various functions within the application. Be sure that your Internet browser is set to accept cookies. Depending upon your browser, this setting is typically found under Tools, Internet Options, Privacy tab on your browsers main menu bar. Registration and Login To get started, navigate to As a Military Housing Office, your registration has initially been setup using an assigned Username and Password. Each Military Housing Office has one unique Username and Password assigned. All users within a housing office will use the same Username and Password to login to AHRN. Multiple Housing Office users can login to AHRN at the same time using the same Username and Password. Login to AHRN by entering your Housing Office Username and Password in the Login box located in the left center position of the Homepage. Enter your MHO Web Username and Password in the fields provided. Please note the Password field is case sensitive. You are required to enter your Username and Password each time you access the system. Page 6

7 Military Housing Office Homepage The Military Housing Office Homepage is your starting point for navigating through the AHRN website. On this page you can navigate using either the Navigation Menu or the task related icons: Today tab: Displays at a glance the number of: New listings added today, All Available Listings with the Date Available to Move In equal to or greater than today, PM s Added today, PCSing - the number of MM s who indicated today as the PCS date to your installation, Local Moves - number of MM s who today selected your installation on their account but with no PCS date indicated, MM s Added - new registrations today selecting your installation on their account. This week tab: Displays at a glance the number of: New listings added this week, Available Listings with the Date Available to Move In within the current week, PM s Added this week, PCSing - the number of MM s who indicated this week as their PCS date to your installation, Local Moves - number of MM s who this week selected your installation on their account but with no PCS date indicated, MM s Added - new registrations this week selecting your installation on their account. This month tab: Displays at a glance the number of New listings added this month, Available Listings with the Date Available to Move In dated for this month, PM s Added this month, PCSing - the number of MM s who indicated this month as their PCS date to your installation, Local Moves - number of MM s who this month selected your installation on their account but with no PCS date indicated, MM s Added - new registrations selecting your installation on their account. Search Here: Displays the New Search page. From this page you can select specific criteria to search listings in your area. Availability Summary: The Availability Summary provides an overview of listings in your MHO rental market. From this page you can review listing status by profile type. You can use this matrix to determine if there are sufficient listings in the database to meet the estimated demand for units. Site Inspections: Displays a summary of those listings that have not yet been inspected by the housing office. Only those units that are available and are in Site Inspection Pending status are displayed in this summary view. BAH Selection: This functionality is disabled until you request that it be enabled. To enable this feature click on the BAH Selection icon to send a message to the AHRN administrator requesting activation. Once enabled this feature will display a summary of those listings that have not yet been reviewed for the BAH. Only those units that have not been reviewed for BAH, match a BAH profile, are within the BAH defined area, and are not privatized or furnished are displayed. Find a Listing: Click Find a Listing to search for a specific listing by username/ address, property address, or listing ID. Listing Complaints: Click Listing Complaints to view all listings with complaints filed by military members. Complaints are sorted by complaint date, from newest to oldest. Site Administration: Takes you to the MHO Administration page. PCS Panel: Gives you visibility to military members who have registered in AHRN and scheduled arrivak date at your installation. The PCS Panel combined with ewelcome Messaging allows you to be proactive in contacting military members prior to their arrival. From the PCS panel you can send messages to registered military members via the AHRN.com message center or . (You can also view PCSing military members from the Day, Week, or Month tabs). User Maintenance: Displays information on all users registered for your location. From the User Maintenance screen you can send messages to registered users via the AHRN message center or . Page 7

8 Search for a User: Allows you to search for registered users by name or address. Upcoming Training: Provides information and registration links for upcoming MHO and Property Manager Webinar training sessions. Marketing Resources: Allows you to access all AHRN marketing resources and order marketing supplies online. Housing Office Update: Access the latest Housing Office quarterly AHRN newsletter. Each of these areas is described in more detail throughout this User Guide. Page 8

9 Search Listings Use the New Search feature to search all listings within the defined rental market area surrounding your installation. The New Search page allows you to define search criteria and select only those listings that meet your criteria. You can select as many criteria as you would like, keeping in mind that the more criteria selected the more refined the search which reduces the number of listing results. Note: The city drop down selection will only display city names which have properties entered in the system. If Available is selected it will only display city names for properties entered and marked as available. If Unavailable is selected it will only display city names for properties entered and marked as unavailable. If All is selected it will display city names which have properties (both available and unavailable) entered in the system. If no properties are currently listed (either available or unavailable) for a particular city in your support area, the city name will not be displayed in the city drop down selection. You can further refine your search using the various selections in the search screen. Criteria with check boxes allow you to select multiple criteria. Criteria with radio buttons are mutually exclusive selections (for example, Furnished options). If you do not set search criteria for a particular item, your search will return all listings. For example, if you do not care about the number of bathrooms the unit has, leave the bathroom search criteria blank. Once you have selected your search criteria you can save the search by typing a search name in the Save Search As field. If you do not want to save the search, leave the Save Search As field empty. Click Submit to run the search and to save a named search. A Search Results page will display the listings that meet your specified criteria. If you would like to change your search parameters, click on the Modify Search icon at the top of the search results page. To view individual listing details click on the selected listings or Details or Edit link. Note: You can also choose to temporarily browse listings in the area of another installation by clicking the Change Installation link located on the New Search page. Creating a New Search 1. Click Search Listings from the navigation menu. 2. Click the New Search link. 3. Select the Listing Type you would like to search. 4. Select criteria for your search. Note: Click the Advanced tab at the top of the page to access all search criteria fields available. 5. Select State field: If your rental market encompasses more than one state or your office lists rentals in other states you will have a Select State field from which you can select either All (default) or a specific state. This field is only shown if the rental market encompasses more than one state or you have listings in other states. 6. Select a City field: If your area encompasses more than one state you will not have the Select a City field until you specify a state. Note: Only cities with currently available listings will be displayed in the drop down box. 7. Once criteria has been selected and you want to save the search, type a name in the Save Search As field at the bottom of the page. If you do not want to save your search, leave the field blank. 8. Click on the Submit button to run the search. Running a Saved Search 1. Click on Search Listings in the navigation menu. 2. Click on the Saved Searches link. 3. Select the saved search you would like to view, edit, or delete. Page 9

10 a. Click the View button to display the listings that match the saved search criteria. b. Click the Edit button to modify the saved search criteria. c. Click the Delete button to delete the saved search. Mapping / Route Optimization The mapping and route optimization feature is available from both the Search Results summary page and Site Inspection Summary page. The mapping feature allows you to select up to 10 listings to view their locations relative to one another or an installation. Use the Optimize feature to calculate the fastest driving route between the selected listings. Send the optimized route to Google for turn by turn driving directions, street level photos, and printing. Mapping From the Search Results and Site Inspection Summary Page: 1. Click the mapping icon to the left of the listings to add up to 10 listings to your itinerary. Selected listings will appear on the map at the top of the page. 2. Select a Starting address from the drop box. 3. Select an Ending address from the drop box. To remove selected listings, click the mapping icon to remove from route. Click the Reset Route icon to remove all selected listings and map new locations. Route Optimization 1. Click the Optimize icon to calculate the fastest driving route between the selected listings. 2. To obtain turn by turn driving directions for selected listings, click the Google link, this will open in a new window and provide directions for your optimized route. Page 10

11 Availability Summary The Availability Summary presents an overview of listings within your AHRN rental market area. This summary is presented in two tables. The top table displays New, Available, Unavailable, and Total listings by unit type. The bottom table displays Community Housing, Military Housing (MHPI and Government Controlled), Shared Rentals, Temporary Lodging, and For Sale by Owner listings by unit type. Click on any of the bold numbers to display those units in summary view. Within the top table the following data is provided by Property Type: New: Displays the number of listings that have been added to the system or updated/renewed in the last 7 days. Available: Displays the number of available listings by housing type. % Available: Displays the percent of available listings by housing type (i.e., 23% of available listings are for apartments). Not Available: Displays the number of unavailable listings by housing type. Not Available %: Displays the percent of unavailable listings by housing type (i.e., 23% of unavailable listings are for apartments). Total: Displays the total number of listings (available and unavailable) by housing type. Within the bottom table the following data is provided by Property Type: Community Housing: Displays the number of available standard (long-term) listings. MHPI (Privatized): Displays the number of available MHPI (Privatized) listings. Government Controlled: Displays the number of available Government Controlled military housing listings. Shared Rentals: Displays the number of available Shared Rental listings. Temporary Lodging: Displays the number of available Temporary Lodging/Short-term Rental listings. For Sale: Displays the number of Military For Sale by Owner listings. Page 11

12 Site Inspections The Site Inspection feature allows the MHO to designate listings that have been inspected. If you do not perform site inspections you can either leave all of the listings in Pending status or turn off the Site Inspection feature in the MHO Admin/Site Administration/Site Setup area. Note: The site inspection process does not affect the listings that can be selected using the BAH Selection feature. Enable or Disable Site Inspection Feature: Site Administration / Site Setup page: To disable (remove) the inspection feature check the Inspection functionality to No. To enable the site inspection feature check the Inspection functionality to Yes. This will enable/disable the MHO site inspection features in AHRN for both the Housing Office and military members. You may enable or disable this feature at any time. There are three site inspection status settings in AHRN: 1. Site P (Pending): All listings start in pending status. These listings are visible to military members (if the listing is available). The Site Inspection icon will show P and the hover text will indicate Site Inspection Pending. 2. Site Y (Approved): The housing office has inspected the unit and it has passed inspection and meets adequacy standards for your members. The military member will see these listings and the Site Inspection icon will show a green Y and hover text will indicate Site Inspected. 3. Site N (Failed Inspection): The housing office has inspected the unit and it has not passed inspection. These listings are not visible to military members, nor are they visible to property managers searching listings. The site inspection icon will show a red N for these listings. This status is only visible to the housing office. Note: Anytime you change a listings site inspection status the following message will be sent to the property manager notifying them of the change in the site inspection status: To: AHRN.com Property Manager From: AHRN.com Support Date: Thu, 28 Jun :01: (PDT) Subject: Listing Status Change for AHRN.com The status has changed for the listings below. Please take a moment to review your listing's status and call the housing office below if any of your listings are AVAILABLE and NOT SEARCHABLE. Avail Status Searchable Address Avail Passed Yes 2468 Testing, Watertown, NY If you have any questions regarding the inspection process or this change, please contact the <installation name> Housing Office at <phone #>. Thank you for using AHRN.com! The AHRN.com Team MHO Notes You can record site inspection comments in the MHO notes box for each listing on the Edit page. Comments in the MHO notes section are only visible to housing office personnel. As with all documentation, be sure that your documentation is within the guidelines of both your policies and the Fair Housing guidelines. Page 12

13 Site Inspection Summary Page Click on the Site Inspection icon from the MHO home page to view the Site Inspection Summary page. Statistics at the top provides a summary of Total Properties Available, Inspected, Pending Inspection, and Percent Complete in addition to a listing of the properties Pending Inspection. Summaries: Properties Available: Indicates the total number of available inspected and Pending listings within the defined MHO rental market. Inspected: Indicates the number of listings that have been inspected by the MHO and the status has been changed from Pending to Yes (Inspected). Pending Inspection: Indicates the number of available listings with a Pending status. These are listings that have not been inspected. Percent Complete: Indicates the percent of listings that have been inspected and assigned either a Yes or No status. How to Assign Inspection Status to Listings From the Site Inspection Summary Page 1. Click on the Site Inspections icon located on the MHO Homepage. This will direct you to the Site Inspection Summary page. This page contains all currently available listings that have not been inspected by the MHO and are in Pending status. 2. Click on the Y (Inspected and Passed) or N (Inspected and did not pass) radio button to assign a review status to the listing. 3. Continue through all listings on the summary page. 4. Scroll from the top to access additional pages. 5. Continue through all listings until complete. 6. Click the Save Changes button. If you attempt to leave the page without saving a pop up box will appear to alert you to unsaved changes from which you can click OK to save and continue to another page or Cancel to return to the inspection summary page. To sort listings in ascending or descending order, click on the column headings of the summary table. Note: If you use the optional Site Inspection Scheduler you will need to assign status through the scheduler. The radio buttons on the summary page will be grayed out. From the Property Edit Screen 1. Click on the edit icon from the site inspection summary page 2. On the edit listing page click the appropriate inspection status: Y, P, or N in the Site Inspections box. 3. A pop up box will appear asking if you are sure you want to change the inspection status. Click OK to save or Click Cancel. Note: If you use Site Inspection Scheduler you need to assign status on the edit listing page through the scheduler by clicking the Edit Schedule link in the site inspections box. How to Map and Optimize Route Select and plot up to 10 listings to view their location relative to each other or your installation. Map and Optimize the driving route between selected listings. Map and Optimize from the Site Inspection Summary Page: 1. Click the mapping icon to the left of the listings to select up to 10 listings for your itinerary. Selected listings will appear on the map at the top of the page. 2. Select a Starting address from the drop box. Page 13

14 3. Select an Ending address from the drop box. 4. Click the Optimize icon to calculate the fastest driving route between the selected listings. 5. To obtain turn by turn driving directions for selected listings, click the Google link, this will open in a new window and provide directions for your optimized route. To remove selected listings, click on the mapping icon to remove from route. To remove all selected listings and map new locations click the Reset Route icon. Site Inspection Change Log To view a history of changes made to site inspection settings, hover over the green question icon located next to the thumbnail picture on the summary page. This history will include any changes made after 9/23/2008. The new Site Inspection Change Log displays all changes made to site inspection fields; including the field changed, old value, new value, which MHO changed the value, and the date the change was made. The most recent changes are displayed at the top of the log. There are two ways to view the Site Inspection Change Log: 1. Site Inspection Summary Page: Click the Information Icon for the property inspection log you want to view. The Site Inspection Change Log will appear in a second window. 2. Edit Listing Page: Click the View Site Inspection Change Log link at the bottom of the Site Inspections box. Note: Changes made to site inspection fields prior to 9/23/2008 will not be displayed in the change log. Site Inspection Scheduler This is an optional feature allowing you to schedule site inspections within AHRN. The Site Inspection Scheduler allows you to assign an inspector, inspection date/time, inspection type, and schedule status to a listing. Once site inspections have been scheduled, you can view and print site inspection schedules or report on how many inspections have been performed. You can also set an automatic expiration period for inspections which will automatically reset the inspection status back to pending after a period of time (i.e., annual inspections are required). These optional Site Inspection Scheduler features must first be enabled in Site Administration. Enable and Setup the Site Inspection Scheduler: 1. Click on the Site Administration icon on the MHO homepage and click on Site Setup. 2. Set the Site Inspection Scheduler radio button to Yes and click Save Changes at the bottom of the page. 3. Return to the MHO Administration page and click on the Site Inspection Preferences link. 4. Review the Automatic Expiration timing. Options are 6, 12, 18, 24 months, or Never. This will automatically reset a listings site inspection status back to Pending after the selected time period. Click Save Changes. 5. Click on the Manage Site Inspection User link to enter the inspector names. These inspector names will appear in a drop down selection box when scheduling an inspection. Click Save Changes. Schedule a Site Inspection: 1. Click the Site Inspection icon on the MHO homepage. The summary listing page (Pending tab) will display all available listings with Site Inspection Pending status. The Inspection Schedule status for each is also displayed. 2. Find a listing (using the Pending tab or Search tab) that you want to schedule a site inspection for and click Add under the Schedule Status column. The Add Schedule box will display. 3. Select the Schedule Status: a. Assigned b. Scheduled c. Completed, Re-inspect d. Completed 4. Select the Inspector 5. Select the Inspection Type: a. On-Site b. Drive By Page 14

15 c. Online 6. Enter the Schedule Date type in mm/dd/yy or click the calendar icon and select the date. 7. Enter the Schedule Time. 8. Click the Add Schedule button. Print a list of scheduled site inspections: 1. Click the Search tab from the Site Inspection Summary page. 2. Define your search criteria (inspection status, inspector, inspection date, etc.). 3. Run the search. 4. Click on the Printer Friendly icon at the top of the page. Updating the Schedule Status upon completion of inspection: 1. Click the Site Inspection icon from the home page. 2. Locate the property and click the Scheduled link under the Schedule Status column. 3. Update the Schedule Status to either Completed-reinspect or Completed. Once selected the Inspection Status icons Y and N will appear. 4. Set the Inspection Status to Site Y (Passed) or Site N (Failed). 5. Click the Update Schedule button. Page 15

16 BAH Selection You have the option of using AHRN to select data for the annual BAH submission process. AHRN is designed to help facilitate and reduce the manual data entry of your BAH data submission. This functionality is disabled until you request that it be enabled. To enable this feature click on the BAH Selection icon, complete the requested information and send the request to the AHRN administrator. Once the functionality is enabled, click on the BAH Selection icon to display all listings that have not yet been reviewed for BAH. A summary of total available properties, reviewed, needs review, and percent complete is provided at the top of the summary table. The listings that appear in this summary page are those that fall within the approved BAH zip codes for your area and match BAH profiles. Listings that have already been reviewed for BAH (approved or declined) will not be displayed in this query. The BAH approve/decline function allows the MHO to designate which listings they want to use for the BAH submission. You can designate a listing as either A (Approved) or D (Declined). An Approved status indicates that you want to use the listing in your BAH submission. A Declined status indicates that you do not want to include the listing in your BAH submission. Both Approved and Declined listings are visible to military members in AHRN. Use the BAH A (Approved) and BAH D (Declined) columns to assign a status to each listing. Click on the appropriate radio button next to each listing to select either Approved or Declined. Once you have reviewed all pending listings on the page, click the Save Changes button. If you have more than one page of listings, the next page will automatically display. Continue this process until all listings have been reviewed. To view individual listing details click the view icon in the listing summary. The Property Detail page for the selected listing will appear. The number of listings that require BAH review is noted next to the BAH Submission icon on the Homepage. Click on the BAH Submission icon to view the BAH Summary page, which provides a summary of Total Properties Available, Reviewed, Needs Review, and Percent Complete in addition to a listing of the pending properties that require review. Total Properties Available: Indicates the total number of rental listings (both Available and Not Available) within the defined installation rental market. Reviewed: Indicates the number of listings that have been reviewed and the status has been changed from Pending to either Approved or Declined for BAH submission. Needs Review: Indicates the number of listings that have not yet been reviewed for the BAH data submission process. Listings must be reviewed and assigned as either Approved or Not Approved for BAH data submission. Percent Complete: Indicates the number of listings that have not yet been reviewed for the BAH data submission process. Listings must be reviewed and assigned as either Approved or Not Approved for BAH data submission. How to Approve or Decline Listings for BAH 1. Click the BAH Selection icon located on the MHO Homepage. This will direct you to the BAH Summary page displaying all listings eligible for BAH that need review. This page will not display listings that have already been reviewed and assigned an Approved or Declined status. 2. Review the individual listing detail information by clicking on the view icon for the listing. 3. Click the A (Approved) or D (Declined) radio button to assign a BAH review status to the listing. 4. Continue through all listings on the summary page. 5. Click the Save Changes button at the bottom of the page. 6. If there is a second page of listings they will automatically display. Continue through all listings until complete. Be sure to click the Save Changes button at the bottom of the page before you leave the page. If you leave the page without saving, your changes will be lost. To sort listings in ascending or descending order, click the column headings of the summary table. Page 16

17 If there are multiple Housing Offices located within a MHA the first housing office to assign a BAH status to the listing will own that listing and the other housing offices will not be able to change the status. If the listing has been assigned a BAH status you can hover over the information icon next to the New column to display the MHO owner of the listing. If a property manager changes information about the listing after you have selected either BAH A or BAH D, the listing will change back to a BAH Pending status for re-review. An icon in the New column will indicate if the listing was previously Approved or Declined for BAH. You can also search by BAH status using the New Search. Using this method you can review those listings that have already been Approved or Declined. You can search for Pending, Approved, Declined, Previously Approved, or Previously Declined BAH status. Tip: To view the BAH status hover over the Information icon in the summary listing view. Hovering over this icon will display if the listing is valid for BAH and if not why (out of zip codes or not a valid profile). This icon will also show which housing office set the BAH status and the date. Question: Can I Approve a listing for BAH that was Declined in the Site Inspection process? Yes. All listings for the MHO will appear in the BAH Summary page. The Site Inspection and BAH Selection process are independent selections. Page 17

18 Listing Complaints The Listing/Landlord Complaint functionality allows military members to send messages to the local housing office reporting issues with either a misrepresented listing or landlord/property manager that is violating the AHRN Terms & Conditions (Fair Housing guidelines, etc.). This feature is only available to military members and housing offices. Landlords/property managers are not informed of complaints, nor are complaints visible to landlords/property managers or other military members. To review complaints click the Listing Complaints icon located on the housing office homepage. This will display all listings in your rental area with complaints, sorted from newest to oldest complaint date. Click the icon to view the complaint(s) text. Once reviewed, you can set the status of the complaint to either Verified or Dismissed. The complaint status setting will not affect the visibility status of the listing. Below are some common types of military member complaints and suggested actions for each. Remember you can use the MHO Notes field on the Edit a Listing page to record your actions. Listing is no longer available: Change the listing status to Unavailable by removing the check mark from the box in the available column. Listing information is incorrect (phone number, pet information, etc.): Send message/ to the property manager requesting that they update the incorrect listing information. Potential discriminatory text in listing: Review the listing Description text for any discriminatory comments. If discriminatory comments are found change the Site Inspection status to Site N. Send message/ to property manager informing them of the discriminatory comments and request they be removed immediately or the listing will be deleted. Potential fraud/scam listing: Contact the property manager directly to investigate. Temporarily set Site Inspection status to Site N while investigating. If confirmed delete listing from database. IMPORTANT: Remember to check your message center complaints folder on a daily basis for new complaints! Page 18

19 Site Administration Use the Site Administration area to help manage the following aspects of your AHRN database. User Accounts Access links to: Create a new user account for Military Members and Property Managers. Search for a registered AHRN user by first or last name or address. Access the User Maintenance page. Access the PCS panel. Property Listings Access links to: Add a new property listing. Search and access an existing listing by either the Property manager name/ or by property address. Access the listing summary page for the MHO listed/owned properties. Review properties which have added photos (search by date range). Review properties added without photos (search by date range). View listings with low price (<$501.00). View the Property Average Report for average rent amounts for the listings in your AHRN database. View all listings with complaints. Site Administration Site Setup In the site setup section you are able to customize the AHRN site with your installation information. The site setup should be completed at the time of AHRN deployment training. In Site Setup you can control the following: Installation Display Name: This will identify your installation to service members and property managers. Site Contact Address: The address that any questions should be directed to regarding AHRN administration. This contact name is not visible to military members or property managers. Installation Address: Physical address of your housing office. Property Manager First and Final Notifications (timing): This will determine the timing of reactivate/update notifications to property managers. Timing of notifications is based on the date the available property was last reactivated or edited. If there is more than one housing office within the MHA, then both housing offices need to set timing of notifications the same. Site Inspections: Does your housing office conduct site inspections. Site Inspection Scheduling. Option scheduling functions available for MHO s who support site inspections. Rental Partnership Programs: Does your housing office participate in a Rental Partnership Program. PCS Panel Messaging Status: Automatic Messaging or Manual Messaging. PCS Panel Message Type: If using Automatic Messaging above select if you would like the auto messages sent to the users Registered Address or to their AHRN Message Center. PM ewelcome Messages: Select either Automatic or Manual messaging. Installation Overview/Introduction: Overview of your installation. This will appear in the Base Information section for military members. Community Name Maintenance: You can create user defined areas for your market. o Search: To search your list of created Community Names o Add new: To add a new community name type the area name (Example: Northwest) in this box. Select the zip codes that you want included in that area from the list of zip codes in the right box and use the < button to move the selections to the left box. Click the Save button located between the zip code boxes. Creating community names allows the housing office and military member to search listings by this field. Note: To have the ability to search listings by the community names it is necessary for the property manager to have selected the Community Name (optional field) when adding the listing located in the area of your designated community name. Page 19

20 o Edit selected: To add/remove zip codes from a created Community Name or to delete the Community Name. Select the Community Name you wish to edit or delete from the box. The name will appear in the Edit selected box and the zip codes assigned to this community will appear in the left box below. To add or remove zip codes select the zip code and use the >< buttons to add or remove. Click the Save button located between the zip code boxes. Add / Modify NEWS To display a news article regarding your installation. You can select both the time frame to display the article and the user groups you would like to view the article. Searching members will access the News articles under Base Info/News from the left navigation pane. 1. Click on the Add/Modify News link. 2. Click on Add a new News Item. 3. Enter the title of the News Item. 4. Enter (or copy and paste) the news article text in the content box. 5. Select the start and end dates for displaying the news article. 6. Select the user group(s) that you would like to view the article. 7. Click the Submit button. Add / Modify FAQ s On this page you can add, edit, and delete Frequently Asked Question s (FAQ) to your MHO site information. Note: Each installation is set up with a standard list of FAQ s. Searching members and property managers access the FAQ s under the FAQ s link from the left navigation pane. When creating FAQ s you control which User Type(s) can view it (MM,MMPM,PM,MHO), to select more than one hold the Ctrl Key and click on the intended User Types. 1. Click on the Add/Modify FAQ link. 2. Click on the Add a New FAQ item. 3. Enter the FAQ title. 4. Enter the Question and Answer text in the content box. 5. Select the user group(s) that you would like to view this FAQ item. 6. Click the Submit button. Add / Modify LINKS On this page you can add, edit, and delete useful website links. Note: Each installation is set up with a standard list of external links. Searching members will access the external links under Resources/Links from the left navigation pane. 1. Click on Add/Modify Links. 2. Click on Add a New Link. 3. Enter a Category title for the link. For example, Housing, Recreation, or Quality of Life. 4. Enter the Link Title. For example, City XYZ Daily Newspaper. 5. Enter the link URL, excluding the leader. 6. Select the user group(s) that you would like to view this link. 7. Click the Submit button. Add / Modify CONTACT INFO On this page you can add or edit MHO contact information. This is the contact information that is displayed to military members and property managers. 1. Click on the Add/Modify Contact Info link. 2. Click on Add a New Contact. 3. Enter a Category title for the contact. For example; Navy Housing. 4. Enter the Office Title. For example; *Installation Name* Housing Office. 5. Enter the Contact Information. 6. Enter the installation (or housing office) website address, excluding the leader. 7. Select the user group(s) that you would like to view this contact information. 8. Click the Submit button. Page 20

21 Manage Communication Templates On this page you can edit the default templates for the Military Member ewelcome and Property Manager ewelcome messages. You can also create and manage new template messages. To edit template messages: 1. Click on the template message you want to edit. 2. Review the template Subject and Content in the respective fields. 3. Click the Save icon to save changes. Note: If you want to create a new template message, enter the template name and click the New icon. Site Inspections (Preferences/Users) Site Inspection Preferences Housing offices that conduct site inspections: Access this link to set the Automatic Expiration timing for your inspected properties. Options are 6, 12, 18, 24 months, or Never. This will automatically reset a listings site inspection status back to Pending after the selected timeframe. Click Save Changes. Manage Site Inspection Users (if optional Site Inspection Scheduler is activated) Housing Offices using Site Inspection Scheduler: Access this link to add your site inspector names. These inspector names will appear in a drop down selection box when scheduling an inspection. Click Save Changes. All the inspectors created will continue to use the same MHO Username/Password. Page 21

22 PCS Panel The PCS Panel provides visibility to military members who have registered in AHRN.com, selected your installation as their gaining installation, and when they are scheduled to PCS. The PCS Panel combined with ewelcome Messaging allows you to be proactive in contacting military members prior to their arrival. From the PCS panel you can send messages to registered military members via the AHRN.com message center or . You can also view PCSing military members from the MHO homepage (click on the Day, Week, or Month tabs). Export to Excel: You can export data for the users into an Excel spreadsheet. The following information is included in the export: 1. Name 2. Grade 3. # Dependents 4. PCS Date 5. Type of registration (MM or MMPM) 6. Registration Date 7. Last Login 8. Total # of Logins 9. Registered address 10. ewelcome Msg 1-3 date sent history Use the Filter boxes to define your export data then click the Export to Excel button. Note: The selection boxes to check specific members for messaging do not work with the export data button in the PCS panel, even if you check specific members all listed information on the screen will export. Page 22