NEAHMA Trainers

Anita is  Vice President of Monfric Realty, Inc. in Grand Junction, Colorado.  Anita works as a  consultant for other management companies and provides them services in compliance and training. She has been in the affordable housing industry for over 33 years, and has been training for approximately 31 of those years. 

She was one of the first two trainers certified by NAHMA to train their CPO class in 1995.  She has worked with NAHMA to create and update their training materials by serving on many committees to complete that work. Anita is on the Advisory Board for the SHCM test and was one of the original authors of that test.

Helena is a NAHMA-certified FHC trainer with over 19 years of experience working in the affordable housing industry. She started out working with youth at a large public housing development in Boston under an early HUD HOPE VI grant before moving on to MassHousing. Since 1996, she has worked in a variety of roles within the Community Services Department at MassHousing. She was heavily involved in the Fair Housing Initiatives Program Grant from HUD which allowed MassHousing to develop the original Providing and Accessing Reasonable Accommodations training and companion handbook in Massachusetts as well as 23 other states. In addition, Helena worked with advocates, service providers and the Massachusetts Departments of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities managing a program that houses people with mental illness and/or developmental disabilities. Currently, she is a Community Services Analyst and trainer at MassHousing, where her roles include overseeing all of the department’s trainings related to fair housing as well as coordinating the agency’s Limited English Proficiency efforts.

Debbie has been a NEAHMA Trainer for over 12 years. Debbie continues to teach the following: Certified Professional of Occupancy (CPO), Half Day Fair Housing, LIHTC Determining Income, LIHTC File Audit, and One Day Tax Credit. She also teaches, Reasonable Accommodations and Specialist in Housing Credit Management (SHCM)-One and a half day Prep Course and Exam.

Debbie Piltch is an attorney with considerable expertise in discrimination law and housing law.  She worked for more than five years at the Disability Law Center (DLC) in Boston, Massachusetts, representing low-income individuals in cases involving discrimination in housing, employment, and education. She also designed and conducted training for consumers, and public and private entities on disability discrimination law. While at the DLC, she served on the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) taskforce responsible for making recommendations to the Secretary of HUD regarding complicated occupancy issues in public and assisted housing. She wrote the section of the report on reasonable accommodation in relation to persons with drug and alcohol addictions.

She left the DLC in 1994 to establish a consulting business that provides technical assistance and training to government and private entities on their rights and responsibilities in relation to civil rights and housing laws. She has developed a national reputation in the field of housing and discrimination law and has been fortunate to work with a number of the leading government and private organizations involved in housing issues. A significant portion of her work for these organizations has focused on designing, developing and implementing training programs on occupancy issues, tax credit compliance, and fair housing. For example, she wrote two manuals for MassHousing under a Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) grant on disability discrimination law in housing. One manual was designed to assist individuals with disabilities understand their rights and responsibilities, and the other manual was directed at public and assisted housing providers. These manuals were part of a highly successful training program designed to bring together consumers, public and assisted housing providers, and service providers to discuss complicated issues relating to individuals with disabilities in housing. This training program was so successful that they received a second FHIP grant to conduct the training program across the country and an award of excellence from HUD.  Ms. Piltch has continued to work with MassHousing as a consultant, developing and implementing numerous training programs for this agency on Fair Housing related topics, including reasonable accommodation, limited English proficiency, Fair Housing, and liability issues for Resident Service Coordinators.  She also worked with Ann Anderson on materials Ms. Anderson developed for MassHousing on hoarding.

Ms. Piltch has also worked extensively with the National Affordable Housing Management Association (NAHMA). She co-authored this organization’s training program on occupancy issues, serves as a trainer for its members on this topic and Fair Housing and is a member of NAHMA’s Specialist in Housing Credit Management (SHCM) Technical Advisory Committee and Chairperson of its Education and Training Committee. In addition, she has worked with HUD conducting training for large public housing authorities, and HUD public and fair housing personnel on discrimination in public housing and occupancy issues.

In addition, in her capacity as a consultant, she has analyzed countless organization’s rules, policies and procedures in an effort to insure that they are in compliance with applicable tax credit, civil rights and housing laws. She has also designed compliance protocols for government and private entities, and has served as an independent monitor for the MA state Attorney General’s office in a discrimination case.     Although she continues to maintain her consulting business, she is presently employed as the Director of Compliance for Maloney Properties, Inc., a private housing management company that operates over 8,000 units of affordable housing in MA, Vermont, NH, and RI.  In this capacity she is responsible for overseeing compliance with federal, state and local regulations, including fair housing laws and tax credit rules.   Her responsibilities include developing and implementing rules, policies and procedures, conducting numerous types of training, and on-site monitoring.

Scott has worked in affordable housing since 1996; both as a manager of HUD and Tax Credit programs, as well as a consultant and inspector.

Scott Precourt, President, of U.S. Housing Consultants, was certified as a UPCS Inspector in 1999, and has performed over 5,000 UPCS Inspections throughout the country since the initial certification. He has trained over 20,000 people on UPCS and REAC protocols, and is recognized as one of the foremost authorities on UPCS Inspection protocols in the nation.

Please visit U.S. Housing Consultants website, here.

She has over a decade of experience in property management, working as a property manager, IT specialist, trainer and consultant.  As a consultant, she worked as a project manager facilitating implementations, conducting both on-site and remote trainings, providing technical support, and documenting policies and procedures for a number of clients across the country.  She oversees voucher transmissions and TRACS error resolutions, conducts remote and on-site trainings, and supports site staff on EIV, specifically in crafting and executing repayment agreements.

Heather Staggs, AHM, CPO, FHC, SHCM, HCCP President S.T.A.R. Momentum Compliance Consulting, Inc.

Heather brings knowledge from both the property management and regulatory sides of affordable housing industry. She is a 25-year property management veteran; in addition, she has served as the previous manager for both the PBCA Section 8 Contract Administration and LIHTC Program Compliance departments within the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA). Prior to that, she was a Project Manager with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Heather is an expert in Fair Housing practices and affordable housing program compliance rules and regulations. These skills allowed her to serve as an expert witness for a recent high profile Federal Fair Housing property management case. Heather has first-hand insight into the latest affordable housing compliance trends all due to her on-site consulting work with multiple affordable housing programs, in addition to her company reviewing over 800 resident files on a monthly basis,. Her ability to comprehend the complex rules and regulations of the affordable housing industry, allows her to assist her clients across the country to stay compliant with not only state monitoring and government agencies, but also with Fair Housing laws. Heather is also a NAHMA approved CPO™ and FHC™ Instructor.

 Throughout her 30 years in the affordable housing industry, Gwen Volk has assisted developers, owners, agents, supervisors and on-site managers in navigating the complexities and challenges of the many programs that provide housing opportunities for low and moderate income families.

  Her broad range of experience includes 16 years with a Midwest property management company including 8 years as its CEO where she managed Section 8, Rural Development, and LIHC Section 42 properties. For 13 years she served as the compliance director for a Texas-based property management company overseeing regulatory compliance and reporting for Section 42 LIHTC, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) bond financed, HOME, Section 8, and 223(f) on more than 50 properties in 11 states ranging in size from 84 to 972 units.

  In 1996 Gwen established gwen volk INFOCUS, Inc. and has provided consultation and training to owners of affordable housing in 36 states both individually and through collaborative partnerships with other industry experts. Since then, she has remained continuously active in INFOCUS throughout her other pursuits.

  Gwen is highly skilled and effective at teaching and coaching staff at every level, helping owners to navigate the complexities of the programs, advising agents on compliance and problem-solving, and working with the agencies that administer and monitor the programs.

  Over the past 30 years, Gwen has volunteered thousands of hours with Affordable Housing Management Associations, the National Affordable Housing Management Association and the Institute of Real Estate Management. A member of NAHMA for over 20 years, she has twice served on its board of directors, has chaired its Education and Training and Fair Housing committees, and since 2007 has served as a member of the SHCM Technical Advisory Committee, responsible for development and quality control of the housing credit certification exam. Since 2009 Gwen has been a member of IREM’s Federal Housing Advisory board having served as Vice Chair and Chair.

  Gwen’s experience, knowledge, passion and commitment to the affordable housing industry makes her uniquely qualified to serve the training and consulting needs of the organizations, agencies, companies and individuals who make affordable housing a reality.

For over thirty-two years, beginning in 1987 and continuing until June 2019, Mr. Ployer worked for some of the industry’s most respected multifamily real estate management and development firms across the country, both for-profit and nonprofit. During that time, he managed properties of all sizes and types in twenty-seven (27) states as well as in the District of Columbia.

Mr. Ployer began his property management career with the Cornu Management Company in Boston, MA as a Maintenance Administrator at Mission Park Apartments – a 775-unit mixed-use complex located in the Boston Medical District that was owned by an affiliated entity of Harvard University, Harvard Real Estate (HRE). His primary responsibility when hired was to develop one of the first work order tracking systems in the country and he did. It was aptly called WOTS (Work Order Tracking System). WOTS was very successful tracking over 25,000 work orders annually.

In October 2019, Mr. Ployer founded and launched National Property Management Strategies Group, LLC. He now provides a variety of “outsourced” consulting services to property developers, owners and management companies. These services include but are not limited to; strategic planning, portfolio operations and asset management reviews, asset preservation and capital needs programs, Owners Project Management (OPM) rehabilitation and construction project oversight, site safety and risk management assessments, development of customized employee behavioral health and safety programs that improve employee’s personal safety as well as that of the community, reduce reported claims and drive positive bottom-line results by helping maintain or even reduce insurance premiums. Mr. Ployer also teaches a variety of much needed “soft-skills” courses for emerging property management professionals, both directly as clients and in collaboration with industry organizations and business partners.

Mr. Ployer earned many professional certifications, designations and credentials. These include the National Affordable Housing Professional Executive (NAHP-e) and the Credential for Green Property Management (CGPM) from the National Affordable Housing Management Association; the Certified Property Manager (CPM®) designation from The Institute of Real Estate Management and the Master Facility Executive (MFE) credential from the Building Owners and Managers Institute – International. He is also certified by the National Center for Housing Management as a Tax Credit Specialist (TCS), Certified Financial Manager (CFM), Senior Housing Specialist (SHS) and a Site-Based Budget Specialist (SBBS).

Mr. Ployer is also a licensed builder/remodeler holding an unrestricted Construction Supervisor’s License (CSL) issued by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He has also been trained as a professional residential home inspector. In 2018, he was nominated for and received the prestigious Builder of the Year award from the Builders and Remodelers Association of Greater Boston (BRAGB) – a chapter of the National Association of Home Builders. He is OSHA and EPA certified and has taken numerous National Fire Protection Association Codes and Standards courses as part of his ongoing professional education.

Based out of Worcester Massachusetts, Michael Martinez is a Technical Account Manager with Yardi Systems. Previously a Senior Property Manager overseeing a portfolio of both residential apartment and condominium units, Michael was an integral part of the field-based senior leadership team.

 
Since beginning his career in property management, Martinez has earned several designations in the housing industry including Fair Housing Coordinator (FHC), Certified Professional of Occupancy (CPO), Accredited Residential Manager (ARM), National Affordable Housing Professional (NAHP), and Specialist in Housing Credit Management (SHCM). Additionally, Martinez was named NEAHMA’s Property Management Professional of the Year in 2018.

Currently a NAHMA-approved credential course instructor for The National Affordable Housing Management Association and the co-chair of NEAHMA’s recently formed Young Professionals Committee, Martinez strives to bring awareness to the incoming generation of students to illustrate the vast career opportunities that the housing industry may provide and encourage growth through training.