The certification program is designed to identify owners of multifamily affordable properties and service organizations working in multifamily affordable properties that provide resident services provision in line with a robust coordination system.

A resident services coordination system refers to all functions tied to the organizational mission to implement resident services in affordable rental housing properties, including corporate and site-based staff, funding, technology systems, services and programs, research and evaluation, organizational knowledge, and the tools necessary to support resident services.

To be eligible for CORES Certification, an organization must fit one of the following models for providing resident services coordination and this system must be scaled at multiple properties:

Direct Model – Affordable housing owners/organizations that retain direct responsibility for the management, delivery, and implementation of Resident Service Coordination at their own properties. Organizations are not required to provide resident services coordination at all their properties.

Hybrid Model – Affordable rental housing owners/organizations that contract with an un-related third party entity (either a property management company or another services organization) to staff the on-site property-based resident services coordinators/staff, but otherwise retain leadership, management, and support capacity for resident services coordination at their properties.

Third-Party Resident Services Coordination Contractor Model – An owner of affordable housing may contract with an external (third party) organization to provide all aspects of resident services coordination. This includes the management, delivery, and implementation of Resident Services Coordination at the property level and corporate/regional levels. An organization that falls into this model may provide third party services for one owner or for multiple owners. I this case, the third party organization would be certified (and not the owner of the affordable housing).

*Streamlined* Third-Party Resident Services Coordination Contractor Model – This option has been developed for organizations that operate under a Direct Model, but have also developed a business of providing Third Party Resident Services Coordination services to other owners. This pathway allows applicants to use portions of their application under the Direct model (where questions/answers are applicable) in their Third Party Model application. To qualify for this option, an organization must first successfully apply for CORES under the Direct model. Once the applicant has been certified under the Direct model, they can seek Third-Party Certification through a streamlined application within six months after their Direct Model certification is received (an organization may still apply for the Third Party Model after these six months, but will not be able to use the streamlined application to do so). If interested in this pathway, please contact CORES staff for more information (at [email protected]).

To be eligible for CORES, an organization does not need to offer a CORES-level of resident services coordination or have resident services staff at ALL properties within their portfolio.  However, the organization must be able to demonstrate that this CORES-level of infrastructure and implementation is in place at multiple properties within their portfolio -- that resident services (with a frontline resident services staff function) is a part of the organization's mission and business model. Please see eligibility requirements for additional information.