by Nancy Jacobsen, RCAC rural development specialist – housing 

The new SHARES program seems to be working well, but the level of phone calls is still high. As you report issues and problems with the program, I send them to Rural Development where they are investigated. When problems are reported, the Rural Development SHARES consultant rewrites script to correct the issues.

One of the most common errors grantees commit is not following the sequencing order for data entry. For example, SHARES is broken down into modules and tabs. The arrangement of the modules and their tabs are set up for you to enter data in an orderly fashion. For example, the grant module contains tabs relating to the grant including grant name, grant funds, offices, reviews, lots, etc.

All lots for a specific grant that are available to the families are entered in the grant module under the lot tab. Lots are NOT assigned to borrowers and they are entered into the grant as inventory.

Once the borrowers are chosen for a build, qualify and choose their lots for closing, go to the borrower module, choose the lot tab, and use the drop down arrow to make your lot selection for that particular borrower.

Do NOT type the lot number into the lot number field or edit the lot number in the cell on the borrower’s lot screen. Edit lot information on the grant module, under the lot tab.

We had grantees trying to enter or edit lots in the wrong screens and we discovered some odd effects in the generation of the SHARES reports.

Another common error that is causing issues for the grantees is inserting an incorrect date. For example, typing 3013 instead of 2013 in the construction task completion cells can cause a SHARES report to under report the number of homes completed, since SHARES reports draw on many different cells and the reports are date range specific. The 3013 date will not show up as the home being completed in the SHARES report until the year 3013, however, it will show up and be counted on the two construction reports. If you see a discrepancy between the construction reports and the SHARES reported EU’s completed and/or reported, check the dates you have entered on the construction task date. This can be accessed in the reports module under the borrower construction tab or the construction task matrix.

When entering data first select the module, then select the tab to edit. If in doubt, review the user guide found in the SHARES program under help or call Nancy Jacobsen for further clarification.

 

If you need SHARES assistance or have any special tips or uses for SHARES please contact Nancy Jacobsen, 406-579-5202 or e-mail Nancy at: njacobsen@rcac.org for further assistance.