RCAC Home Page >
News and Publications >
Self-Help Builder News June 2012 Volume 5, Issue #2 >
Correcting Incorrect Data Once the Construction Dates Have Been Entered and Helpful Screens Often Overlooked in SHARES
By Nancy Jacobsen, RCAC rural development specialist
We’ve touched on the problem of information being entered into SHARES incorrectly before, but I’ve had several calls recently, so it is worth running the information again. ONCE construction dates have been entered in SHARES, changes cannot be made to correct certain data. Most of the issues include entering a construction style, page 5 of the Borrower’s screens, such as Slab on Grade or Crawl space construction. If the method is entered incorrectly, the points allotted in SHARES will be incorrect.
Another problem may be when a lot was assigned incorrectly to a Borrower. If you encounter this situation and you have entered construction dates, SHARES will NOT allow you to simply change the information. You must reverse the latest data entered, which is the construction dates on the Construction screen back, and including the closing date for the participant’s loan, their loan status from closed back to pending on page 1 of the Borrower’s screen and SAVE. This removes the data on page 5 of the Borrower’s screen and the screen is again closed to access. Go back to page 1 and reenter the loan Status of Docket to the closing date and enter the Docket Status date to the date the loan closed. This will allow to access page 5 of the Borrower’s screen and reenter the correct lot # and construction method.
Two under-used screens also may be useful. The second page of the Borrower’s screen shows the total number and percentage of Low-Income and Very Low-Income for the current grant. Viewing this screen under any borrower in the group is a good way to double check that you’ve entered your Borrower’s Income level correctly on page 1 of the Borrower’s screens. Of course you can check this data when you generate your SHARES report but finding it before that step can save time and paper!
The Tasks Pledged screen also is under-utilized. I’ve noticed that not all grantees take advantage of this timesaving step when entering a new grant. At the beginning of each grant, grantees should enter the tasks the majority of families will be performing to earn the 65 percent family contribution. Entering this information will automatically populate the Points Allotted and Points Earned for each borrower in the grant. In the event a different method of construction is being used for a lesser number of homes, simply choose that construction method on the fifth page of the Borrower’s screen and choose which tasks may be performed differently for that home. This step saves having to individually fill in the family tasks for each borrower.
As always, I welcome your comments and suggestions for items to include in SHARES Tidbits. If you are having SHARES problems, please contact your TA provider or Nancy Jacobsen, 406/579-5202 or by e-mail at njacobsen@rcac.org for further assistance.
Do you have any special tips or uses for SHARES? Send them to Nancy Jacobsen at njacobsen@rcac.org and we may print them in our Self-Help Builder News upcoming editions.