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C-8a · The Application Checklist — what is still missing

Book C — Daily User Guide · Part 2 Applicants & Intake · draft v1 (2026-09-07)

Who: caseworkers / loan coordinators When: from the day the household and their income are entered until the file is complete Time: a minute to check; a few minutes to send a request letter

What you'll end up with

One list per project of every document the household still owes, one row per item per person or account, built by HousingOS from your agency's checklist rules (your admin sets those in ▸ B-5a) and from the household as you entered it. As documents arrive you mark rows Received; the list shrinks; a Request Letter goes out for whatever is left. Many rows tick themselves off when the paperwork is already on file.

Part A — The amber button

  1. On Application Processing, the header button Application Checklist goes amber with the open count — Application Checklist (7 open) — while anything is outstanding, and grey when nothing is. It re-checks the household every time you land on the project, so a member or income row you just added shows in the count at once. 📷 C08a-01 The header with the amber button.
  2. The Active Projects status cards show the same count as a chip in the Application Review panel (▸ C-21), and the per-member ✓ / ✗ on Household Composition goes red while a member has open rows (▸ C-5).

Part B — The checklist window

  1. Click the button. The checklist opens in its own window beside the project — you can keep working on any tab while it is open. Rows are grouped by category; each shows the item, who it is for (a member, an account, or Household), its status, when it was requested, and when it was received. 📷 C08a-02 The checklist window, a few rows received.
  2. Buttons on each row: Received (stamps today and your name), Waive (power users only), N/A, and Reopen on a closed row. Note adds a clarification to the item — "statements must show all pages" — that prints in the request letter under that item.
  3. Show filters to Open, Received, Waived, or Not applicable. The header counts open, received, and waived rows.
  4. Add an item by hand: pick the item and the person at the top and click Add — for the occasional document the rules do not cover.
  5. Re-evaluate runs the rules again against the household as it is now. The window also re-checks itself every few seconds while it is open, so income or members entered on another form appear without a click. Rows are only ever added by this; nothing you have marked is undone.
  6. Chips explain a row: no longer applies (its reason went away — an income row was deleted; close it with N/A yourself), item retired, added by hand, if applicable, and for self-checking items, why it is still open: 2 of 6 statements on file, gap between paystubs (3/1 to 4/15), no tax return on file.

Part C — Rows that tick themselves

You do not have to mark these; HousingOS does, and names the source in the Received column:

  • Photo identification / Birth certificate — tick the member's Identification or Birth Certificate box on Household Composition (▸ C-5) and the row goes Received "Household Composition". Marking the row Received ticks the box. Clear the box and a row received that way reopens.
  • Bank statements — the account's statements on Bank Data (▸ C-6) run consecutively and number at least what the program requires. A gap or a short count keeps the row open and says so.
  • Tax return — a return entered for that member on the Income tab.
  • Paystubs — a consecutive run of paystubs on the member's employment income row, newest within 30 days, meeting the program's requirement; or the employment-verification letter back when your agency requires letters.
  • Tax filing status — for an adult with income whose Files federal taxes? answer is Unknown, the checklist adds a question row that goes into the letter ("Does Mary Nguyen file federal income taxes?"); answering Yes or No on Household Composition replaces it with the tax return or non-filing item.

A row you marked Received by hand is never reopened by any of these.

Part D — Request what is missing

  1. Click Request Letter (amber, in the checklist header; shown only while rows are open). HousingOS creates a Correspondence entry for the project — today's date, subject Additional Information Needed (or – Second Request), and every open item as text grouped by person — and switches you to the CORRESPONDENCE tab.
  2. Set the Requested Response Date, click Print, and choose Checklist Request Letter under Applicant Correspondence (▸ C-19). The letter's table fills with one line per open item, the person's name once per group, your notes under the items. Received, waived, and N/A rows never appear.
  3. Back on the checklist, the Requested column shows the date; a second letter later shows (x2) and the letter says second request. Printing twice on the same day counts once. 📷 C08a-03 The request letter with the item table.

Watch-outs

  • A member with no date of birth gets no age-based rows (photo ID for adults, for example) until a date is entered.
  • Income-type rows come from the income row's type. An employment row typed as Employment produces the paystub item; a row with a blank type produces nothing.
  • Two rows for the same bank account means the account was entered twice on Bank Data — merge them there (▸ C-6 step 6a) and the checklist follows.
  • Closing the window writes one summary line to the project log ("Application checklist: 2 received, 1 waived, request letter started. 9 item(s) still open.") when anything changed; every individual change is in the audit log.

Screenshot shot list (Demo backend, H1 family-of-4)

  • C08a-01 Application Processing header, amber button with a count.
  • C08a-02 Checklist window, Identification and Income Verification sections visible, one received-by "Household Composition" row.
  • C08a-03 The printed request letter, table filled.
  • C08a-04 A row with a "gap between paystubs" chip.

Video script — "The application checklist" (target 2 min)

  1. Open a project with the household and income entered; point at the amber count. "HousingOS already knows what this family still owes."
  2. Open the window; read two rows; click Received on one; the count drops.
  3. Tick a member's Identification box on Household Composition; back in the window the row is received by Household Composition.
  4. Click Request Letter; show the Correspondence entry; print the Checklist Request Letter; show the table.
  5. "Next time the file is opened the count is still there — until it reaches zero."

Open items for John

  • Confirm the 30-day "newest paystub" window is right for weekly-paid applicants.
  • Whether waived rows should show in the letter as waived (today they are simply omitted).