The rental housing market is competitive. There are more renters in need of a place to live and rent than there are rental units affordable to them. Therefore, landlords can screen out tenants, making it more difficult for those that have experienced homelessness that often have barriers such as poor credit, no income, income less than three times the rent, past evictions, and having a criminal record.
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Landlord incentives can offset the potential or perceived added time and costs of renting to households overcoming homelessness that may be otherwise screened out by a landlord due to their little to no income, poor rental history, and/or criminal history. Homelessness assistance programs can use landlord incentives to help retain landlords and attract new landlords in renting to lower income individuals and families.
Menu of Incentives
Incentives can offset the potential or perceived added time and costs of renting to households overcoming homelessness that may be otherwise screened out by a landlord due to their little to no income, poor rental history, and/or criminal history.
Vacancy Payments
A one-time cash payment for holding a unit for a rental assistance and/or during the inspection process
Barrier Removal Payments
Compensates a landlord for modifying their screening criteria for a tenant working with a homelessness assistance program.
Recruitment and/or Retention Bonus
Financial incentive that compensates landlords who may be new to working with a homelessness assistance program or starting to work with a program after an extended break.
Incentives for Landlords to Rent to Lower Income Households
Landlord incentives are useful tools to make a business case to landlords to rent to lower income households. They can be used to offset the potential or perceived added time and costs of renting to lower income households