A few months ago, Fair Tide launched a new program aimed at incentivizing landlords to rent to households with rental vouchers. Portsmouth Herald reporter, Hadley Barndollar, wrote a wonderful article summing up the initiative as well as the need it aims to address. Read on, and reach out to us if you want to learn more about partnering!
Fair Tide launches landlord incentives to increase voucher acceptance
KITTERY, Maine — Nonprofit Fair Tide Housing has rolled out a formal landlord engagement initiative, offering an incentive program for those who rent to families with housing vouchers. The program includes a $500 sign-on bonus per unit, coverage through a damage loss mitigation fund, ability to cover rent lost while waiting for a voucher to process, and access to a Fair Tide case manager. Fair Tide Executive Director Emily Flinkstrom said the region’s less than 1% vacancy rate severely impacts families and individuals moving out of homelessness — the population Kittery-based Fair Tide serves.
“It’s pretty dire, to be honest,” Flinkstrom said. “There really is just no where for people to go. That’s the greatest roadblock for us.”
Last week, Fair Tide mailed letters to approximately 250 landlords in Kittery explaining the new initiative, which is part of the organization’s five-year strategic growth plan. The goal is to partner with local landlords and property managers to open up units in the private rental market. So far, Flinkstrom said, that’s been a difficult road, as landlords can charge exorbitant amounts for their rentals in the current market, more than any housing voucher or its accompanied income can pay for.
Flinkstrom said Fair Tide modeled its program after an initiative at the North Dakota Housing Finance Agency, and used its documents as templates. Home For All, formerly called the Greater Seacoast Coalition to End Homelessness, has been discussing a regional program as such for some time, and has held informational events for landlords.
In some of the Seacoast’s larger cities and towns, housing authorities report the number of landlords who accept federal Housing Choice vouchers has decreased, as the demand for housing has allowed those individuals to increase their rents.
Fair Tide’s goal is to bring on five additional units in the program’s pilot year, and 15 over the course of the strategic plan. Over the course of its lifetime, Fair Tide has housed 126 individuals, 49% of whom were children.
Last September, Fair Tide did a similar mailing, testing the waters with area landlords about partnering with the nonprofit to expand housing opportunities. Nothing moved beyond an initial conversation, Flinkstrom said. But this year, the organization returned with a formal program and funding.
Flinkstrom said the program provides guaranteed rent through the voucher, the risk mitigation fund as assurance, and a support contact at Fair Tide for both the tenants and landlord. Tenants with housing vouchers pay 30% of their income toward rent and utilities, with the voucher covering the remainder — up to the rental cap determined by the government.
Many landlords, Flinkstrom noted, view renting to voucher households as “taking a chance.” “There are stereotypes and preconceived notions out there that households who have vouchers won’t be as good renters as other folks,” she said. “By and large that’s not true, and I hope this program will show that, too.”
Funding for the initiative comes from money that was set aside for renovations at Fair Tide’s five-unit house in Kittery for its two-year transitional housing program, but was never used.
“We cannot build our way out of this,” Flinkstrom said of the housing crisis. “There’s too much need and there’s not enough stock. Attacking it from multiple angles is the only way to move forward in a significant manner.”
For more detailed information on the LEI program click here, or email executivedirector@fairtide.org.