Landlord Engagement
Engaging landlords and property owners to identify an inventory of housing available for housing assistance is an essential component of any plan to house people experiencing homelessness. When landlords know about, trust, and feel supported by an organization, they are more likely to accept as tenants people with histories of homelessness and backgrounds that typically make it challenging to find someone to rent to them (e.g., criminal background, eviction history) that those organizations work with. The importance of landlord engagement has become especially clear during the COVID-19 pandemic, as rapid re-housing (RRH) and rental assistance efforts have required close cooperation with landlords and property managers.
In responding to the Special NOFO, CoCs are expected to demonstrate how they recruit landlords, and their units, in which to use tenant-based assistance. Recruitment should begin with a review of existing data to determine the unit type, location, and site-specific needs of unhoused persons in the community. CoCs should pay particular attention to geographic areas of their CoC where people experiencing homelessness want to live but have not been able to find a unit. CoCs should also evaluate their existing landlord recruitment efforts to determine what has and has not worked well. This analysis should inform new approaches and renewed efforts.
From there, CoCs can hone their recruitment strategies to be more effective. Some ideas to consider:
- Identify new referral sources. This can include local elected officials, housing authorities, housing counselors, landlord and property management associations, and existing landlords.
- Develop a centralized, system-level tracking tool. If your CoC does not already have a centralized repository of all available units and landlord contact information, they should consider creating one to store new landlord information. If possible, the tool should indicate whether the landlord has any available units in real time.
- Create and share standardized marketing materials. This could be done through community virtual boards and newsletters or other online, video, or print sources. This is to ensure that all providers are sharing information about the same type of assistance in the same way.
- Develop a retention strategy. Engaging new landlords is only the start of the process. It will also be important that your CoC develops strategies to retain existing landlords, particularly in instances where a tenant has not been successful in their unit.
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