A quality home is the foundation
of society & community

A quality home is the foundation of society & community

UNRAVELING AND DEMYSTIFYING THE COMMON MYTHS OF THE HCV LANDLORD PROGRAM

A NOTE TO THE READER: The following is the Third, of a Five Part Op-Ed Series
to educate, inform, understand, and empower the reader on
the Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCV), commonly referred to as Section 8.
THE RHA LEADERSHIP TEAM

This Op-Ed is a Series of Five Segments, with this being the third of five. So far, we have highlighted the essential areas of the HCV Program, what constitutes a family, the basic working principles of the Housing Choice Voucher Program, and the model of HCV portability. Our HCV Program’s success is based upon regular communication with our clients, Landlords, and program partners and a commitment to following through on our promises. 

In the Greater Rockford Area, low-income individuals and families use vouchers to help pay for privately owned housing, commonly known as ‘Section 8 Housing.’ Our continuous goal is to educate and inform, the reader, and the following HCV subject matter will cover the aspects of our community strategic partners, Our Landlords.

These allies provide affordable housing for our community resident’s families and offer a myriad of opportunities with some of their community locations. By helping house our community residents, Landlords have played an integral role in assisting individuals in taking charge of their lives and making the Rockford community a better place to live.

Landlords in the Rock River Valley play an essential role in shaping urban housing markets. Landlords have significant power in defining housing options for families who are among the working poor and low-income individuals. Landlords in nearly every jurisdiction, including Rockford, can decide whether to accept families with housing vouchers, a decision with profound implications and effects for the success of the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program. This program is the federal government’s support to assist very low-income households in affording private-market housing, which is administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Its success and achievement depend significantly on the willingness of landlords in neighborhoods to accept voucher tenants.

We had stated in an earlier Op-Ed, and it bears repeating here, ‘That the “”  “choice” “”” in the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program’s name refers to the opportunity tenants have to choose where they want to live. However, this choice heavily depends on landlords willing to accept vouchers. Therefore, landlords are critical to the success of the HCV Program.’

Quantifiable evidence suggests that organizational and procedural factors deter landlords’ participation, and has fallen victim to erroneous information without questioning its accuracy or scrutinizing the motives and reliability of the sources. As a result, misunderstanding, misinformation, and a slew of false or content inaccuracies have provided disinformation. With this article, we desire to reverse some of the stigmatism the program has encountered over the years.

What’s the Win-Win?

At RHA, we understand the landlord’s perspective and that rental housing is a business. And smaller landlords are the largest supplier of affordable housing in this country. We appreciate your goals, which are to maximize your return on investment while at the same time reducing your risk and liability. Through the HCV program, you can achieve those results. What’s the win-win? How can we help maximize your profits while limiting your risks? RHA has a solid plan in place. We have a shared goal with our landlords, and our win-win goals are to keep the tenants housed and supported.

We assist and support you as a valued partner by helping you understand what to expect from the process. Some of the required paperwork, the request for tenancy approval, inspection, payments, the contract issuance, how that process works, and HCV Program timelines, to name a few, are some of the perceived hindrances to apply for the program. Our work is ongoing once the tenant signs the lease and moves in. We keep open lines of communication on an ongoing basis, which is critical for our landlord partners. Another simple way of saying it, we are there for you. And once your tenants are leased, we continue to maintain our landlord-partner relationship on an ongoing basis.

Understanding the need for clean, healthy, and safe living environments in greater opportunity areas for recipients of the HCV program and the lack of landlord participation throughout the city of Rockford, RHA has applied for and been awarded “Moving To Work” designation from HUD under the “Landlord Incentive Cohort.” Through this designation, RHA can “think outside of the box” to create incentives for landlords. Working closely with local landlords and listening to their concerns, RHA has developed monetary incentives for new landlords entering the program and those who have remained loyal to the agency and our participants throughout the years.

If you would like to see more from other landlords we have worked with, please select this link: https://vimeo.com/782121641

 

If you would like to speak with us directly, we would welcome your call. 

If would like to read more about Benefits of Becoming a RHA Landlord, please follow this link: https://rockfordha.org/becoming-a-landlord/

CONTACT INFORMATION

Rosalind Gulley, HCV Program Manager

rgulley@rockfordha.org

815-489-8532

RESOURCE: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today published Fair Market Rents (FMRs) for Fiscal Year 2023. FMRs, published annually, are an estimate of the amount of money that would cover gross rents (rent and utility expenses) on 40 percent of the rental housing units in an area. Nationally, FMRs will increase by an average of approximately 10 percent, enabling more households with housing vouchers to access affordable, stable housing. For FY23, HUD is using private sector data to estimate changes in FMRs to address a temporary data availability challenge and to align with market conditions. The basic methodology that HUD uses to estimate FMRs remains the same.

“One of the reasons that housing voucher holders are unable to use those vouchers is because the value of their vouchers has not kept up with rapid rent increases,” said HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. “These new FMRs will make it easier for voucher holders facing this challenge to access affordable housing in most housing markets, while expanding the range of housing opportunities available to households. The new FMRs reflect the reality of housing unaffordability for many households, while supporting our efforts to improve affordability and accessibility for all Americans. HUD and the Biden-Harris Administration recognize the burdens of housing costs and are committed to expanding access to affordable housing through a wide range of necessary efforts, from boosting housing supply to providing more vouchers to help households with higher housing costs.”

Winnebago County, IL is part of the Rockford, IL MSA, which consists of the following counties: Boone County, IL; and Winnebago County, IL. All information here applies to the entirety of the Rockford, IL MSA.