New program aims to curb Linn County homelessness

CRB&T, area partners launch $100,000 pilot initiative

By Marissa Payne, The Gazette CEDAR RAPIDS — A pilot program funded by Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust will launch in mid-November with the goal to house 30 “housing-challenged” tenants with private landlords in an effort to reduce homelessness and housing insecurity.

Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust and local officials who are part of the Alliance for Equitable Housing — a coalition of housing, local government entities, nonprofits, philanthropic partners and other organizations — unveiled the Landlord and Tenant Success Initiative on Thursday.

This program puts Linn

County among a growing number of U.S. communities offering financial incentives to landlords coupled with other supports to break barriers to housing as homelessness reaches record-high levels.

The $100,000 in funding from the bank will provide incentives for landlords and tenants to participate in a oneyear lease, said J’nae Peterman, the homeless systems manager jointly funded by Cedar Rapids and Linn County.

Tenants will have the opportunity to renew their lease at the end of the year, provided there are no lease violations or damage to the unit and they participate in tenant education courses.

The effort is designed to foster improved tenant-landlord relationships, expanding access to quality housing by supporting the individuals who struggle to secure stable housing and the local for-profit landlords willing to house them.

“The intent behind it was how do we incentivize landlords or encourage landlords to help the process with housing individuals who are housing challenged within our community and bring them into the fold of that solution?” Peterman said.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

Those who qualify for Rapid Rehousing are eligible. The federally funded program provides short-term assistance to individuals experiencing homelessness in the community. It helps people quickly get into a market-rate rental unit and offers limited financial assistance and case management.

Peterman said the latest summer “Point in Time” homeless counts conducted in July by volunteers from Willis Dady Homeless Services and Waypoint Services in Cedar Rapids found 111 people sleeping in places not meant for habitation in Linn County. She said it was storming the night of the count, so it may be an undercount.

The income limits for Rapid Rehousing are typically 50 percent of the area median income. Waypoint, Willis Dady and the Hawkeye Area Community Action Program offer it. Those agencies’ Rapid Rehousing case managers will provide case management to the tenants participating in this program, Peterman said.

HOW DOES THE PROGRAM WORK?

There are three primary components to the program:

• Landlord incentive: Participating landlords receive a cash bonus exceeding deposit requirements to accept housing-challenged tenants.

• Risk mitigation fund: Money will be set aside for a landlord or property owner to offset potential risks and uncertainties associated with renting to housing-challenged populations, such as damage to the unit.

• Tenant incentive: Tenants will be encouraged to have a successful tenancy and achieve goals through case management and tenant education classes. They will be eligible for a financial incentive up to $700 by the end of the one-year lease.

Peterman said a housing navigator will inspect the units quarterly and bring potential issues to the landlord to address. Financial incentives will be given throughout the year.

Tenant education courses will help the tenant learn how to care for a unit and how to prioritize payments so rent and utilities are paid on time, for example, so they’re prepared to be successful tenants in the long run, Peterman said.

Among landlords, Cedar Rapids Housing Services Manager Sara Buck said, “there’s fear that there’ll be damage to the unit, and so this allows them to take on that risk and know that there’s some funding that would be available to help mitigate any risk that they would have.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Cedar Rapids used emergency housing vouchers allocated by the federal government to support 44 households previously experiencing homelessness, Buck said. Of those, 36 have stayed housed past their full first-year lease and are into a second year. This initiative will offer more wraparound services than what that funding allowed, she said.

Other feedback from landlord focus groups surfaced a desire for in-unit case management, Peterman said, to ensure the unit was in good condition and there were no guests or pets unaccounted for. Under this program, the tenant agrees to the check-ins to participate.

She said it’s not a full inspection, but rather an opportunity to provide cleaning supplies, discuss proper garbage disposal or other housekeeping basics on a monthly basis.

HOW WILL PROGRAM BE ASSESSED?

The program partners are looking at several outcomes to assess the initiative’s success and determine how to potentially expand it to support more households.

Outcomes the partners would like to see include:

• An increase in the number and percentage of landlords accepting participating tenants.

• A boost in the number and percentage of units offered by existing landlords.

• Retention of landlords who are willing to participate.

• 75 percent of tenants renew their lease.

• 80 percent of tenants receive at least $600 of the $700 incentive.

“We’re going to fund the pilot and we hope to see great results,” Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust President James Klein said. “And then at that time, we would invite other community partners to get in and either make it bigger or more sustainable.”

SIMILAR PROGRAMS

To create the Linn County program, local officials looked to other cities in the U.S. that have launched similar landlord incentive programs as they look to end homelessness.

The city of Boston earlier this year launched a program that provides financial incentives to landlords that will rent to those transitioning out of homelessness.

In California, San Diego County’s Landlord Incentive Program is geared toward unhoused individuals, families and veterans and provides financial incentives to landlords who rent to those experiencing homelessness who participate in county housing programs. It also offers connections to supportive service providers.

Cumberland County in Pennsylvania also offers landlord incentives to encourage them to house a renter with a housing voucher or one in need of emergency shelter.