Landlord Incentives for Accepting Housing Assistance — Damage Protection Program EndingCity of Dubuque
City Council Meeting
Consent Items # 015.
Copyrighted
June 5, 2023
ITEM TITLE: Landlord Incentives for Accepting Housing Assistance — Damage
Protection Program Ending
SUMMARY: City Manager providing City Council with information to receive and file
regarding the finalization of programs to incentivize landlords to accept
housing assistance.
SUGGESTED Suggested Disposition: Receive and File
DISPOSITION:
ATTACHMENTS:
Description
MVM Memo
Staff Memo
Type
City Manager Memo
Staff Memo
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TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: Landlord Incentives for Accepting Housing Assistance — Damage
Protection Program Ending
DATE: June 1, 2023
Housing & Community Development Director Alexis Steger is providing City Council
with information to receive and file regarding the finalization of programs to
incentivize landlords to accept housing assistance.
Mic ael C. Van Milligen
MCVM:sv
Attachment
cc: Crenna Brumwell, City Attorney
Cori Burbach, Assistant City Manager
Alexis Steger, Housing & Community Development Director
Dubuque
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TO: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
FROM: Alexis M. Steger, Housing and Community Development Director
DATE: June 1, 2023
RE: Landlord Incentives for Accepting Housing Assistance — Damage
Protection Program Ending
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this memo is to provide City Council with information regarding the
finalization of programs to incentivize landlords to accept housing assistance.
BACKGROUND
Since 2014, the City of Dubuque has been working towards greater landlord
acceptance of Housing Choice Vouchers to create equitable choice in housing for
those receiving housing assistance. The Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing
Choice and the Equitable Poverty Reduction and Prevention Plan recommended
landlord incentives to try to increase acceptance, or to pass a Source of Income
ordinance to remove discrimination against those needing housing assistance.
The Housing & Community Development Department was awarded two rounds of
CARES Act funding to be used to help keep Section 8 programs running during the
pandemic. The funds were used to go paperless to ensure the program can
continue if employees were quarantined at home, and to support briefings and
meetings virtually.
One of the approved uses for this funding was to create landlord incentive programs
to encourage the acceptance of Housing Choice Vouchers. The Housing and
Community Development Department researched programs being used by other
cities across the nation and which were experiencing the most effective results per
the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. After reviewing this
information it was determined that the City of Dubuque may benefit from more than
one landlord incentive program.
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The first program is a new landlord signing bonus. This is available to landlords in
census tracts with low HCV acceptance that have not leased to a HCV participant
since January 1, 2012, and successful lease an HCV participant.
The second program is a no -loss vacancy program. This is available to landlords in
census tracts with low HCV acceptance that have not leased to a HCV participant
since January 1, 2012, and successfully lease an HCV participant. To qualify a
landlord must inform the Housing & Community Development Department of an
upcoming vacancy to advertise as a unit accepting Housing Choice Vouchers. Any
private advertising must state "accepting Housing Choice Vouchers" as well. Up to
one month of rent will be reimbursed to a landlord that holds a unit so that an
assisted client can lease up in that unit.
Both programs are available citywide to any units that have 3+ bedrooms and meet
the other requirements of the programs.
DISCUSSION
The first program was a new landlord signing bonus. This was available to landlords
in census tracts with low HCV acceptance that have not leased to a HCV participant
since January 1, 2012, and successful lease an HCV participant.
The second program was a no -loss vacancy program. This is available to landlords
in census tracts with low HCV acceptance that have not leased to a HCV participant
since January 1, 2012, and successfully lease an HCV participant. To qualify a
landlord must inform the Housing & Community Development Department of an
upcoming vacancy to advertise as a unit accepting Housing Choice Vouchers. Any
private advertising must state "accepting Housing Choice Vouchers" as well. Up to
one month of rent was reimbursed to a landlord that held a unit so that an assisted
client can lease up in that unit.
Both programs were available citywide to any units that have 3+ bedrooms and
meet the other requirements of the programs.
These two landlord incentive programs ended December 31, 2021 with very little
success. With only 6 new landlords participating in the HCV program.
In addition to these programs, a damage reimbursement fund was created with
funding from the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque in the amount of
$54,000. This fund provided up to $2,500 per unit for a landlord that accepts
housing assistance and experiences damage to the unit in excess of the required
deposit. This was available to landlords in the County of Dubuque as well as the
City. The idea of this program was to incentivize landlords to accept housing
assistance at the time of greatest need for rapid re -housing of residents.
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The damage protection fund went unused by landlords since April 1, 2021, so over
two years without a draw from the program. Two landlords applied for the funding,
one did not respond when the inspection was scheduled to identify the damage and
the second was denied due to the damage being the landlords' responsibility (long
term water leak reported by the tenant to the landlord and never addressed).
The damage protection fund is an inactive program with no effect on the HCV
program in the past 2 years so it is ending and the funds are being returned to the
Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque to meet other community needs. One
such need is rental deposit assistance, for which the Community Foundation of
Greater Dubuque has committed to providing $25,000 to the City of Dubuque to
pilot a new program to address this need.
These new funds from the Community Foundation will be used as matching funds
for an application to the Iowa Finance Authority to start the pilot program that will
provide deposit assistance to the homeless or those at risk of homelessness.
RECOMMENDATION
I respectfully request City Council receive and file this document.
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