Owners/ Managers Creating Opportunity: Analysis of Owner/Manager Feedback

Family Housing Fund focuses strategic efforts to increase landlord participation in the Housing Choice Voucher Program across the seven-county metropolitan area, especially in areas with low rates of poverty and high quality schools, in order to expand housing choice for low-income and working families. The Housing Choice Voucher program is one of the federal government’s major initiatives to serve very low-income families and is one of the more flexible resources communities have to meet unique affordable housing needs in their jurisdictions.

This body of work addresses a critical bottleneck in the complex process of a family utilizing a voucher: finding an owner of a unit that fits their needs that will accept it. There has not been a region-wide systematic process to understand why or how owners/managers would like to engage with the program.

In 2016, with a focus on increasing landlord participation in the HCV Program across the seven-county metropolitan area, Family Housing Fund staff interviewed both participating and non-participating property owners/managers about their experience with the HCV Program. Conversations were conducted with public stakeholders to understand what is currently being done to educate owners and expand participation, as well as what gaps need to be filled. The resulting report highlights a significant need to strengthen the partnership between Public Housing Authorities and property owners/managers and use the flexibility of discretionary policies to make the program more effective. This work led to a partnership with the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority to take a detailed look into their program administration to make recommendations for enhancements.