A new fund from the Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority aims to reduce high barriers for people to get housing by spurring landlords to loosen some screening requirements and agree to lease their units.
The Landlord Risk Reduction Fund aims to help individuals and families who are either experiencing homeless or at immediate risk of becoming homeless, according to information from LDCHA.
In order to do so, the fund will provide financial incentives to landlords in Lawrence and Douglas County:
• A lease up bonus will pay double the amount of rent upon successfully leasing to an LDCHA-referred tenant. That is a per-unit incentive, so more units can mean more funding.
• A damage reduction fund will offer damage claims beyond the initial security deposit. “Landlords will receive one month’s rent funded to cover any damage that may occur, guaranteed. If security deposit and initial incentive coverage is used and there are still damages, landlords can request additional funding up to two month’s rent (not to exceed 3x month’s rent).”
• And an unpaid rent fund will offer one month’s rent to cover any potential missed payments. “If security deposit and initial coverage is used and another missed payment occurs, landlords may request up to two additional months.”
For tenants to qualify, they must be referred by partnering agencies through Rapid Rehousing or LDCHA’s Homeless Transitional Housing Program and agree to the terms of those programs, according to LDCHA. Once LDCHA matches a tenant to a landlord and the lease agreement is signed, the landlord will receive their incentive and be in the program.
For more information, contact Mariel Ferreiro, landlord liaison manager for LDCHA, at 785-842-8110, ext. 2208, or mferreiro@ldcha.org.
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August Rudisell/Lawrence Times
