As your community is preparing your submission for the HUD CoC Program Special NOFO to Address Unsheltered and Rural Homelessness, it is important to note that effective Landlord Engagement is essential to providing housing opportunities for our most vulnerable community members.
We all know that housing is the solution to homelessness. Taking this one step further, this means that landlords and property managers have the solution to homelessness. A truly effective approach to ending homelessness must include a successful Landlord Engagement program.
HUD Email About Landlord Engagement
HUD sent an email on September 13th to the SNAPS-COMPETITIONS-L@HUDLIST.HUD.GOV list focused on Landlord Engagement. Let’s review some of the content in this email and see how Padmission can be an integral part of an effective Landlord Engagement program.
In responding to the Special NOFO, CoCs are expected to demonstrate how they recruit landlords, and their units, in which to use tenant-based assistance.
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CoCs should also evaluate their existing landlord recruitment efforts to determine what has and has not worked well. This analysis should inform new approaches and renewed efforts.
If you do not currently have centralized landlord engagement at the CoC level, now is a great time to consider moving in that direction. More and more communities are moving to this approach because it ensures there is dedicated staff working on this critical aspect of ending homelessness and it frees up case managers to focus on supportive services.
Develop a centralized, system-level tracking tool. If your CoC does not already [have] a centralized repository of all available units and landlord contact information, they should consider creating one to store new landlord information. If possible, the tool should indicate whether the landlord has any available units in real time.
This is the core functionality of Padmission and has been since we launched in 2019. In fact, this is not the first time HUD made this recommendation. Back in 2020, they sent out a Landlord Engagement document where they recommended the same thing and even included a link to Padmission at the bottom of page 3 / top of page 4.
During outreach, CoCs should present landlords with a simple ask:
- How many units are available?
- What bedroom and bathroom size?
- Are you willing to accept tenants without photo ID or other traditional requirements for renting to someone (e.g., rental/credit history, etc.)?
- What can we do to provide you assurance that it is beneficial to rent to our clients? For instance, would you participate if you had access to a landlord risk mitigation fund, etc.?
Unit and bed/bath information has been a part of Padmission for years, but we recently launched a full suite of CRM functionality that help you better recruit landlords.
Specifically, Padmission tracks and provides reporting on why landlords choose to market their properties on Padmission, or why they choose not to. It’s important to gather this information, but it’s even better to have built-in reporting that turns that data into actionable information.
For example, if you learn that 60% of property managers would participate if a risk mitigation fund were launched then you can use that data to find funding to make that happen and increase options for our participants.
Here’s an example of what your reporting might look like after your community implements Padmission:
Track Landlord Engagement as a Sales Process
One of the ways Padmission helps your community maximize the number of property managers, properties, and units available to housing program participants is by operationalizing the sales process of landlord engagement.
There aren’t a lot of people working on solving homelessness with a background in sales, but having a salesperson mindset and system/process will result in recruiting the most property managers. Padmission lays out the process easily for anyone (no sales experience necessary) to be effective in “selling” rental assistance programs to property managers.
Here’s an example of the property manager statuses in Padmission and how housing locators are guided through this sales process.
Collaborate With Other Communities
Communities are having success using Padmission for their Landlord Engagement efforts, but we know that software is just one piece of this puzzle. Padmission doesn’t provide marketing materials or develop a retention strategy.
The software doesn’t come up with new incentive programs or outreach strategies. However, we bring together some of the most passionate people across the country and share ideas in our Slack channel.
When you become a customer of Padmission, you also join this group of incredible people where you can have direct conversations with others and find out what’s working for them.
Application Due Date and Next Steps
The application for this Special NOFO is due by October 20th, 2022. Communities across the country are using Padmission as the software that drives their Landlord Engagement efforts. If you would like a demo and/or pricing to include in the response to this NOFO, please fill our our contact form or schedule a demo.
