The City of Santa Monica wants private property owners to expand local options for renters receiving financial aid and the City is willing to pay to help.
On Feb. 18 the Housing Commission moved to accept a report on a proposed property owner incentive pilot program and submit it to City Council with the request of semiannual reports from staff, metrics of success and line item budget flexibility.
Commissioner Loren Bloch said that the proposal was a “very positive kind of signal.”
“We recognize with the construction and rehabilitation of affordable housing alone we're not going to be able to stem the hemorrhaging here in the city that we're experiencing and that we needed to reach out sort of like in Washington [D.C.], across the aisle and work with the owner/operators.”
The Housing Opportunities Utilizing Subsidy Enhancements (HOUSE) proposed property owner incentive program, presented to the commission on Jan. 21, is “a multi-prong strategy, designed to incentivize a property owner's initial commitment and ongoing participation in the Santa Monica Housing Authority (SMHA) rental housing voucher programs,” according to a staff report.
The goal of the pilot program is to recruit new property owners to the voucher programs and retain existing property owners. The program's intension is to expand affordable housing opportunities in Santa Monica, specifically for very-low to extremely-low income residents and Santa Monica workers that receive government vouchers to help pay their rent, the report said.
According to the proposed report, loss mitigation and advisory forums would be available to all owners, whereas property enhancement and bonuses would be available exclusively to for-profit owners. Eligible owners could receive funds from all programs.
According to the proposed guidelines the program is budgeted at $350,000; with $135,000 going toward property enhancement incentives, $45,000 to property owner bonuses, $100,000 to loss mitigation, $35,000 for a landlord liaison, $2,500 for advisory forums and $32,500 for property owner appreciation activities and targeted outreach and marketing.
For enhancement incentives, the staff report says that property owners may apply through the SMHA to receive a prescribed dollar amount per apartment to make improvements to their property as a grant. “Improvements would be geared toward improving the habitability of the property, as well as seismic upgrades, sustainability measures, and cosmetic enhancements,” the report says. Applicable enhancements would include weatherization, drought tolerant landscaping, minor upgrades to building exterior, painting, resource conservation and seismic upgrades. Other forms of improvement and repairs will be considered on a case-by-case basis
The staff report stated that grant applications will be reviewed on a first-come, first-serve basis and will be prioritized by property owners with the highest number of tenants with vouchers in the subject property. Sliding scale grants would be made available to property owners based on the number of vouchers in the subject property, up to $1,000 per unit: 1 voucher property - up to a maximum of $1,000; 2-3 voucher property - up to a maximum of $3,000; 4-7 voucher property - up to a maximum of $7,000; 8-10+ voucher property - up to a maximum of $10,000.
The guidelines allow for two types of bonus incentives, one that would acknowledge for-profit property owners who continuously house tenants with vouchers. “Specifically, after a tenant with a voucher has vacated an apartment, the property owner leases to a new household with a voucher consecutive to the prior household; a one-time $500 bonus would be awarded to 45 qualifying owners,” the report states. The second kind of bonus would encourage new or renewed participation in the program, for which a one-time $500 bonus would also be awarded. This bonus would be awarded to the first 45 owners who are first-time participants in one of the voucher programs.
According to staff, a loss mitigation incentive would serve as a form of guarantee to for-profit, non-profit, and deed restricted apartment property owners, “which would cover a rent loss due to a tenant's household facing hardships or defaulting in rent, or if negative credit rating of applicant determines ineligibility, as well as excess wear and tear on an apartment.” The incentive would offer a maximum dollar amount of up to $2,000 per apartment.
An existing staff person would act as a “landlord liaison” for the pilot program. The liaison would be responsible to respond to property owners daily, would coordinate with Housing Authority's Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), and identify existing resources for social service interventions in an effort to assist property owners with special needs tenants.
The pilot program also includes advisory forums, “designed to build a knowledgeable, supportive, and connected community of landlords and tenants. These forums would carry minor expenses related to printing and hosting.
The last component of the pilot program would be $2,500 allocations for owner appreciation and communication and $30,000 for targeted outreach and marketing for the program.
A member of the public, who described himself as a property owner, stated that the proposal made in January was “shockingly naïve,” “a doomed failure,” and “a tremendous waste of money.” He said that owners should have been spoken to more before the guidelines were developed. Staff responded saying they work with owners on a daily basis and they were considered when making the guidelines.
“This is a very good gesture,” Commissioner Sue Keintz said. “And everything has to start somewhere … This is a baseline, maybe something won't work and it won't work to magnificent levels and we'll just drop it next year. So just to make it clear that we're just starting something.”
