Property Managers

Housing is one of the most critical components to reentry success. Having a place to live is an important factor in successful reentry and contributes to maintaining employment, building relationships and engaging in the community.

We’ve located some information to support you in this important work and have listed our findings below. We will continue to pay particular attention to this area as the opportunities may increase to support the returning prison population.

We encourage you to find out more about formerly incarcerated applicants through their Personal Web Page. We offer this area for our members to more fully reveal their character than may be available on a standard rental application.

HUD – Homeless and Housing Programs

The links below provide overviews of HUD homeless and housing programs. Currently, HUD manages seven programs that directlycombat homelessness. HUD also coordinates with the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs on two other programs (BRAC and HUD-VASH).

Section 8 Housing Voucher Program

Everything in this section available online only

About the Housing Choice Voucher program:

https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/public_indian_housing/programs/hcv

Requirements: *Your rental must meet HUD’s Housing Quality Standards (HQS) -they will send an agent to inspect – and you must make the recommended changes.

https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/public_indian_housing/programs/hcv/hqs

*Your rental must be at the Fair Market Rent (FMR) which is determined by HUD. To get an assessment or see hypothetical instances of FMR, click on this link: http://www.huduser.org/portal/datasets/fmr.html

HUD Exchange

Reentry Housing Toolkit

improving-housing-outcomes-for-people-involved-with-the-criminal-justice-system-toolkit/

This toolkit is an actionable guide to support Continuums of Care (CoCs), direct service providers, and other homelessness system partners to lower barriers and increase housing access for people impacted by the Criminal Justice System (CJS).

These resources support community partners to achieve the following:
– Build Effective Partnerships with Criminal Justice System Stakeholders
– Strengthen Access to Housing and Services through Outreach Identification and Prioritization
– Expand Low-Barrier Housing Opportunities and Supports to Advance Housing First

Resource Links

HUD Programs

Everything in this section available online only

 

What you learn from applicants who have created a FAIR SHAKE PERSONAL WEB PAGE  

 Personal Web Page Example

Building a Fair Shake personal web page is not an easy feat! Formerly incarcerated people who create this page demonstrate many things to property managers.

  1. 1. Ownership: Being a member of Fair Shake means that your applicant admits to being incarcerated and is willing to be open and direct with you. Honesty is the first step in building trust.
  2. 2. Initiative: Creating this page demonstrates the applicant’s tenacity, perseverance and desire to succeed. S/he had no coercion in building this page; there was no class for it nor did anyone recommend they do this. They built the page of their own volition.
  3. 3. Character: In addition to the above, the applicant offers information here that describes more than their experiences; you learn who they are. This information is very important to understand your tenants more completely, but is not requested on standard rental applications

What else can you do?

Look for programs in your area that offer “Master Leasing” or “Sponsor Leasing”. They will usually cover half to two thirds of a tenant’s rent, making them a guarantee for at least part of their rent HUD offers support in this area as well: