Partnering with HousingLink: Options for Housing Authorities

HousingLink saves housing authorities time and money.

Message from Terri Smith, Director, Metropolitan Council Housing & Redevelopment Authority
"The Metropolitan Council Housing and Redevelopment Authority (Metro HRA) has contributed to
HousingLink’s general operating fund since it’s inception. The federal regulations governing the Section
8 Housing Choice Voucher program require housing authorities to provide “information and a list of
landlords or other parties known to the PHA who may be willing to lease a unit to the family, or help the
family find a unit”.

The Metro HRA does not have the capacity to gather, track and distribute information on real-time unit
vacancies or potentially available units to voucher holders.

It would require Metro HRA to hire more than a full-time employee to gather and distribute this information. Instead, the Metro HRA relies on HousingLink as a referral source of vacancy information to voucher holders.

HousingLink also provides valuable information to tenants and landlords regarding fair housing, tracks which housing authorities have open waiting lists, lists private subsidized housing units, provides utility and payment standard information for the 10 housing authorities in the Twin Cities region and much more.

The state of Minnesota is incredibly fortunate to have the service of HousingLink.

As I talk to Housers around the country, they drool over a service like this. However, the services provided by HousingLink come at a cost. Metro HRA is grateful for these services, refers people to HousingLink every day and contributes funds each year to make sure the services continue."

You rely on the services HousingLink provides.

  • Voucher-holders use our robust housing search to find homes.
  • Our landlord outreach, in-person and online, answers questions and helps promote your programs to landlords in your jurisdiction.
  • We broadcast your waiting list openings on our website and to the 10,000+ subscribers of our email lists and thousands of social media followers.
  • We publish your payment standard and utility allowance information.

The financial support we receive from housing authorities is what makes these services possible.

Join the 6 housing authorities that already financially support HousingLink!

To support the infrastructure HousingLink offers your agency and your community, here are some ways you can contribute at the level that works for your budget and your agency.

Essential Services

Most of our housing authority supporters donate $7.50+ for each Housing Choice Voucher they administer. These are the essential services that are supported:

  • Landlord outreach and education. We connect with landlords both in-person and online. Our education topics cover landlord best practices like Fair Housing, preventative maintenance, the leasing process, how to accept rental assistance, and more!  

  • Housing search. 84% of landlord listings on our site accept Housing Choice Vouchers!

  • Saved searches. Renters get a head start on listings! They can get an email or text notification anytime an opening that accepts a voucher is posted to our site.

  • Housing resources and tips for renters. Our tips cover how to overcome criminal, credit, and rental history barriers in a housing search, how to access emergency assistance, the keys to successful renting, and more!

  • Fair Housing awareness. Our videos, available in English, Hmong, Spanish and Somali help renters understand the protected classes and their Fair Housing rights.

  • Waiting List Promotion. We broadcast your waiting list openings on our website and to the 10,000+ subscribers of our email lists and thousands of social media followers.

  • Payment Standards and Utility Allowances. This map of housing authority jurisdictions gives renters, landlords, and human services agencies easy access to specific payment standards and utility allowances. 

Additional Services

We also offer an array of additional services you can puchase to improve your agency's operations:

Rent Reasonableness
HousingLink uses a proprietary private market rent database to provide HUD-approved third party rent reasonableness determinations for housing agencies to set new rent amounts for public housing Project-Based Section 8 properties. Clients include Metro HRA, St Paul Public Housing Authority, Dakota County, and Scott County.

Rent Reasonableness Cost:

  • $15/Project Based Unit
  • $10/Project Based Unit for agencies that provide general operating support.

Section Eight Management Assessment Program (SEMAP) bonus analysis
HousingLink uses geographic information system (GIS) to analyze where voucher holders with children live. This report determines if your agency meets bonus criteria under the Section Eight Management Assessment Program.

SEMAP Cost:

  • $1/Voucher ($.75/Voucher for agencies that provide general operating support.)

Beyond Backgrounds
Join the growing list of agencies partnering with HousingLink in our Beyond Backgrounds risk mitigation program for landlords and hard-to house renters. Beyond Backgrounds provides free insurance to landlords who are willing to rent to someone with criminal, credit or rental history barriers.

Beyond Backgrounds Cost:

  • $1,500 - $2,500/Client (This varies based on the level of housing search support selected. For example, light-touch assistance to peer recovery coaching)

Twin Cities Rental Revue
Twin Cities Rental Revue is a quarterly report that provides median rents for both apartments and the shadow market (single family, duplex, and townhome rentals) by bedroom size and for each of 66 sub-markets in the Twin Cities Metro.

Twin Cities Rental Revue Cost:

  • $469/year

Housing Hub
 Coming soon! HousingLink will launch Housing Hub, a first-of-its kind program manages wait list applicants across property managers and housing programs.

Custom Research
Work with HousingLink's Data and Research team on a custom project. Gain insight on local rental market trends, with data on rent amounts, voucher placement, and the location of existing affordable housing, and more!

Ready to get started? Contact Kahari Smith-Brewer, Outreach Coordinator, at [email protected].

Contact Us

Sue Speakman-Gomez
President
[email protected]

Testimonials

"Metro HRA does not have the capacity to gather, track and distribute information on real-time unit
vacancies or potentially available units to voucher holders.

It would require Metro HRA to hire more than a full-time employee to gather and distribute this information. Instead, the Metro HRA relies on HousingLink as a referral source of vacancy information to voucher holders."

~ Terri Smith, Director, Metropolitan Council HRA


"I'm saving so much time responding to landlord questions about rental assistance programs. Since we posted the information on our website, I just direct them to the landlord page and it answers all their questions. The marketing materials from Housing Link really helped us in developing a landlord page on our web site".

~ A.L., Housing Coordinator

"I searched for Properties that accepted section 8 Vouchers and HousingLink made it a hell of a lot easier to find a place than it could have been."

~ Renter

"Since I need subsidized housing, HousingLink preselects buildings with those options for me. That saves me a lot of time."

~ Renter