Tallahassee’s landlord risk mitigation fund provides a pathway to housing for vulnerable tenants

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - A new program for small landlords in Tallahassee provides a financial safety net, allowing them to rent to at-risk tenants.

The City Commission passed the Landlord Risk Mitigation Fund in December of 2020.

It’s a partnership between property owners and the City; the funding gives landlords the means to provide stability for a tenant who may have past evictions in their history.

The City has earmarked $250,000 for the fund, also partnering with the Big Bend Continuum of Care and other organizations to provide free legal assistance for eviction diversion.

“At least initially, this fund would like to prioritize those landlords that commit to not evict their current vulnerable tenants who may be facing a crisis. And they also prioritize landlords that would be willing to receive vulnerable clients that are reentering the housing market,” explained the City’s Director for Housing and Community Resilience, Abena Ojetayo.

Dr. Christopher Daniels is a Professor at FAMU who rents three properties in the community.

“This is actually the first house I ever bought,” he said, pointing to his duplex property. “It was, wow, nine years ago. I bought it, we renovated it, fixed it up, painted it,” said Dr. Daniels.

Daniels says he became a landlord to provide more affordable housing in the community. Nine years into his job, he’s noticed a big change during the pandemic.

“You have really good tenants, great people. No fault of their own, but they lost their job, couldn’t pay. What you had to do is, you had to end up being patient,” he said.

However, a lack of rent payments has a trickle-down effect, hurting more than just the landlord.

“Someone comes out here and cuts the grass, someone maintains the property. So if there’s no rent coming in, it’s hard to be able to pay others.”

Daniels says for most landlords, the goal is to rent to the least risky person possible.

“When you apply to live in my apartment, I can look up your name and say, oh you got evicted. And most apartment complexes won’t rent to you if you’ve been evicted before,” he explained. “What this program does is, it makes someone who could be too risky, a lot less risky.”

A landlord can file three types of claims in the program:

• a $500 bonus for taking in a vulnerable tenant
• $1,000 for damage assistance beyond a security deposit
• up to $2,000 to assist with lost rent while leasing to a vulnerable tenant

To be eligible for the program, the landlord must be local, with five or less properties. Applicants cannot be non-profits, housing authorities, or real estate companies. They should have rental rates that are affordable to moderate and/or low-income tenants, and be willing to lease to vulnerable tenants. The priority is to support people impacted by COVID-19.

You can learn more about the program here.

Daniels asks anyone looking for housing to e-mail him at info@newerafla.com

Copyright 2021 WCTV. All rights reserved.