07_Followup Web Survey Treatment PHA_TRACKED

Treatment PHA Survey: Follow-Up

MTW Evaluation: Landlord Incentives

Last Modified: October 31, 2024

Study Overview and Introduction to Survey

Thank you very much for taking the time to complete this brief survey. HUD has hired Abt Global to study the Moving to Work (MTW) – Landlord Incentives Cohort. The goal of this study is to understand how PHAs are implementing landlord incentives and determine the impacts of landlord incentives on the Housing Choice Voucher program. We are sending this survey to all PHAs in the Landlord Incentives Cohort of the MTW expansion. When your agency received MTW designation, your agency also agreed to participate in the evaluation, so participation in this survey is required.

In this survey, we will ask you about the MTW activities that you have implemented and any other changes to your program. This information will help us understand the current state of your program and will help us prepare for the final round of site visits that we plan to conduct in the spring/summer of 2025.

We will share the findings from this survey with HUD and PHAs to help improve the Housing Choice Voucher Program. Your agency’s responses will be combined with responses from the other landlord incentive MTW agencies in updates to HUD, publications, and reports about the study. These updates and reports will not include staff names but may report responses and study findings by agency. Your responses will be used for research purposes only, not for auditing purposes or funding determinations.

 

This survey has been reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The OMB control number is XXXX-XXXX, expiring XX-XX-XXXX. We expect the survey to take less than 30 minutes to complete.

By completing this survey, you consent to participate in this study. Feel free to share the survey with other staff as needed to answer the questions. If you cannot answer a question, you may skip it and move to the next one.

If you have any questions about this survey, please contact Nishi Kumar, PHA Survey Lead, at [email protected] or 617-520-2680.

Thank you for completing the survey!

Public Reporting Burden for this information collection is estimated to average 30 minutes per respondent, including time to review the information in the Study Overview and Introduction to Survey. The MTW Evaluation: Landlord Incentives is a study of the implementation and impacts of providing selected incentives to landlords to participate in the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program. This information is being collected to establish a follow-up measure of PHA activities that could affect landlord participation in the HCV program. PHAs in the MTW Landlord Incentives cohort are required to respond. The information requested is protected and held confidential in accordance with 5 U.S.C. § 552a (Privacy Act of 1974) and OMB Circular No. A-130.

Survey Questions

Part A: Contact Information

1. Please confirm your PHA information and contact information below, and make corrections if needed.

• PHA Name: [prepopulated]

• PHA Code: [prepopulated]

• Staff Contact Name: [prepopulated]

• Staff Contact Position: [prepopulated]

• Staff Contact Phone: [prepopulated]

• Staff Contact Email: [prepopulated]

Part B: PHA Background

2. Since [YEAR OF LAST SURVEY], have there been any new state laws or local ordinances within your PHA’s service area that prohibit landlords from discriminating against tenants with a voucher?

• Yes – Please indicate when this ordinance or law was implemented: [MM/YY]

• No

3. Does your agency base rents on Small Area Fair Market Rents (SAFMR) or Fair Market Rents (FMR)?

• SAFMR (skip to Q5)

• FMR

4. If rents based on your FMR, what is your current payment standard (on average if different by bedroom size)?

• _____% of FMR (skip to Q6)

5. If rents based on your SAFMR, what is your agency’s:

• Lowest payment standard: _____% of SAFMR

• Highest payment standard: _____% of SAFMR

Part C: Landlord Relationships & Incentives

6. Is your agency currently encountering any of the following challenges related to recruiting or retaining landlords for the HCV program? Check all that apply.

• Payment standards not competitive with market rents

• Limited supply of rental housing

• Poor housing quality/available rentals do not meet inspection standards

• Negative perceptions of HCV tenants among landlords

• Negative perceptions of PHA or HUD among landlords

• Landlord concerns about HCV inspection process

• Landlord concerns about delays in lease-up

• Landlord concerns about evictions or other recourse for lease violations

• Landlord concerns about timeliness of payments

• Other, please describe: [Open]

7. Outside of your MTW landlord incentives, does your agency currently provide any of the following () resources or supports to engage landlords? Check all that apply.

• Dedicated landlord liaison

• Landlord advisory board

• Landlord-facing web portal

• Partnerships with landlord industry groups

• Landlord training or learning events

• Direct deposit of rental payments to landlords

• Shorter (less than one year) HCV leases

• Other, please describe: [open]

• [TBD – other options may be added if additional flexibilities are made available to PHAs during study period]

8. Which of the following MTW landlord incentives does your agency currently offer? Check all that apply.

   • Waiver 2.a: Changes to Small Area Fair Market Rent (SAFMR) payment standards

   • Waiver 2.b: Changes to Fair Market Rent (FMR) payment standards

   • Waiver 4.a: Vacancy loss (HCV to HCV tenant)

   • Waiver 4.2: Front-end vacancy loss (non-HCV to HCV tenant)

   • Waiver 4.b: Damage claims

   • Waiver 4.c: Other landlord incentives (e.g. signing bonus)

     1. Which of the following cash incentives are you offering under this waiver? Check all that apply.

        1. New landlord or new unit signing bonus

        2. Returning landlord renewal bonus

        3. Landlord referral bonus

        4. Security deposit assistance

        5. Other, please describe: ____[open]

   • Waiver 5.a: Pre-qualifying unit inspections

   • Waiver 5.d: Alternate inspection schedule

   • Wavier 4.1: Waiver of initial inspection

   • Other – please describe [Open]

Part D: Other

9. Since launching your MTW program, has your agency marketed or promoted the MTW landlord incentives through any of the following strategies? Please check all that apply.

• Orientation sessions for new HCV landlords

• Meetings or events with the local landlord association or real estate association

• Meetings or events with other community partners (e.g., Continuum of Care, faith-based organizations, nonprofit organizations)

• Landlord appreciation/recognition events (e.g., annual thank-you luncheon, awards ceremony, networking events, etc.)

• Workshops, conferences, or training sessions for landlords (e.g., lunch-and-learns, webinars, continuing education courses)

• Listening or feedback sessions with landlords (e.g., landlord advisory board, input sessions on Annual Plan, focus groups)

• Mailers, emails, or newsletter to HCV landlords

• Newspaper, TV, radio, or web advertising

• Cold-calling or cold-emailing local landlords

• Posts to PHAs’ social media channels

• Flyers, brochures, or other printed materials for landlords

• Landlord-facing page on PHA website

• One-on-one conversations with landlords during day-to-day interactions (e.g., RFTA or rental increase negotiations)

• Providing tenants with information about incentives share with landlords (e.g., info sheet to give to landlords during apartment search)

• Other marketing activities, please describe: [Open]

• None of the above – no promotion or marketing of the incentives

10. Is there any other information that you would like to share with the study team prior to the site visit?

Thank you for completing this survey. Our team will contact you again by [DATE] to finalize the schedule for site visits. We look forward to speaking with you further.

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