By J.B. Wogan, Staff Writer at Governing:
“Rental vouchers are only helpful if landlords are willing to take them. All too often, they’re not. But what if the government made it less risky?
“Families wait years to get off the government’s waiting list for a rental voucher, sometimes while living in a homeless shelter. When they finally get that housing aid, they often struggle to find landlords willing to rent to them.
“Most landlords screen out people who have a criminal background, poor credit or a history of evictions, making it difficult for voucher holders to find somewhere to live, even when they can afford rent. In fact, it’s common for people to lose their vouchers — which have expiration dates — after months of unsuccessful searching for a home…
“‘…Rather than [renting] to the millennial who is just moving in from some other part of the country,’ Neil Albert, president and executive director of the DowntownDC Business Improvement District, the nonprofit raising the money, told Governing. Albert thinks the risk funds will spur landlords to ‘weigh our needs and give equal consideration’ to voucher holders.”