Senator Elizabeth “Tizzy” Lockman has introduced Senate Bill 167, which would establish a landlord mitigation fund to help incentivize landlords to make their properties available for renters using the Housing Authority Voucher program. The purpose of the bill is to increase the supply of homes available for rent for low income individuals and families.
This fund would offer participating landlords up to $2000 for repairs required due to findings during a DSHA inspection, and $5000 total per tenancy. A number of other states and localities have successfully created and managed similar successful programs. The idea here that a number of properties are not available for rent right now due to repairs needed to be perform. This fund would incentivize the making of these repairs to get the properties on the rental market.
| Senate Bill 167 Sponsors | Yes Votes | No Votes |
| Pinkney, Lockman, Townsend | ||
| Baumbach | ||
| Current Status — Out of Committee 6/17/21 |
“A number of other states and localities have successfully created and managed similar successful programs.”
Where are these other states and localities? I’d like to take a look.
While well meaning, I don’t quite understand handing money for repairs to a landlord who can’t manage $2,000 for repairs. A revenue generating property should be generating revenue and a smart businessperson is creating a reserve to be able to deal with repairs. I mean, $2K isn’t even a catastrophic repair like replacing HVAC or a roof. I’m all for creating more affordable housing, but I’m regularly here arguing against Amazon subsidies so don’t know why landlord subsidies should be different.