Old Business
Motion to approve February’s minutes: 1st Tom, 2nd Sue
Treasurer’s report: we have $1,894.61 currently in our bank account. Outstanding payments are $75 for tonight’s building rental and $67.50 for tonight’s speaker gifts. Outstanding deposits are dues received tonight.
Dues are $35 per year. Please pay your 2024 dues to Treasurer Katie Erickson – cash, check, or PayPal. Check with Katie if you don’t know if you’ve paid your dues.
Tom Ross – initiatives project
City Council is going to try and throttle public speaking at meetings. One of our initiatives is that the Council cannot take our speaking rights away and we can speak up to 6 minutes. There is a meeting tomorrow (Wednesday, March 13) at 4:00 pm in the Municipal Building (3rd floor in a meeting room) to protect our free speech.
New Business
We’re going to try to get a committee together for the by-laws. Tom Ross will chair it. See Tom if you’re interested in helping with that endeavor.
Motion to adjourn: 1st Kurt, 2nd Tom
Featured Speakers
Casey Ricker – Hancock Metropolitan Housing Association executive director
Sue Lehman – Hope House CEO
Shelley Dermer – HWAP & CAC
Tammy Stahl – Christian Clearing House executive director
Heather Davis – Christian Clearing House
Casey Ricker – Metro
419-420-5076
It’s challenging to find safe and decent housing, and our landlords provide good housing. We make it easier for them to help their clients.
870 vouchers allocated from HUD, bring in ~$400M each year. This is also for the surrounding counties, not just Hancock. About 80% of funds are disbursed within a 2-mile radius of the Family Center.
There is a stigma attached to receiving government money for housing. We need to change that stigma and embrace the clients and the landlords. The landlords are the key pillar of the program; without us, they do not have a program.
They assess our property ahead of time to get someone in there as quickly as possible and try to deal with problems as quickly as possible. We know we have a problem in this community with homelessness.
There is a 0.5% vacancy rate, so we need more affordable housing options in this community. It is understandable that we need to charge a bit more for our houses. HUD says $740/mo for rent + utilities for a 1-bedroom. Efficiencies and 1-beds go for $900-1000 sometimes. We try to be competitive, but that doesn’t always happen. Incentives to new landlords have worked before.
The biggest thing is communication between Metro and landlords. If you have vacancies, read out to Casey and he will share that info. We can share leads with each other to help connect tenants to landlords.
Some of HUD’s regulations are rough, and we try to work with landlords as much as possible. Our goal should be to house people safely. Metro’s waiting list is opening up soon for 2 weeks, especially if they are a veteran or have a disability. They do not take online applications because there is too much fraud. They have to live in this area for a year before they can get a voucher. If you know people looking for job opportunities, send them to Metro and they can help them with income possibilities.
Q: Will Metro pay for vacant houses just to keep them available?
A: No. But if you have a vacant unit coming up, he can find someone yesterday.
What Metro will pay, including utilities (at 100%):
- Studio $650
- 1-bedroom $740
- 2-bedroom $959
- 3-bedroom $1242
- 4-bedroom $1534
They will calculate how much of that is rent for each property, minus utilities.
During the pandemic, Metro could go up to 120%, but they can’t do that anymore. Now that money has run out, and tenants are struggling.
The biggest obstacle is the money and finding places that their clients can afford. A lot of people depend on the Family Center to help with food and utilities.
The rates come from HUD, not from Metro. They can do 100% or sometimes 110%, but if they go up that high then they can’t subsidize as many people. He’d rather give someone the opportunity to be housed.
Q: If these situations end poorly, there has been no recourse for damages in the past. Has the program improved in recent years? What is the recourse if you do end up with significant damages?
A: The recourse is limited. That individual can no longer receive assistance until there is restitution for the damages. Metro needs to know the damage figures (with photos) within 30 days. That applies to other Metro agencies as well if the person tries to go to another county. They will be denied until there is proof that they have paid.
View a voucher briefing and learn more about the program at https://hancockmetro.com/.
It is not true that Metro tenants destroy people any more than non-Metro tenants.
If a tenant is not reporting their income properly, Metro needs to investigate that situation. They can be held responsible for the money they took from Metro when they actually had the income to pay their rent. HUD will prosecute to get the back rent.
Sue Lehman – Hope House
Without landlords, Hope House would not be able to assist the people we do. When people come to them, they are not in a great place. The goal of the case-managed programs is to put them in a better place where they can maintain stable housing. The case managers walk with clients to help them figure out the next step.
They partner with 55 landlords currently; it was over 120 at the peak of Covid.
The point of time count is done nationwide on a single night (6pm-6am) in January. It does not include people staying in another household but only those who are literally homeless. That number in Hancock County has increased 94% over the last 5 years. We have our work cut out for us!
Fair market rent is determined by HUD, and they do not have much flexibility due to state and federally-funded grants. When a unit is over fair market rent, they can’t do much. That did get raised a little bit, but it’s still below typical going rates in Findlay. Hope House advocates for landlords, but it’s a difficult challenge to navigate.
Why the increase in homelessness? When fair market rate is not keeping up with what needs to be charged for rent, that counts people out, even those who are working. People will move here for a job but then can’t find a place to live.
All of the programs are income eligible. They have 5 programs.
- Transitional shelter – not an emergency shelter but a program to put in hard work, for women, up to 9 months. They have a lot of work to do during that time. The goal is to move them into a place of their own.
- Housing resource navigation – Laurie Casati connects people to resources in the community so they don’t need rental assistance. The overwhelming majority (90%+) of immigrants are making too much money to go into rental assistance programs.
Rental assistance programs: (Clients pay a portion of their rent on an increasing scale.)
- Rapid rehousing program – get individuals rehoused as quickly as possible, for literally homeless people in Hancock County.
- Homelessness prevention program – for people who are at risk of losing their residence.
- Able permanence program – need to be literally homeless and have a documented disability. Hope House holds the lease and pays the rent 100%. Payment is guaranteed through Hope House.
They do their best to work with landlords, especially with the Able program. Any issues would need to be addressed before a tenant can be helped again.
Q: How many of your folks have a drug problem? Are you testing them?
A: We help hundreds, don’t know the percentage offhand, but maybe 1/3 are in some stage of recovery. Case management is valuable for having eyes on these people and connecting them to the services they need.
Q: Do you anticipate any changes based on the new marijuana rules?
A: We really don’t know what all that entails. But the people in the programs want to do the work to get to the next best place. Case-managed programs are invaluable; 85% (average over all programs) of their clients are stably housed a year later.
Shelley Dermer – HWAP & CAC
HWAP = Home Weatherization Assistance Program
CAC = Community Action Commission
They’re a government-funded non-profit. They come from the tenants’ side more than the landlords’ side. Their programs help tenants pay utilities, not as much for rent support.
They have a weatherization program that may benefit landlords. It provides insulation to the home at NO cost to the landlords. If the tenant meets their income guidelines, they will help. That could include a new water heater, insulation, a new furnace, etc. A lot of extras were done at no cost to the landlord or the tenant. It benefits the clients that they have a warm and safe place to live.
They partner with the developmentally disabled boards in Hancock and Wyandot counties, and they manage some properties for them, along with 8 HUD units here in Findlay.
The income guideline is 200% of the poverty guideline. PIP and HEAP are 150-175% of poverty.
Tammy Stahl & Heather Davis – Christian Clearing House
They are more on the emergency/charity end of things, located in the Family Center. All the organizations there work well together. They can really work on behalf of the clients and the landlords.
They can only help one time annually with past due rent and sometimes with security deposits. They want to see that they’ve had a full year of residency before they help with security deposits.
They are privately funded, work with the churches, and use donations.
They look for the ability to get people caught up on rent. Send people when they’re 1 month behind, not 3-4 months. Their money is limited to $500, but they can come up with maybe $1200 once annually for any particular client. They work on behalf of the clients to guide them in the right direction, not just give a handout. They will help people to find government dollars to use first.
They can help with utilities as well. They also help with food needs.
They require a W9 on file for all landlords. They will never write a check to a tenant, always to the landlord. Landlords don’t have to accept their assistance if the landlord wants the tenant to get out of the property.
Q: A tenant’s hours have been cut so they’re struggling, but they’re trying to get better employment to catch up. Would they be a good candidate?
A: We’re going to look at their income and employment before assisting.
Q: Does the tenant need to show paperwork for the amount they’re behind, an eviction notice, etc.?
A: Yes, there must be valid documentation.