A Persisting Challenge: Housing for Refugees
While US Together’s Toledo office is waiting to hear exactly how many refugees we will be resettling in the coming months, we believe it will be a higher number than we have seen in the past several years. We cannot wait to welcome these New Americans into our community, but there is one significant barrier they will end up facing: affordable housing.
Many landlords are apprehensive about leasing their properties to refugees due to common misconceptions surrounding their ability to pay rent long-term. Showing landlords one’s credit history is a reliable way to show that a tenant has a history of paying bills on time. As refugees are new to the United States, they have not had the opportunity to establish their own credit. These can lead to many landlords viewing them as potential risks. Language barriers and cultural differences can also pose significant challenges when applying for housing.
Why landlords should be open to leasing their properties to New Americans.
On top of these specific barriers faced by New Americans, the United States has an affordable housing crisis. A new report recently showed that Americans working full-time minimum wage jobs can no longer afford rent in most of the country.
Here is what US Together is doing to address these barriers:
Recruit local - Local landlords are often more willing to provide housing to those without credit history than major rental companies.
Collaborate with larger rental companies - We are constantly working to build and to maintain relationships with these companies as they own most rentals in major cities.
Find employment for the refugees we serve – US Together has multiple programs in the various offices which help refugees find jobs quickly after their arrival.
US Together invites landlords to be a part of the solution by working with us to provide affordable housing to our refugee clients.