Rental Housing Counseling and Eviction Prevention

The following resources walk through the elements of rental counseling for agencies looking to offer this service type to their agency work plan, as well as provide tools for counselors to use with their clients.

• Rental Housing Counseling Webinars: A collection of rental webinars for housing counselors, including the Readying Your Organization for Rental Housing Counseling webinar series.
• Counseling Renters Checklist: A checklist of the foundational topics that a housing counselor can cover with a client who seeks or rents an affordable unit.
• Client Action Plan Template Checklist for Rental Housing Counseling: A checklist for counselors developing a client action plan specifically for renters.
• Housing Counseling Consumer Protection Toolkit: Resources for counselors to help consumers make informed decisions about housing lending products, understand their rights, and avoid scams and fraud.
• Healthy Housing Toolkit: Information and checklists for educating clients (including renters) about the rules that protect them and the recommended actions they can take to maintain healthy homes.
• Need Housing Assistance Page: Comprehensive resources for housing assistance to help your clients access information about housing, rental, food, health, safety, and employment.
• Emergency Rental Assistance Among Indigenous Tribes: A National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) research brief that describes the challenges and successes of the Treasury ERA1 programs administered by Tribes and Tribally Designated Housing Entities (TDHEs).
• What Financial Resources Have Renters Tapped During the Pandemic?: A Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University (JCHS) publication that reviews the financial resources that renters tapped to keep up with housing payments during the pandemic.
• FEMA Resource Roadmaps: Provides potential solutions and applicable resources and describe how to use CARES Act and other federal programs to help solve recovery challenges, avoid potential duplication of benefits, and reimburse associated costs.

Renters may need help understanding their rights and responsibilities under the terms of a lease or need counseling services pertaining to landlord-tenant disputes. Federal and state laws protect tenants from discrimination and define rights such as the right to a habitable home and the right to privacy in the home. These laws also protect tenants from abuses such as withholding security deposits and unlawful evictions. Tenants also have responsibilities under the terms of their leases. Tenants’ responsibilities may include meeting security deposit obligations, providing the landlord access to the premises, paying rent on time, and following payment procedures.

When tenants and landlords are in conflict, housing counselors can help tenants by offering information that will help resolve the dispute or by making referrals to legal aid organizations. If a tenant falls behind on rent, housing counselors may help residents stay in their units by working with the resident and the landlord to develop a repayment plan and help the resident apply for funds to assist with unpaid and overdue rents. Such counseling might prevent evictions, as landlords may be willing to work with existing residents to avoid paying for legal fees associated with evictions and unit turnover costs associated with repairs and improvements.

The following resources will help tenants understand their rights and responsibilities and assist counselors in understanding when they may need to refer their client to legal aid.

• Identifying Tenants’ Rights Issues and Making Legal Referrals: A checklist helping counselors spot legal issues to refer clients to appropriate outside services.
• HUD Guidance: Tenant Rights and Responsibilities: HUD resources covering tenant rights and responsibilities.
• Rights and Responsibilities of Residents of Federally Assisted Housing: A HUD brochure to assist tenants understand their rights.
• Tenant Rights by State: A compilation of information from HUD on tenant rights by state.
• File a Fair Housing Complaint: Information about filing a fair housing complaint.
• State Laws Regarding Security Deposits: Security deposit laws and information by state.
• HUD Renters Guide: Ten Tips for Tenants: A guide for renters published by HUD.
• HUD.gov Guidebook: Resident’s Rights and Responsibilities: Guidance on tenant rights and responsibilities, published by HUD.
• HUD Handbook 4350.3: Occupancy Requirements of Subsidized Multifamily Housing Programs, Rev-1, Appendix 5, Move-In/Move-Out Inspection Form: An inspection form to assist renters with moving in and out of their unit, which may assist in security deposit conversations. This is developed for multifamily housing residents but could be used as a reference for all tenants.
• Tenant Protections and Emergency Rental Assistance During and Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic: A NLIHC report that provides a descriptive analysis of tenant protections and ERA-related policies that state and local governments enacted or implemented in 2021.

Read about how agencies are delivering rental housing counseling in their communities.

• Housing Stabilization Coalition Forges Partnerships Amid COVID-19 to Prevent Evictions
• Berkshire County Regional Housing Authority: Helping Tenants During COVID-19
• Housing Action Illinois: Resources to Find a Rental Home
• Virginia Housing: How to Be a Successful Renter

Programs with Property Search Function

Please note that affordable housing managers may have additional tenant eligibility criteria, screening (e.g., criminal background checks, rental references, etc.) and/or preferences for occupancy at their properties beyond what is listed below. Further, for most of the programs listed, the rents are affordable and additional rental assistance may not need to be provided.

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Program	Eligibility Requirements	Exclusions	Resources
202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly	Available from property owners across the country For seniors who are very low- and extremely low-income One member of the household must be age 62 or older at time of initial occupancy	Adult children unless they are a live-in-aid Individuals without household members 62 years of age or older	202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program Information Income limits
811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities	Available from property owners across the country For supportive services for adults with disabilities who are very low- and extremely low-income One member of the household must have a disability (such as a physical or developmental disability or chronic mental illness)	Individuals without household members who have a disability Students, unless they meet exceptions	811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities Program Information Income limits
Other HUD Multifamily Programs with Subsidy	Other subsidized HUD Multifamily (MF) Housing properties are available across the country Section 221(d)3, 236, etc. are the most common types	Students, unless they meet exceptions	Other HUD Multifamily Programs with Subsidy Program Information Income limits The National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA) Section 8 and Other Federally Assisted Multifamily Housing Reference Guide

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Program	Eligibility Requirements	Exclusions	Resources
Public Housing Programs	Available through public housing authorities (PHAs) for eligible low-income families, the elderly, and persons with disabilities, but often must be targeted toward very low and extremely low-income households Public Housing may be combined with the Family Self-Sufficiency program Specifics can be found on the Public and Indian Housing One-Stop Tool (POST)	Students, unless they meet exceptions	Public Housing Program Information Income limits

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Program	Eligibility Requirements	Exclusions	Resources
Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC)	Available from the LIHTC program Financing mechanism offered to states and a handful of local allocating agencies (e.g., Chicago, New York, DC, etc.) for affordable housing	Full time students of any age, unless they meet exceptions: single parent household, receiving Title VI benefits, involved in a job training program, married filing a joint tax return, or they are being served in a foster care program.	HUD LIHTC program datasets Income limits NCSHA Housing Credit Reference Guide

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Program	Eligibility Requirements	Exclusions	Resources
Multi-Family Housing Rental Assistance	Available from USDA across the country Section 515, Section 514/516, and Section 538 are the most common types There are a number of USDA rental housing programs	Students, unless they meet exceptions	USDA Multi-Family Housing Rental Assistance Information Income limits

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Programs without Property Search Function

Program	Eligibility Requirements	Exclusions	Resources
Continuum of Care (CoC)	CoC program funds assist individuals and families experiencing homelessness and to provide the services needed to help such individuals move into transitional and permanent housing, with the goal of long-term stability In general, to be eligible for CoC funded assistance, the individual or family must meet the definition of homeless or at-risk of homeless and/or any other additional NOFA or eligibility criteria for assistance	N/A	CoC Program Information
Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG)	ESG assists individuals and families experiencing homelessness and to provide the services needed to help such individuals move into transitional and permanent housing, with the goal of long-term stability Review more information about ESG requirements, including beneficiary eligibility In general, beneficiaries must meet the definition of homelessness in the ESG Program Interim Rule	N/A	ESG Program Information Income limits
HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME)	HOME is a block granted program to states, metropolitan cities, urban counties, and insular areas for housing projects and programs that benefit low-income and very-low-income persons Jurisdictions have a lot of flexibility in how they use their funding, so eligible activities may vary among grantees	Students, unless they meet exceptions	Income limits
Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA)	HUD grants HOPWA funds to local communities, States, and nonprofit organizations for projects that benefit low-income persons living with HIV/AIDS and their families Low-income persons (at or below 80 percent of area median income) that are medically diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and their families are eligible to receive HOPWA-funded assistance Jurisdictions have a lot of flexibility in how they use their funding, so eligible activities may vary among grantees.	N/A	Income limits

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Program	Eligibility Requirements	Exclusions	Resources
Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program (Section 8)	The HCV program is administered typically by a public housing authority or another public body HCV is the federal government's major program for assisting very low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled to afford decent, safe, and sanitary housing in the private market	Students, unless they meet exceptions	Income limits
Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH)	The HUD-VASH program combines HCV rental assistance for homeless Veterans with case management and clinical services provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) VA provides these services for participating Veterans at VA medical centers (VAMCs) and community-based outreach clinics Veterans must meet the definition of homelessness defined in The McKinney Homeless Assistance Act	Veterans unless they are VA health care eligible	Income limits

Download the chart.

• The Eviction Lab at Princeton University has built the first nationwide database of evictions allowing users to find out how many evictions happen in their community and create custom maps, charts, and reports. Housing Counseling Agencies can use this data when designing their rental housing counseling programs.
• The Eviction Lab's Eviction Tracking System (ETS) allows policymakers, legal and advocacy organizations, journalists, academics, and community members to help monitor and respond to eviction hotspots as they emerge.
• American Community Survey (ACS) Data summarizes social, economic, housing, and demographic characteristics throughout the United States.
• CPD Consolidated Plans are designed to help states and local jurisdictions assess their affordable housing and community development needs and market conditions. Housing Counseling Agencies may find the rental-specific needs helpful when designing their rental housing counseling programs.
• Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University: Black and Hispanic Renters Face Greatest Threat of Eviction in Pandemic – As noted in the State of the Nation’s Housing 2020 Report, Black and Hispanic renter households in particular were twice as likely as white renter households to be behind on housing payments and twice as likely to report being at risk of eviction during COVID-19.
• The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) Eviction Diversion Diagnostic Tool was developed to help courts and their justice partners think through some considerations and to share relevant examples of eviction diversion programs.
• Urban Institute's Eviction Prevention and Diversion Programs: Early Lessons from the Pandemic Research Report identifies lessons for policymakers, administrators, and advocates to help design and support effective and equitable eviction diversion programs during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
• Urban Institute's Emergency Rental Assistance Priority Index & Mapping Tool was developed to help local organizations conduct outreach and allocate resources to neighborhoods where low-income renters face greatest risk of eviction and homelessness due to COVID-19.

• Grantee Database: Search for CPD grantee contact information, awards, and allocations.
• State HFA Emergency Housing Assistance 2020 Programs: This directory shows critical components of state HFA emergency rental and mortgage assistance programs administered in 2020 as part of the initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• HUD homeless programs map: Find and connect with HUD homeless programs in your area by searching on the map below.