Pilot program aims to bring people with rental barriers and landlords together

By Press release submission

Oct 8, 2021

City of Eau Claire issued the following announcement on Oct. 5

Many of our community members do not have access to safe, quality, and affordable housing due to rental barriers. This lack of access impacts our stability as a community. The Eau Claire Landlord Support Program (EC-LSP) is a collaborative one-year pilot program developed by the City of Eau Claire, Housing Authority, Housing Division, UCP, The Community Table, and JONAH Affordable Housing Task Force. The program's primary focus is to reduce the risk for landlords who agree to rent to tenants who have rental barriers, experienced homelessness, or who have challenges in their rental history. The program seeks to accomplish this by providing tenants with a tenant education course and a risk mitigation fund for landlords.

The Ready-to-Rent course consists of four two-hour classes that will give renters the skills they need to be successful tenants. After completing all four classes, the potential renter will receive a certificate highlighting their obtained skills. They can then provide this certificate to their current or potential landlord, providing the landlord access to a Limited Risk Mitigation Fund.

Individuals experiencing homelessness or who are at risk of becoming homeless need a referral from their case manager to be eligible for the program.

The next set of Ready-to-Rent classes will be October 19 through 22. Individuals interested in attending should register before October 19, 2021.

For more information on the Ready-to-Rent course and the Eau Claire Landlord Support Program, please visit the City of Eau Claire website at EauClaireWI.gov/LSP.

Original source can be found here.