Part 3: Building Trust Drives Resident Financial Well-Being

Quality, safe, stable and affordable housing is a foundational element of success for individuals and families across the income spectrum. It is a key contributor to overall financial well-being, which the CFPB defines as a state in which individuals “can fully meet current and ongoing financial obligations, feel secure in their financial future, and [are] able to make choices that allow them to enjoy life.”

Affordable housing can play a role in improving residents’ financial well-being and driving positive outcomes through resident services. Resident services are typically provided by dedicated staff and/or through partnerships developed to support greater stability and well-being for residents. Programs and services can range from onsite health screenings to access to mental health services to financial well-being and digital access. In this three-part series, affordable housing practitioners share their perspectives and insight into the impact of resident services on tenants’ financial well-being.

Alexandra Nassau-Brownstone, Vice President of Resident Outcomes and the CORES Certification, leads work at Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future (SAHF) to demonstrate the impact of service-enriched affordable housing on resident outcomes, improve community-level data consistency and integrity, and identify opportunities for collaboration across the industry. SAHF is a mission-driven collaborative of 12 of the largest nonprofit affordable housing developers and providers across the country. Capital One has engaged with SAHF on research highlighting the benefits that resident services have on resident outcomes as well as property performance.

Q: What are some shifts you’re seeing in the industry and among the affordable housing providers within SAHF’s network?
Nassau-Brownstone: To set the stage, SAHF works closely with member organizations across 49 states, serving almost 250,000 people throughout the country. We engage at the intersection of policy and practice, leveraging the experience and expertise of affordable housing providers in different geographies, regulatory and political environments. While housing is a local issue, there are common issues and approaches presented nationwide.

Housing providers have typically focused on housing stability as part of their resident services and engagement models. Following the pandemic, there has been a significant shift to focus more intensively on resident engagement models that further improve residents’ stability, such as re-engaging residents around lease renewals, paying rent on time, better understanding their leases, their rights, their opportunities as a resident and the resources available to help them.

Q: What solutions are you seeing affordable housing providers implement? 
Nassau-Brownstone: Affordable housing providers are developing meaningful programs that connect residents to rent relief or emergency rent and utility assistance. Many are implementing a suite of programs and initiatives to support residents’ financial health and to improve their economic mobility. Positive rent reporting is a powerful and easily scalable way to incentivize on-time rent payments and benefit residents in the long term. 

Other programs – like HUD’s Family Self Sufficiency program, rent rebate programs (linked to on-time rental payments), Individual Development Accounts, guaranteed income programs, and products that offer low-cost banking, access to education and financial coaching – can also help provide residents with the tools they need to succeed. 

With the growth in fintech platforms, there are many exciting solutions that will soon be available for residents to access, but we see the greatest success when these are paired with resident-centered coaching and/or other direct resident engagement models that prioritize building relationships and trust.

Q: What are some of the challenges that affordable housing residents have historically faced – with housing stability and with financial well-being?
Nassau-Brownstone: Part of addressing housing stability challenges at scale is recognizing the realities of cost burden. Cost-burdened households spend more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities–and the number of people experiencing cost burdens have reached record highs. Just because someone’s income qualifies them to live at a particular property, it doesn’t mean they can afford it. Often, families and individuals living in housing at below-market rate rents still cannot afford everything they need. In fact, people are having to choose between paying their rent and paying for medical care or food. Post pandemic, many organizations are now doing a deeper analysis to better understand the realities of the cost burden that their residents – even those in subsidized housing – are experiencing and working to find solutions to support these households.

We also work with populations who may have been left out of the traditional banking and financial services systems. There are gaps in digital access and equity. These factors all contribute to the significant racial wealth gap and stem from systemic failures that have contributed to distrust among these residents and a history of fear, along with historic cultural divides. 

This is one reason why rolling out some of these powerful fintech platforms alone, without additional engagement and partnership, can be challenging. SAHF members are working to pair these programs and digital tools with one-to-one coaching and resident-centered engagement models to build trust and provide greater access and choice.

Q: How do you build trust with residents who may be deeply skeptical of these services?
Nassau-Brownstone: Historically, real estate has not been resident-centered; rather, it’s been a transactional relationship and one in which the power rests with the housing provider. It’s important to reframe the landlord-tenant relationship and give residents a voice and a choice in their home. 

This means investing in long-term, sustainable front-line staff and Resident Services Coordinators. It means using clear, accessible language, setting expectations and ensuring residents know what opportunities they have for engagement – and boundaries around that engagement. It’s crucial they understand they have autonomy over their privacy, and that we respect their privacy. We need to work in partnership with residents and be explicit about creating teams and partners that are culturally responsive and come from the communities in which they are working.

Q: Why is it important for sustained investment in resident services to support future residents and future programs?
Nassau-Brownstone: Housing is a social determinant of health. Especially when paired with services, stable housing can reduce racial disparities, improve outcomes, and offer residents opportunity to build agency and resilience. Service-enriched housing is a platform through which we can impact a variety of resident outcomes, along with property performance, through robust resident engagement and a suite of different programs and services.

To increase our impact, we need to build initiatives that recognize resident priorities are different in every community. We must invest in infrastructure and frontline resident services staffing that allows us to build and maintain relationships with residents – to be more resident-centered and responsive to different communities – and to leverage programs, tools and other partnerships that contribute to improved resident stability and well-being.

For more perspectives around resident services’ impact on financial well-being, view these interviews with Lori Stanlick, Director of Social Impact at Jonathan Rose Companies and Alexandra Nassau-Brownstone, Vice President of Resident Outcomes at Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future (SAHF).