HomeScreen Tenant Screening Now the ONLY Tenant Screening Service Compliant with LIHTC and HUD

Tower Grove Neighborhoods Community Development Corporation (TGNCDC) has over a decade of not-for-profit-focused tenant screening service experience and has completed over 10,000 applications since 2014. It delivers the most thorough and highest quality product with quick turnaround and effective communication. A primary focus is on racial equity and increasing the economic mobility of renters that come through the system. One-on-one financial coaching at Prosperity Connection, rent reporting through MoCaFi and their enterprise HomeScreen software has changed the way people look at screening services and how landlords and tenants can mutually benefit.

With over $150,000 invested in software development, phase two is specifically aimed toward helping managers of Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) properties screen their potential tenants more efficiently while remaining compliant with the LIHTC Federal guidelines. The LIHTC program "is an indirect federal subsidy used to finance the construction and rehabilitation of low-income affordable rental housing." Since the program's inception in 1986, there have been over 1,800 projects in Missouri that have received this incentive, which has resulted in over 68,000 units of affordable rental housing. Managers of these properties have to adhere to strict income limits to ensure that these properties are being leased to our most vulnerable populations.

Until now, there has not been a service that provides both reliable, objective tenant screening - including credit reporting, criminal background checks, and rental verification - and a LIHTC compliant income verification. By making this process more efficient for LIHTC property managers, the move-in process for these communities will be more efficient and more people will be able to find safe, affordable housing. 

Additionally, the HomeScreen update changed the structure of the application for HUD properties -- these tenants are no longer charged the application fee. Instead, the property managers are invoiced monthly. Residents of these properties are among the lowest income residents in our community. By removing the burden of the application fee, more opportunities for apartment approvals in HUD-subsidized units are possible.

The affordable housing gap is becoming a national crisis. In Missouri, for an extremely low income (ELI) renter, there are only 42 affordable and available properties per 100 renter households. By actively working with property managers who manage LIHTC and HUD properties, HomeScreen can help expedite the move-in process for ELI renters seeking affordable housing.

Revenue generated through HomeScreen is used to support community development activities and is directly invested back into the City of Saint Louis. TGNCDC is a real estate-focused community development corporation that has facilitated 100s of redevelopment projects with a focus on eliminating blight, created 60 affordable rental units (owned and managed) in the last 5 years, supported infrastructure projects, delivered landlord/rehabber training seminars and advocated for energy efficiency programs for low-income renters. 

For more information:
Ella Gross
Tenant Screening Manager
Tower Grove Neighborhoods CDC
314-865-5530 ext 102
www.myhomescreen.org