Missouri needs a multi-pronged approach to homelessness — including landlords’ voices

I’m running as the Democratic candidate for state representative in Missouri’s 69th District. The other day, a constituent asked me what I would do about homelessness. Homelessness is a growing problem, yet it’s an issue that doesn’t get nearly enough attention from our elected leaders. Unfortunately, homelessness is a complex issue and doesn’t have a simple solution.

The typical answer that a Democrat would give would be to build more affordable housing through programs like the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit or LIHTC program. If you don’t know, LIHTC basically encourages landlords to build affordable housing by allowing them to take tax credits against the property for the first 10 years while remaining rent- and income-restricted for a predetermined period.

That’s definitely a good place to start, but it’s easier said than done. As a bookkeeper for a property management company, I have actually gotten a glimpse of the LIHTC program from the landlord’s perspective, and it is not the most attractive program in the world. There’s a lot of extra paperwork, auditing and other hoops to jump through to remain in compliance — to the point that the tax credits may not always be worth the added administrative and training costs for the landlord. In addition, you have to commit to the program for at least 30 years, which undoubtedly scares away some smaller businesses or those who prefer shorter-term investments.

Reducing the red tape and allowing shorter-term contracts within the LIHTC program might help this. Exactly how we would go about this would be a topic for debate, as obviously, the red tape has a purpose. But I’m sure there’s some that can be eliminated without significantly increasing the risk of fraud or slumlording. Some of this would likely have to be done at the federal level, as the program is administered by the IRS.

Another option might be to create a state-level tax credit program that’s not quite as onerous. One idea I’ve had in recent years is converting defunct malls, or even unoccupied retail or office buildings into apartments. With the advent of online shopping and the pandemic accelerating the transition to working from home, there are vacant commercial centers throughout Missouri. Housing would be a much better use of that space, especially if it is not reasonably believed that the center will thrive in a commercial capacity again.

We could offer tax credits for landlords to convert these properties, either by using the existing bones or by demolishing them and using the land to build new homes. Regardless of whether these developments were rent-restricted, it would at least increase the availability of housing, which would help drive rental rates down.

Another important point to make is that many people say they do not feel safe in homeless shelters for several reasons, including gang violence, drug dealing, theft, hatred for minority groups and more. It is not uncommon for homeless people to choose the streets over shelters for these reasons. Combating these issues would also help, at least in the short term. It would make homelessness less deadly, anyway.

More important, any attempt to tackle existing homelessness head on is likely to fall short. We need to address the root causes of why people end up on the streets. How do we do that? Increasing the minimum wage to a livable level, empowering unions, reducing corporate greed, increasing access to public transportation, reforming the criminal justice system, expanding health care — to name a few ways. These all contribute to the homelessness problem.

No one of these things is going to eliminate all homelessness or even a major portion of it, but all of them in combination would create a more tenable environment, and we need to have this conversation at all levels of government. If elected, I will make sure that we talk about it in the Missouri legislature.

This story was originally published July 22, 2022 at 5:00 AM.