Does Increased Service Usage Among Residents of Affordable Housing Predict Resolution of Lease Violations for Late Payment of Rent?

Background/Purpose:

Affordable housing has reached a crisis point in the United States with two thirds of low-income families paying over 50% of their monthly income on rent. This housing crisis makes securing and retaining affordable housing even more critical for low-income families. Research on the impact of service use on the resolution of lease violations is scant. This study investigates the effect of service use on households’ likelihood of resolving lease violations making a valuable contribution to the literature on affordable housing.

Methods:

Mercy Housing is one of the largest private, nonprofit, affordable housing providers in the United States offering affordable housing and a variety of resident services at their sites and programs in 41 states. This study uses population data collected by Mercy Housing on the 1,888 households that received a lease violation for late payment of rent during 2012. After data cleaning, including deleting missing cases, a final sample of 1,208 households were retained for analysis. The outcome of the study was resolution of a lease violation. Any household that received a lease violation for late payment of rent but continued residence at Mercy at the end of 2012 was considered to have resolved their violation. 94% of households resolved their lease violation. Independent variables in the analysis include household demographic characteristics, type of housing (family or supportive), and hours of services used. Services are divided into four different categories; community participation, financial stability, health & wellness, and housing stability. On average, a household participated in 56.59 (SD= 152.44) hours of services during 2012. Family housing is utilized by low income families of various sizes, while supportive housing is used by those facing challenges in their lives such as previous homelessness, severe and persistent mental illness, and physical health diagnoses.

Results:

Logistic regression findings revealed family housing residents were 9.23 (SE=.266) times more likely to resolve a lease violation than those in supportive housing. Hours of services models were assessed specifically for family housing and yielded significant results. Hours of community events/programs (OR=1.19, p=.003) and volunteering (OR=3.44, p=.01) predicted greater likelihoods for a lease violation resolution. Conversely, hours of EITC education (OR=.51, p=.001), financial stability seminars (OR=.78, p=.02) and primary/preventative healthcare/interview (OR=.86, p=.05) predicted reduced likelihoods for lease violation resolution. Age (OR=1.06, p=.001) and identifying as Hispanic (OR=5.23, p=.01) or Black (OR=2.48, p=.02) also predicted greater likelihood of a lease violation resolution.

Conclusions and Implications:

Results demonstrate that for family housing service usage is significantly related to resolution of a lease violation for late payment of rent.  The surprising direction of the relationship for many of the services may indicate that service use is a proxy for other unmeasured household characteristics, such as a considerably vulnerable household health or financial situation, which may be the cause for failure to resolve lease violations rather than the provision of services themselves. Considering the current affordable housing crisis, it is critical for social workers to understand the way service provision can keep families in a stable home.