HUD Encourages Texas and Louisiana Landlords to Help Displaced Families

RISMEDIA, Oct. 2, 2008-The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is appealing to landlords in Texas and Louisiana to list their vacant properties on HUD’s National Housing Locator System (NHLS). Working with federal and private housing databases, HUD uses this Web-based system to offer thousands of displaced families referrals to longer term housing.

More than 50,000 apartments and single-family homes are currently available through the NHLS in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico.

This includes approximately 240 units within a 300-mile radius of Harris County. Several landlords hoping to help hurricane victims have asked HUD how to get their properties listed in the NHLS. Landlords and property owners can obtain advice and assistance on how to add available units to the National Housing Locator by calling (703) 667-9420 x114.

“The National Housing Locator is a critical resource for families who need longer term housing,” said U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steve Preston. “We need property owners and landlords with available units to list their vacant housing so that FEMA and our State and local recovery workers can refer displaced families to a suitable place to live as they put their lives back together.”

All landlords listing their vacant properties on the National Housing Locator must comply with the Fair Housing Act which prohibits housing discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or disability. It is also unlawful to refuse to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services, when such accommodation may be necessary to afford a person with disabilities equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling.

HUD’s disaster recovery teams have been dispatched to several local assistance centers in East Texas to help families find longer term transitional housing. The NHLS merges federal housing resources with several commercial housing locators to offer a single outlet for locating rental housing around the country. In the wake of Hurricane Ike, the following private companies are providing housing vacancies to supplement other public databases: Inventory Management System (IMS), Apartments.Com, ApartmentTime.Com, SocialServe.com, RentLinx, Texas housing Authority, HUD Multi-family, Gosection8.com, USDA, Tenant Plus, hotpads.com, rentalads.com, Forrent.com.

Authorized users can locate available housing by city; area code; price range; acceptance of housing vouchers; acceptance of pets; accessibility; assisted and elderly accommodations; and number of bedrooms and bathrooms.

In most cases, the database will also include an address and map of the housing complex, and contact information for the landlord, and monthly rent amount. All displaced families are eligible to use information provided through the NHLS, regardless of income.

HUD does not endorse, sponsor or recommend any of the listings, information, products, services, or a company, including any trademark or trade name that may be contained on the list including those appearing on any external hyperlink, and HUD provides no assurance or guarantee with respect to any of them. All links are provided solely for the purpose of disseminating information on available housing.

For more information, visit www.hud.gov or www.fha.gov.