Landlords needed to help the homeless in Iowa

A homeless encampment in Iowa City caught fire last week. Thankfully, no one was injured but some homeless people lost their property in the blaze.

After the fire, we learned, thanks to the reporting of The Gazette’s Emily Andersen, that nearly all of the 13 people living in the encampment had applied for housing only to have those applications rejected. According to Shelter House, an Iowa City nonprofit, their applications were rejected because they would pay rent with government housing vouchers.

So nonprofit groups such as Shelter House are doing all they can to partner with government and help clients receive government housing assistance. But without landlords willing to accept voucher recipients, those efforts to move people out of homelessness are in vain.

And we have the Republican-controlled Iowa Legislature to thank.

In 2021, lawmakers approved a bill that took away the power of local governments to prohibit housing discrimination based on source of income. The bill, backed by landlord interests who argued accepting vouchers involves government red tape, was signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds.

So as of Jan. 1, the three cities that barred source-of-income discrimination, Iowa City, Marion and Des Moines, saw their ordinances voided by state edict.

At the same time, the number of homeless in Linn and Johnson County are growing. The lack of availability of affordable housing is a problem faced in much of the state.

In the wake of that legislative action, Iowa needs landlords will into to take a chance on voucher recipients as tenants. It may mean local governments will need to provide incentives, such as preferred building permit scheduling, free inspections and tax credits for landlords willing to accept vouchers. Landlords seeking to help the community deserve community rewards.

Lawmakers, instead of making the problem worse, should become part of the solution. Rethinking the ban on source-of-income discrimination policies would be a start. But the state, with billions of dollars in surplus cash in the bank, can also come up with incentives for landlords.

Affordable housing is one of the keys needed to unlock many of the state’s pressing problems, including stubborn workforce shortages. Vouchers should be a hand up, not a reason to slam the door on Iowans in need.

(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com