Incentive Program

Threshold knows rental property owners and operators (owners/operators) have many considerations when weighing whether to work with tenant-based rental assistance programs or not. Through Threshold, HOM, Inc. is proud to offer cash incentives to make permanent housing rental assistance programs competitive with the market, along with acknowledging and satisfying the considerations behind tenant screening criteria. 

Click here for a printable version of the Incentives Guidelines

Incentive Amounts

As of December 1, 2024, Threshold incentives are awarded at the following rates:

  • New Property Owner or Operator incentives are awarded at the rate of 1.5x the monthly contract rent so the amount scales proportional to the size and value of each unit.
  • Alternate Screening Criteria incentives are awarded at the rate of $1,000 qualifying lease to compensate for screening criteria being reduced.

Eligibility Criteria

Any initial lease signed with a Threshold-supported participant can qualify for an incentive by meeting any combination of the following criteria:

New Property Owners or Operators

New property owner or operator incentives will be awarded for the first three (3) leases a new partner executes, regardless of the timeframe the move-ins occur (This replaces the 6-month introductory period and enables operators to fully take advantage of incentives)

Alternate Screening Criteria

Alternate screening criteria incentives will be awarded when using alternate screening criteria after the initial 3 tenants. Alternate screening criteria is any criteria that would typically screen out a specific tenant for a unit but the owner/operator partner will reduce screening criteria for the specific tenant, such as:

  • the unit usually screens out applicants with criminal history on record
  • the unit usually screens out applicants with a previous eviction
  • the unit usually screens out applicants with no or insufficient income. This includes a credit score criteria. This incentive is only applicable for Rapid Rehousing programs, as PSH program tenancies are fully subsidized, even for tenants with zero income.

Required Documentation

incentivesWe want to make it as easy as possible to receive payment for signing bonuses. As such, Threshold only requires documentation showing the lease qualifies for an incentive. Most of the time, rent reasonableness or comps alone will not suffice unless they are for the same style unit on that exact property, rented to a market tenant at a rate that is over Fair Market Rent (FMR) or Payment Standard (PS).

When working with the HOM Housing Specialist, be sure to provide documentation with the RFTA that verifies the lease’s eligibility. Examples of such documentation are:

  1. A copy of an executed lease for the same floorplan on the property that is above FMR/PS
  2. A copy of the property’s tenant screening criteria that would normally have screened this tenant out
  3. A report from the typical screening software that shows the tenant should have been denied
  4. A copy of the previous lease for that unit at a rate above FMR/PS

Award Process

After accepting a Threshold-supported applicant, the operator completes move-in paperwork for the specific program (PSH, RRH, others can be found here) and submit it to RFTA@HOMInc.com. Operators will work directly with a HOM Housing Specialist during the lease-up process, who will reach out after processing the move-in paperwork. To help expedite payments, operators should ensure to fill out all documents in this packet and include a copy of a voided check to expedite approval and payment.

The incentive will be paid with the other move-in assistance after these documents are processed and the lease is signed.

Incentive Recipients

Incentives are paid to the decision maker over the residential tenancy application. Most often the incentive is provided to the entity that receives the rental payments via their tax identification number.

If applicants lease-up through a real estate broker, the broker will receive the incentive, even though they don’t own the property.

Threshold Contacts

For additional inquiries regarding incentives, awards, and additional information, please contact: