Moving to Work, Landlord
Incentives Cohort Evaluation
No
material or nonsubstantive change to a currently approved
collection
No
Regular
12/12/2024
Requested
Previously Approved
03/31/2026
03/31/2026
645
645
546
546
0
0
The Office of Policy Development and
Research (PD&R) at the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) contracted with Abt Associates (in partnership
with the University of Hawai’i) to conduct an evaluation of the
Moving to Work, Landlord Incentives cohort. As required under the
Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD seeks approval from the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for data collection instruments
associated with the evaluation. The Housing Choice Voucher (HCV)
program is tenant-based housing assistance program and is the
Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) largest
rental assistance program. Rather than limiting households to
rental units located in specific housing projects, the HCV program
lets households use vouchers to find their own housing in the
private rental market. For this reason, the HCV program works well
only if private market landlords are willing to make their units
available to voucher holders. Many public housing agencies (PHAs)
struggle to attract and retain landlords in the program, leading to
low rates for voucher holders successfully leasing units and other
program inefficiencies. Moving to Work (MTW) is a HUD demonstration
program that encourages PHAs to test ways to increase the cost
effectiveness of federal housing programs, encourage greater
self-sufficiency of households receiving housing assistance, and
increase housing choice for low-income families. MTW designation
gives PHAs relief from many of the regulations and statutory
provisions that apply to HCV and public housing programs. MTW was
initially authorized by Congress in 1996, and in 2016, HUD was
authorized to expand the Demonstration to an additional 100 PHAs.
In January 2021, HUD published a Request for Applications for the
Landlord Incentives Cohort of the MTW Expansion. In this cohort,
PHAs will implement incentives for landlords to encourage their
participation in the HCV program. In January 2022, HUD announced
that twenty-nine (29) PHAs were selected to participate in the
Landlord Incentives Cohort. PHAs participating in the Landlord
Incentives Cohort must adopt at least two incentives from a menu of
nine incentive options. Incentive options include payment standards
flexibility, one-time financial incentives (such as signing bonuses
and damage reimbursements), and simplified inspections processes.
The goals of these incentives are: (1) to increase landlord
participation in the HCV program and (2) to increase voucher holder
success rates in leasing units in the program. The Moving to Work
Landlord Incentives Evaluation (“Landlord Incentives Evaluation”),
led by Abt Associates, will examine how PHAs implement these
incentives and how these incentives affect program outcomes. This
request relates to primary data to be collected for the Landlord
Incentives Evaluation. This supporting statement is the first in a
series of OMB submissions that correspond to an array of data
collection activities for the evaluation of the Moving to Work,
Landlord Incentives cohort. HUD seeks clearance in this submission
for: • Semi-structured interview guides for site visits and
telephone interviews with staff from treatment and a subset of
comparison PHAs; • Online surveys to treatment and comparison PHAs;
and • Semi-structured interview guides for site visits with
landlords within treatment and a subset of comparison PHA
jurisdictions.
US Code:
12
USC 1701z-1 Name of Law: Research and Demonstrations
The Landlord Incentives
Evaluation—supported by this information collection request
(ICR)—will help HUD determine whether and how landlord incentives
result in greater acceptance of HCVs among landlords. HUD
contracted with Abt Associates for the Landlord Incentives
Evaluation. This research is conducted under the authority of the
HUD Secretary to undertake programs of research, studies, testing,
and demonstration related to the mission and programs of HUD (12
USC 1701z-1 et seq.). The Landlord Incentives Evaluation will
collect descriptive information on the programs and policies
implemented by 28 PHAs selected to join the Landlord Incentives
Cohort (“treatment PHAs”). To rigorously evaluate the impact of the
landlord incentives, the study will also compare the outcomes
achieved by the treatment PHAs to those achieved by a group of 112
similar PHAs who do not have MTW designation (“comparison PHAs”).
The Landlord Incentives Evaluation includes three components: a
process study, an impact study and a cost study. Each component
addresses different research questions and uses different research
approaches. To the extent possible, the Landlord Incentives
Evaluation will address these research questions using
administrative data that PHAs already prepare and submit to HUD on
a regular basis. This includes data from HUD’s Inventory Management
System, which captures data on the characteristics of units
subsidized through the program; the MTW Supplement, in which PHAs
in the Landlord Incentive cohort report on their activities related
to landlord incentives; and HUD’s Voucher Management System, which
collects information on housing subsidies. In addition to
administrative data, the evaluation requires modest primary data
collection from PHAs and landlords. This information will: (1)
clarify and expand upon administrative data and other secondary
sources; (2) provide qualitative insights into the experiences of
landlords and PHAs to inform the process study; and (3) provide
context for the findings of the impact and cost studies,
highlighting why incentives were or were not successful in
achieving HUD’s desired outcomes. Data collection activities are
expected to begin in November 2022 and continue through December
2025.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
08-Follow-up Web Survey Comparison PHA 11-14-2024 Redline.docx
30-Day Notice.pdf
15_Landlord Interviews QuIP 10.05.2022