1) Property Owner Requirements:
- Eligible Properties include single family homes, condominiums, townhomes, duplexes, modular homes or manufactured homes on a permanent foundation taxed as real property within the jurisdictional boundaries of Eagle County that are not currently encumbered by a deed restriction, right of first refusal, occupancy requirement, Land Use Regulatory Agreement, or similar program. New construction of single family homes, condominiums, townhomes, duplexes, modular homes or manufactured are excluded from the program.
- Eligible Properties must provide safe and habitable living conditions, confirmed through a property inspection prior to securing tenants.
- Eligible Properties must have not already been leased as an existing long-term rental (including month-to-month and verbal agreements) in the past 12 months.
- The applicant must be the owner of the property or legally represent the owner or ownership group.
2) Incentive Amounts:
See the
program page for the latest incentive amounts, which varies based on the length of lease and size of unit. Please note there is a maximum monthly rental amount (includes utility charges) a Property Owner charge based on the size of the unit, which and that leases are not permitted to end between November 1 to March 31.
3) Securing Qualified Tenants:
You are responsible for securing your own tenants or you can hire a property manager to help you with sourcing and screening tenants. If you’d like, you can post your property for free on Placemate.com (just ask us for instructions). We have a database of local employees seeking housing and by posting on our site we automatically alert folks in our database that match your property criteria.
If you choose to, you can also post your property on Zillow or Craigslist, here is language you can use on your listing:
This rental is part of the Lease to Locals program, aimed at unlocking existing new rentals for local employees. To qualify for this property, tenants must be working at least 30 hours per week for an employer serving customers in Eagle County.
4) Household Eligibility:
Once you have found tenants you are ready to move forward with, make sure your tenants are a Qualified Household. A Qualified Household is any group of individuals living together in one home as their primary residence, where at least one member of The Household must meet one or more of the following criteria:
- Earns a living primarily in Eagle County by having worked an average of at least thirty (30) hours per week on an annual basis at a business with an office or job site physically located in Eagle County (multiple jobs in Eagle County may be combined to reach 30 hours per week); or
- Has been hired for a job in Eagle County on a permanent basis to work at least thirty (30) hours per week; or
- Is over the age of sixty (60) and had earned a living primarily in Eagle County prior to his or her retirement; or
- A Disabled Person who had been a full-time employee in Eagle County immediately prior to his or her disability or has been granted an exception to the minimum of 30 hours per week in order to continue with a federal or state disability benefit program, if the person works the maximum number of hours per week the program will allow; or
- Employed in Garfield and Pitkin Counties at least thirty (30) hours per week on an annual basis at a business with an office or job site physically located in Garfield and Pitkin County
6) Tenant Application:
Before you sign a lease with your tenants, we will verify their employment to ensure they are a Qualified Household. We do this by having all adult members of the household fill out the Lease to Locals Tenant Application. We will review each Tenant Application and get back to them with any missing documentation. To have us complete his step, send each adult tenant’s contact information (name, email, phone). Note this step can take 1-2 business days, depending on how responsive your tenants are.
7) Lease
Once you’ve signed a lease with a Qualified Household, the next step will be for us to send you a Property Owner & Lease Summary Form where you can upload a copy of your signed lease (make sure it is signed and dated by both you and the tenants).
8) Homeowner Application:
Once Placemate has reviewed your lease, we will send you a Property Owner Application requesting the following:
- Verification of Terms & Conditions (you initial)
- Property Details & Grant Amount (you review and sign)
- Stipend Agreement with Eagle County Housing (you sign)
- W9 Form (you fill out – please make sure you enter your SSN or EIN)
7) Move-in Confirmation:
After we have received your completed Property Owner Application, our final step is to verify that your tenants have moved in (via text, phone, or email). If the lease has not yet started, we will contact tenants on the first day of the lease.
8) Application Submission:
Once we have received confirmation that your tenants have moved in, we will submit your application packet for review and approval.
- Housing Eagle County will issue the first half of the grant payment to the Property Owner within sixty (60) days of receiving a completed application packet.
- Housing Eagle County issue the second half of the grant payment to the Property Owner within sixty (60) days of the end of the lease.
- Payments shall be issued to the Property Owner, as their legal name(s) appear on recorded property ownership documents.
8) Mid-Point Checkin:
For 12 month+ leases only, at the mid-term point of the lease, Placemate will check in with both the tenants and Property Owner to ensure tenants are still in place. Review contingencies below for explanation of when the second payment may be withheld.
