Updated 10/31/23

Below is a breakdown of how the process works for the Truckee Lease to Locals Incentive Program when securing your own tenants. Please read these closely. It is important you take each of these steps to qualify for the grant program.

Truckee Lease to Locals Incentive Program Details

1. Review the property owner requirements to ensure you meet all of the program guideline terms:
   1. The property must be located in the Town of Truckee town limits.
   2. The property must not have been a full time rental within the last 12 months (defined as having had tenants pay rent to live in the property as their full time, primary residence, even if the lease term was month to month).
   3. The maximum rent that can be charged is $3,500/month. 
   4. The property cannot be rented to immediate family members.
2. Applications for the Lease to Locals program must be submitted within 60 days of the start of the lease. 

Truckee Lease to Locals Grant Processing Steps

1. Determine if you are going to rent seasonally (5-11 months) or long-term (12+ months). See grant amount chart.
2. List the property for rent and start screening tenants. Please see this guide for suggestions of helpful websites to list your property on. 
3. As you look for tenant groups, be sure to verify that the group you select qualifies for the Lease to Locals program. Qualified tenant criteria is as follows:  
   1. At least 50% of the adults over 18 must work at least 20 hours per week for an employer located in the geographic boundaries of the Truckee Tahoe Unified School District (TTUSD). 
      1. You will only receive a grant for tenants who are locally employed.
   2. Average annual gross income can not exceed $118,125 per adult:
      1. For example, a group with 4 working adults, 3 of whom make $80k year and one of whom makes $40k year would have an average income of $80k + $80k + $80k + $40k = $280k/4 = $70k average. This group would qualify.
      2. Children are not included when calculating average income.
   3. All children cumulatively count as one additional qualified tenant. 
4. To verify that your tenants qualify for the Lease to Locals Program, you can follow the same steps we go through. By reviewing the below documents yourself, you can verify your tenants qualify before passing them onto Placemate as directed in the next step. Placemate will need employment documents and an application from each tenant (even from tenants that don’t qualify) to ensure the group as a whole qualifies for the program. 
   1. Required documents from each tenant 18 years or older:
      1. A government issued ID
      2. Employment Documentation (any one of the following 4 options, as applicable)
         1. 2 most recent pay stubs, OR;
         2. A signed employer or offer letter (see example here) that includes the following details:
            1. Employer name, logo, and address
            2. Name of employee
            3. Anticipated start date (if new offer) or when they started originally
            4. Number of hours (ie; full time, 40 hours week / seasonal, 20 hours week)
            5. Pay rate (hourly or salary)
            6. Location of where they are working
            7. Name, signature of manager / HR, and date signed; OR
         3. If they have been employed full-time locally since the beginning of the previous calendar year and still hold that job, last year’s W-2;
         4. If self-employed, required documents include:
            1. A business license registered to a local address AND: 
            2. If the business has been operational for more than 1 year 
               1. Tax returns, OR; 
            3. If the business has been operating for less than one year, is off the books, or tenant is self employed via gig work
               1. Internal P&L or
               2. Employer letter or
               3. Recent Contracts that show volume of work/pay
5. Once you have verified that the tenant group meets the above qualifications, sign a lease with your selected tenants.
   1. If you have any questions about your tenants’ eligibility and documents, let us know and we can help with verification.
6. Next, email your Placemate contact your tenants’ contact information (name, email, phone), so we can send them a link to our online application to collect the documents described above. It helps if you let them know we’ll be reaching out.
7. Once your tenants have completed their Lease to Locals application, and we verify they qualify, we will send you the property owner application, which is a 2 step process:
   1. 1st, we’ll send you the Property Owner Lease Summary form, which gathers basic info about your property and lease, and requires that you upload a signed lease.
   2. 2nd, after we review these materials, we will send you the Property Owner Grant Application for you to review and complete as prompted – this includes:
      1. Property and lease detail attestation
      2. Preview of your expected incentive amount
      3. Check request form 
      4. W-9 
8. After we receive your completed documents, and verify the tenants moved in, Placemate will submit your application to the Town of Truckee. You should receive the first half of your incentive payment directly from the Town within 60 days of submission.
9. For 12+ month leases only, at the midpoint of the lease Placemate will check in with both the tenants and owner to ensure that the lease is being upheld.
10. At the end of the lease, Placemate will check in with both the tenants and owner and submit a request for the second half of the incentive payment.

Please note, as the Lease to Locals program is focused on housing creation, each qualified property may participate in the Lease to Locals program one time. There are no additional incentives after year one. We hope to develop programs addressing housing preservation in the future.

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If you still need to secure tenants, here is some language you can put in your property listing, and a draft lease agreement for you to use if you choose. You are welcome to market your property as you please and use any lease agreement you like, so long as your tenants and lease meet program qualifications. 

Draft Listing Language

The owner of this property is participating in the Truckee Lease to Locals Program aimed at unlocking existing homes for local employee needs. As such, only tenants that meet the following qualifications will be considered for this home:

1) Work for an Employer in the Region — At least 50% of the adults over 18 in the household must work at least 20 hours per week for an employer located in the geographic boundaries of the Truckee Tahoe Unified School District (TTUSD).

AND

2) The household’s gross annual Income can not average more than $118,125 per adult.

Lease Template

You can use any lease you wish so long as your terms meet the program requirements. Placemate can not legally prepare your lease for you. However, we have worked with local Truckee legal firm MOBO Law, to create a Tahoe-specific lease template you can use.

Click here to view and download the lease template and see instructions.