Dallas Housing Authority Seeks Landlords to Help Families Move to High-Opportunity Areas
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A $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will help relocate North Texas families to neighborhoods with lower poverty rates, but despite attractive signing bonuses and rent guarantees, landlord participation is lacking.
Dallas Housing Authority (DHA) Chief Research & Innovation Officer Myriam Igoufe sat down with CandysDirt.com last week to discuss how the federally-funded program works, the participant benefits, and why landlords should consider participating.
DHA’s Children First North Texas Mobility Program, launched in October 2024, gives existing housing voucher holders who have a child under age 18 the chance to move out of high-poverty areas and into what are called high-opportunity neighborhoods, Igoufe said.
“We’ve specifically focused on families with children that are living in the most impoverished neighborhoods,” she said. “We wanted to make sure we maximize the impact of the grant and the funds that are being made available.”
DHA looked closely at families who are living in clusters of high poverty and already, about 300 families are in the queue for the first year of the four-year grant. The program is expected to serve at least 1,000 families in Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Kaufman, Rockwall, and Tarrant counties. But the Dallas Housing Authority says they need landlords to step up.
Dallas Housing Authority Takes Incremental Approach
DHA has carefully planned its outreach to both qualifying families and landlords to prevent any potential disruption for landlords in high-poverty areas. That could occur if a large number of tenants was suddenly poached from one housing development and relocated to a high-opportunity area, Igoufe explained. The timing is also staggered because not all qualifying voucher holders are able to move immediately, she said.
“Our ultimate priority is to further housing choice,” Igoufe said. “If it is the choice of a family to relocate to a different property, they must be afforded the opportunity and seize it if they see fit, regardless of anybody else’s desire or priority. We also are very mindful of the business relationships that we have with the landlords. That’s the reason why we did the extra homework of what could be the impact on the landlord’s portfolio and then randomized the outreach to mitigate the impact.”
Although the federal grant was awarded in 2023 to just seven recipient public housing agencies in the country, the Children First North Texas Mobility Program didn’t launch locally until late last year.
“We took an incremental approach to the deployment,” Igoufe said. “We knew the demand would exceed the capacity of the program and we wanted to make sure we are in a good place to serve the families that we engage. Our execution is very tech-heavy, so we wanted to make sure that a lot of those tech investments we have made are performing as intended. There’s a lot of automation, a lot of algorithms … we wanted to make sure that it functions very well.”
Children First North Texas Mobility Program
Research shows that growing up in lower-poverty neighborhoods improves children’s academic achievement and long-term chances of success and reduces intergenerational poverty. A “high opportunity area” is defined as a neighborhood that has a poverty rate of 10% or lower.
Igoufe’s team first reached out to landlords already in DHA’s portfolio who have housing units available in high-opportunity areas. The Dallas Housing Authority also has a webpage where landlords can “self-identify” and sign up for the program.
There’s an incentive for participating landlords, Igoufe said. Participants are offered a $1,250 signing bonus and the leasing process is fast-tracked. The unit offered must be at or below fair market standards set by the federal government.
Increasing Opportunities for Youth
Igoufe acknowledged the stigma that voucher-holders are “some kind of second-class citizens,” but they’re actually excellent tenants, DHA officials have said.
“They’re our neighbors, our teachers, our grandmas and grandpas, our newly-graduated students,” Igoufe said. “Just like us they have the very same aspirations of achieving self-sufficiency and creating opportunities for themselves and their kids. One advantage of voucher-holders is the financial stability because it is backed by the government. If there is a change in financial capacity … then the DHA is in a position to step in and complement the rent to make sure payments are made. There is an additional layer of stability that you wouldn’t find in a non-subsidized household.
“It’s a stable investment for landlords.”
Additionally, Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center founder Mark Melton told CandysDIrt.com in 2023 that voucher-holders are often single mothers who work hard and pay rent on time.
“If they lose that voucher, they’re screwed,” he said. “They go out of their way to follow the rules and make sure there are no problems. They know they can’t afford a market-rate apartment. This is their only chance to raise their kids in a safe environment.”
Housing Choice
Research conducted by Opportunity Insights, a research initiative at Harvard University shows that upward mobility is impacted by where children grow up. Moving within one’s metro area from a below-average to an above-average neighborhood in terms of upward mobility would increase the lifetime earnings of a child growing up in a low-income family by $200,000.
Dallas Housing Authority president and CEO Troy Broussard said in a press release that he’s excited about the opportunity to engage with Housing Choice Voucher families and partner with the landlord community.
“This program will require a significant effort, so we are grateful to have experienced, dedicated partners in Housing Connector and the Inclusive Communities Project working alongside us to help ensure our families not only find housing in high-opportunity areas but successfully move there for the long-term,” he said.
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Candy and April, I appreciate your support in this area. However, you note that 300 families are in the que for housing. I am a landlord who has housing available that meets the requirements of the housing authority. Yet, nobody has contacted me about housing. Housing was promised 4 months ago to their clients, yet nothing is done in 4 months? Can you do a follow-up on this issue to make sure Dallas is rolling this out as quickly as possible?
Hey I’m Shayron hill I have been waiting on dha T for a apartment I still haven’t got a call I’m homeless and I have children and I need a place asap
I hope everything works out for everyone that is in need of a home. I too am waiting for an opportunity to have a stable place to live for my family. It’s going on two years of going from place to place for us. I’m still in several waiting lists.
Hello my name Kamisha King I been on housing for years my mom is disabled in a nursing facility where they are not treating her well I have a 16 year old I be ill all the time and i still haven’t received help I need help asap
Hey I’m April and I had been waiting on DHA to help me and child for place to stay. I hope that they will keep their promise to help because I’m single and disabled mother and my child and I need place to stay, to call a home. I will not put my child on street but it hoping to get help through DHA.
I have applied to the DHA and I and my 2 kids are homeless as well and still have not heard anything from the housing authority.
There Is A Place Call Dallas Life.Its On Cadiz St In DownTown Dallas TX.on.I30 Go There
I have a 3 bedroom 1 bath i need fixing up , if i can get funding i can sign up today . (469)994-5518 Rebecca
I’m 63 disabled now homeless been waiting. Been on your list for years now. I was once told to go stay an a shelter I would get an apartment faster. I can’t do that because of my cancer. I have to live alone because grems. I fine places to move but they want you to make twice or three times the rent. My last apartment caught on fire 2/12/2025 . Your Bingo drawing is not fare.
Good morning. My name is Irma Greer. I relocated with my special needs teenage son,last year. We are in need of permanent housing. I am.on the waitlist.
Thank you Micheal Mitchell for caring and making time to speak out.
Yes ,my Name is Thelester Sloan and I’ve been waiting for housing over 3 years each time I’m starting all over again,can’t understand why or how I have received a call or letter telling me anything,could someone help me understand I’m basically homeless living here and there need a place of residence!
We need DHA to hold some seminars, maybe in conjunction with NARPEM and/or MetroTex to discuss and educate and move this program along.
Hi I look 1 bedroom apartment Hi I James I live in apartment that have stairs that I can go upstairs downstairs is 10 to 8 stairs I need a place asap
As a landlord, pay more and speed up your process.
Me and my child disabled and I’m homeless too I need somewhere to live too I’ve been on several waiting lists
I’m waiting for a place because I’m on disability. I can’t work for the corporate world anymore. I just don’t have it in me. I need a place that is income based. Being single and a older woman is a scary process for me. I hope that something happens for everyone within this year.
I’ve been on the DHA waiting list for almost 2 years now. Single mom trying to move to north Dallas. Been in Indiana for 50 years. Wanting a new start in life. I’ve tried to upload documents on the site with no success. I visit the north Dallas area twice a month. I can’t wait till someone looks at my app. I’m currently staying in hotels until something in Dallas comes through for me.
I got my voucher taken back in 2015 and never got the hearing I asked for. I missed my appointment due to a miscarriage and haven’t been able to get anything since. It’s unfair to see others from different states get a voucher first and we are here in Texas and not being chosen to get one! I’m just saying
Hi. I’ve been on DHA for years, I have a 3 bedroom HCV, the problem is DHA will pay for us to live in a bad area but when I look at the Good areas, The landlords won’t accept a DHA voucher or the Rent is so high that my voucher won’t cover it. So then I’m back to looking in a already bad, poverished, high crime area, and to me that’s a waste. I don’t understand why these Landlords put their property on housing but raise the rent so high that we can’t qualify for it.
My name is Jerwaun Jones my name came up selected for a choice voucher in 2019 an I didn’t know they sent a letter to my Granny house because I wasn’t staying there anymore to respond within 7days after being on the waiting list for 5years an they just gave it away I went in person to DHA to inquire an was told had to re submit an application an be placed back on the waiting list couldn’t find the right person to talk to causing me to be homeless what I’m to do now keep waiting keep struggling giving the run around so wassup they helping people from our of town before the ones that been living here to much hassle
I am a landlords with ALNA management I am accepting section 8 on my homes please reach out also Check out website out at http://www.alnamanagement.com
You can also call us at 972 630 4449 . We have 9 homes and more coming please reach out if your looking .
Goodluck finding landlords that accept the low paying voucher. Dallas has a lack of affordable housing that decreases number of landlords willing to take the voucher. Landlord’s would rather take a tenant w/o voucher that can pay higher rent. But keep taxing residents out of their homes, building McMansions, gentrifying neighborhoods, etc. Homelessness is a vicious cycle!