New Mexico Pays Landlords to House the Homeless

Nicole Scarpa knew homelessness firsthand, and when she looked around Roswell, New Mexico, she saw boarded-up houses sitting empty while people slept on streets. Together with Jeneva Martinez, founder of the Roswell Homeless Coalition, she turned that frustration into action.

Their solution was brilliantly simple. Property owners received loans to fix up dilapidated homes, sometimes needing just a new roof or heating system. If they rented those refurbished units to housing voucher holders, the entire loan was forgiven.

They called it Rehab-2-Rental, and it worked so well that New Mexico made it statewide.

The state now invests $650,000 annually in the program, offering landlords up to $25,000 per unit for renovations. The requirements are straightforward: rent to a housing voucher holder for five years within a six-year period, and the loan vanishes completely.

Landlords can choose to repay the loan and charge market rates instead. So far, not a single property owner has taken that option.

Dan Jennings, who manages the funding logistics through his nonprofit HagermanForward, says the program solves two problems at once. Many property owners can't get traditional bank loans because their buildings are in rough shape, and communities are stuck with aging, deteriorating housing stock.

"It's amazing seeing a landlord say, 'I'm going to do this,' and soon have a beautiful home ready for someone who may otherwise have soon been homeless," Jennings told Shelterforce.

The Ripple Effect

The program is breathing new life into neighborhoods while providing stable housing for New Mexico's most vulnerable residents. Empty, crumbling buildings become safe homes, property values stabilize, and people get roofs over their heads without waiting years for new construction.

Housing New Mexico Executive Director Isidoro Hernandez calls it a win-win approach to the state's affordable housing crisis. Both landlords and tenants benefit, and communities see abandoned properties transformed into assets rather than eyesores.

What started as two friends researching their community is now changing lives across an entire state, one refurbished home at a time.