WE RIP Landlord Requirements
The Housing Resource Center (HRC) at Mountainlands Community Housing Trust is excited to launch WE RIP to encourage local unit owners to rent to our local workforce. Qualifying unit owners will receive an incentive for renting to qualifying employees from local participating employers.
For the purposes of WE RIP, a unit owner is a qualifying landlord or homeowner and a unit is a house, condo, apartment, studio, townhouse, guest house, ADU, mother-in-law apartment, basement, or room.
WE RIP Guidelines
To qualify for an incentive the unit owner must first apply to WE RIP. Agreements made with tenants prior to being accepted to the program are not eligible for incentives at this time. While we appreciate those already renting to local employees, the purpose of this program is to incentivize additional rental inventory.
The duration of the rental term must be for a minimum of 12 weeks (3 months) or through employee contract, taking effect after December 12, 2022, and through the 2022-2023 ski season. The duration of a lease beyond 3 months will be mutually agreed upon by both parties and defined in the signed lease agreement.
Unit owner applicants will be reviewed and accepted by the HRC. The HRC will contact and notify all applicants prior to adding their units to the WE RIP housing inventory list. The inventory list will be exclusively available to the workforce of local participating employers. It is the unit owner’s responsibility to contact megan@housinghelp.org at the HRC to remove the listing when it is no longer available.
Family members of unit owners do NOT qualify as eligible renters for WE RIP.
Using the WE RIP housing inventory, employees must contact unit owners directly if they are interested in a listed rental. The unit owner is responsible for the screening, selection, and lease signing process. The unit owner maintains full control over the lease terms, the rent to be charged, and all other details of the lease agreement. The HRC and employer maintain no liability for the screening, selection, or lease agreement process. The rental selection and lease agreement process is entirely up to the unit owner and employee to agree upon.
Once a listed unit is rented, it is up to the unit owner to notify the WE RIP employer contact and submit a signed copy of the rental agreement. The WE RIP employer contact will verify the employee renter qualifies for the incentive and will provide instructions for the unit owner to receive their incentive(s). This process may vary by employer and may take up to a week to process.
The employer will issue the incentive(s) if all requirements of the program have been met:
- The unit owner applied and was approved through the HRC as a WE RIP unit owner.
- The tenant is an eligible employee and contacted the unit owner via the WE RIP housing inventory list.
- The unit owner contacted and submitted a copy of the lease agreement to the WE RIP employer contact.
If a lease is terminated without reasonable cause, the incentive package will be revoked.
The HRC does not evaluate, and therefore cannot make any representations or warranties regarding an employee’s fitness for tenancy. Likewise, we cannot guarantee any unit for rent is as listed or meets the renter’s criteria.
Unit owners have the discretion in who they choose to rent their units to. Likewise, employees have the discretion in who they choose to rent from. The HRC is not involved in the screening, selection, or lease agreement process. The HRC recommends unit owners and employees use the same discretion and due diligence they would in any rental selection or lease agreement process.
The HRC welcomes any ideas you have to help our WE RIP program grow and improve. If you are a local employer and would like to incentivize renting to your employees or have any other inquiries about WE RIP please feel free to contact megan@housinghelp.org.
WE RIP Terms & Conditions
Incentive benefits are offered based on meeting the following terms and conditions:
Unit owners are eligible to receive an incentive benefit per room rented up to a maximum of two incentives per unit owner. A studio unit counts as one room.
Multiple employees sharing a room qualifies the unit owner for one incentive.
Incentive benefits are currently offered for winter rentals only.
Employee unit owners are eligible to receive incentive benefits for rooms rented to fellow employees.
Incentives are for unit owners to use or give away and not eligible for resale.
WE RIP participants for the current winter season will be eligible for winter season incentives if they continue the lease and the employee is still eligible.
Violation of the terms and conditions will result in the termination of incentive(s) and disqualification from participating in WE RIP in future seasons.
WE RIP FAQs
The HRC does not have requirements or limits regarding the cost of rent for WE RIP participants. The rewards are intended to be a generous incentive to rent to employees for a lower monthly rate than the market rate. Based on average local service industry wages, the HRC recommends rentals be within the range of $500 and $800 per month per employee but realize each living situation is unique. If a rental is not affordable, it may not generate much interest. Ultimately, it is up to the employee to determine if the listed cost of rent is acceptable.
The HRC acts only as a facilitator that connects available rentals with employees looking to rent. All rental/ lease agreements are between the unit owner and the tenant.
Thank you for housing local employees! The point of the program is to add rentals to the current inventory and to assist local employees currently seeking housing. To be eligible for WE RIP, the unit owner must first apply for the program and the eligible employee must find the housing on the WE RIP housing inventory list. Agreements made with tenants prior to being accepted to WE RIP are not eligible to receive incentives.
If you qualified for a 2022-2023 WE RIP incentive you can reapply the following year with the same lease or with a new lease agreement.
We do not have limitations on rental locations. If a rental is not on a bus route or a long commute, it may not generate much interest. It is up to the employee to determine if the location is suitable for their employment.
If a tenant or unit owner violates and ends the lease agreement the incentive will be revoked. Likewise, if a tenant is terminated the incentive will be revoked. Under certain no-fault circumstances listed above, the unit owner may request to meet with the employer contact to retain the incentive.
Unit owners have the sole discretion to choose who to rent their unit to. Likewise, employees have the sole discretion in who they chose to rent from. The HRC is not involved in the screening, selection, or lease agreement process. The HRC recommends unit owners and employees use the same discretion and due diligence they would in any rental selection or lease agreement process.