I was approached by Catholic Services to rent to refugees
Edmonton, Alberta · Member since 2018 · 10 posts · 4 votes
Hi landlords,
Who had an experience of renting to refugees with no employment or rental references? I was approached by Catholic Services. Have you done it? Have you have any issues? I am struggling to find tenant now anyway.
My friends own a company designed for renting to refugees. They have some great tenants and some that aren’t. Make sure they have a thorough orientation on the expectation of a tenant and home care. For example, a friend told me a Somali family that lived in one of their units never used a shower curtain and eventually they had to replace the flooring due to water damage. They own hundreds of units and now make sure that everyone knows expectations going forward!
Having lived in a bunch of 3rd world countries while in the Marines, I'd say this is the most important.
To wit: We had to teach a local that we didn't consider it OK to chew on twigs and spit them out while in a motor vehicle that you do not own (chewing on twigs from a particular plant being the local equivalent of brushing one's teeth). That's not to say he's a bad person or any of that, just that his cultural norms/expectations were vastly different from ours. He literally grew up with donkeys and camels as the family "vehicles," so it 100% makes sense that spitting twigs out off to the side wasn't something he gave second thought to... plop a 19th century cowboy in a Corvette, and he might spit chewing tobacco without really thinking about it! (the guy with the twigs will probably have cleaner teeth though)
They don't know what they don't know, and you don't know what they don't know. It's entirely plausible that the Somali in the above example had never been in a shower (I could stop the sentence here, but I'll continue) where water on the floor could cause damage. In Eastern Europe there were bathrooms in homes where the entire floor (plus most of the walls) was tiled like the shower, leading to a drain in the middle of the bathroom, meaning a shower curtain is a matter of preference (some people like to keep the steam in, or might have bathroom electronics out on the sink, but it's not considered "necessary" as it is in our "standard" bathrooms), so this isn't even necessarily limited to folks from the "3rd world."
Oh here's one: sitting on a toilet. Instead of getting up on the toilet, turning around to face forward (putting 100% of body weight on one side of the toilet in the process), planting both feet on the seat, standing up, and squatting down (for #2 or #1), which will cause the bolts holding the toilet in place to come loose (our toilets are built to assume weight roughly evenly distributed on the seat). Some places have bathrooms that lack sitting thrones and toilet paper, unless you are in a hotel/restaurant that caters to Westerners (you could pogo stick bounce on one side of this toilet all day and not cause any bolts to come loose):
Let's see... smoking cigarettes inside. Still the norm on a lot of the planet.
Kitchens and cooking. I'm sure there's lots of interesting differences there.
I guess my big question would be what "Western Cultural Norms 101" support the charity outfit will be offering. It's not that western cultural norms are better or anything like that, but there's about a 99.99% chance that your rental property was built from the ground up to assume western cultural norms would be practiced by residents. They don't know what they don't know. And you don't know what the refugees don't know. Does the charity outfit know, from their experience, and go over this stuff?
it seems like refugee pays. I can not afford charity.
I am meeting Catholic Services rep on Thursday. Wondering what would be the right questions to ask
I wonder if anyone has done it. May be it is not that bad. At the end of the day my husband and I are immigrants as well. And looking back I can tell that we were perfect tenants
I might do it if the agency would be responsible for rent and security deposit/damages.
@Natasha Attia I am extremely experienced in the space. Refugees general make good tenants. There is no more risk than other tenants. Private message me if you want more details.
Ok, let's see what they offer. I will keep posted
In my experience these programs can be helpful but it is certainly difficult for refugees to adjust our expectations. These charity services also end up just dropping support with refugees after either a certain amount of time or they violate a condition with the charity. That puts them in a tough position because they often don't have the resources to continue on their own.
I had a single mother who couldn't afford the daycare after her work hours at Mcdonalds were cut because she didn't have a car to get there and didn't always have someone to watch the kid. She tried really hard but it was very much a catch-22.
My friends own a company designed for renting to refugees. They have some great tenants and some that aren’t. Make sure they have a thorough orientation on the expectation of a tenant and home care. For example, a friend told me a Somali family that lived in one of their units never used a shower curtain and eventually they had to replace the flooring due to water damage. They own hundreds of units and now make sure that everyone knows expectations going forward!
Having lived in a bunch of 3rd world countries while in the Marines, I'd say this is the most important.
To wit: We had to teach a local that we didn't consider it OK to chew on twigs and spit them out while in a motor vehicle that you do not own (chewing on twigs from a particular plant being the local equivalent of brushing one's teeth). That's not to say he's a bad person or any of that, just that his cultural norms/expectations were vastly different from ours. He literally grew up with donkeys and camels as the family "vehicles," so it 100% makes sense that spitting twigs out off to the side wasn't something he gave second thought to... plop a 19th century cowboy in a Corvette, and he might spit chewing tobacco without really thinking about it! (the guy with the twigs will probably have cleaner teeth though)
They don't know what they don't know, and you don't know what they don't know. It's entirely plausible that the Somali in the above example had never been in a shower (I could stop the sentence here, but I'll continue) where water on the floor could cause damage. In Eastern Europe there were bathrooms in homes where the entire floor (plus most of the walls) was tiled like the shower, leading to a drain in the middle of the bathroom, meaning a shower curtain is a matter of preference (some people like to keep the steam in, or might have bathroom electronics out on the sink, but it's not considered "necessary" as it is in our "standard" bathrooms), so this isn't even necessarily limited to folks from the "3rd world."
Oh here's one: sitting on a toilet. Instead of getting up on the toilet, turning around to face forward (putting 100% of body weight on one side of the toilet in the process), planting both feet on the seat, standing up, and squatting down (for #2 or #1), which will cause the bolts holding the toilet in place to come loose (our toilets are built to assume weight roughly evenly distributed on the seat). Some places have bathrooms that lack sitting thrones and toilet paper, unless you are in a hotel/restaurant that caters to Westerners (you could pogo stick bounce on one side of this toilet all day and not cause any bolts to come loose):
Let's see... smoking cigarettes inside. Still the norm on a lot of the planet.
Kitchens and cooking. I'm sure there's lots of interesting differences there.
I guess my big question would be what "Western Cultural Norms 101" support the charity outfit will be offering. It's not that western cultural norms are better or anything like that, but there's about a 99.99% chance that your rental property was built from the ground up to assume western cultural norms would be practiced by residents. They don't know what they don't know. And you don't know what the refugees don't know. Does the charity outfit know, from their experience, and go over this stuff?
Thank you for your input. It gave a lot of food for thought. I will post after meeting
My friends own a company designed for renting to refugees. They have some great tenants and some that aren’t. Make sure they have a thorough orientation on the expectation of a tenant and home care. For example, a friend told me a Somali family that lived in one of their units never used a shower curtain and eventually they had to replace the flooring due to water damage. They own hundreds of units and now make sure that everyone knows expectations going forward!
Having lived in a bunch of 3rd world countries while in the Marines, I'd say this is the most important.
To wit: We had to teach a local that we didn't consider it OK to chew on twigs and spit them out while in a motor vehicle that you do not own (chewing on twigs from a particular plant being the local equivalent of brushing one's teeth). That's not to say he's a bad person or any of that, just that his cultural norms/expectations were vastly different from ours. He literally grew up with donkeys and camels as the family "vehicles," so it 100% makes sense that spitting twigs out off to the side wasn't something he gave second thought to... plop a 19th century cowboy in a Corvette, and he might spit chewing tobacco without really thinking about it! (the guy with the twigs will probably have cleaner teeth though)
They don't know what they don't know, and you don't know what they don't know. It's entirely plausible that the Somali in the above example had never been in a shower (I could stop the sentence here, but I'll continue) where water on the floor could cause damage. In Eastern Europe there were bathrooms in homes where the entire floor (plus most of the walls) was tiled like the shower, leading to a drain in the middle of the bathroom, meaning a shower curtain is a matter of preference (some people like to keep the seam in, or might have bathroom electronics out on the sink, but it's not considered "necessary" as it is in our "standard" bathrooms), so this isn't even necessarily limited to folks from the "3rd world."
Oh here's one: sitting on a toilet. Instead of getting up on the toilet, turning around to face forward (putting 100% of body weight on one side of the toilet in the process), planting both feet on the seat, standing up, and squatting down (for #2 or #1), which will cause the bolts holding the toilet in place to come loose (our toilets are built to assume weight roughly evenly distributed on the seat). Some places have bathrooms that lack sitting thrones and toilet paper, unless you are in a hotel/restaurant that caters to Westerners (you could pogo stick bounce on one side of this toilet all day and not cause any bolts to come loose):
Let's see... smoking cigarettes inside. Still the norm on a lot of the planet.
Kitchens and cooking. I'm sure there's lots of interesting differences there.
I guess my big question would be what "Western Cultural Norms 101" support the charity outfit will be offering. It's not that western cultural norms are better or anything like that, but there's about a 99.99% chance that your rental property was built from the ground up to assume western cultural norms would be practiced by residents. They don't know what they don't know. And you don't know what the refugees don't know. Does the charity outfit know, from their experience, and go over this stuff?
Not to mention some of these countries have unemployment levels as high as 30%, so you could rent to someone who has never had a job, may not speak English and can't drive a car.
Get the occupancy they are proposing and if it is a single family or multiple unrelated people. Duration of stay is also important, and what they offer for employment support. Really refugees can come from any walk of life in their home country but they may wind up at entry level jobs here even if they were successful at home because of lack of language skills and education that may not help them here.
Get the occupancy they are proposing and if it is a single family or multiple unrelated people. Duration of stay is also important, and what they offer for employment support. Really refugees can come from any walk of life in their home country but they may wind up at entry level jobs here even if they were successful at home because of lack of language skills and education that may not help them here.
What has been your experience with employment support, if you wouldn't mind sharing?
Based on the first hand advice I read it sounds like a potential nightmare scenario. I suppose if you are in a situation where there are absolutely no other potential applicants and on the verge of defaulting on your mortgage it could be a last ditch effort however with other options renting to new immigrants dependant 100% on charity seems to be a crazy decision. Sounds more like charity on th epart of a landlord willing to take the risk.
Obviously for any landlord with pre-set screening standards new immigrants would never qualify. Only suitable for a C/D class property landlord.
We have an inherited tenant from a refugee relocation center in St. Louis, and while it was a pain to get the checks switched to us, the tenant for the most part is pretty good. Speaking with more experienced landlords on this particular charity, they pay the rent for 3 months, then the family can get 3-6 months additional assistance, then it's 100% on the family after that. The more experienced guys tell me that about 50% stay forever and 50% leave after the free period. And while the charity is part of the paying process they won't let their "clients" sign a lease, the caveat being if there are any issues the landlord can contact the charity and they'll handle it, whether that be removing the tenant or fixing the problem.
So it can be hit or miss, some people love it some hate it. I know one big PM in the area that said he dedicates one of his smaller multi's (8 or 12 I think) entirely to these tenants.
Thank you for your input. It gave a lot of food for thought. I will post after meeting
Would love to hear what happened in your meeting. As well as what you have decided.
thanks
Well the best part Catholic services people did no show up. Who can you rely on? After waiting for some time I called them. As per them they have cancelled the appointment, but they did not. I am still considering this option.
From a financial perspective, I think the main key is to make sure you are very comfortable with the guarantee of payment you will get. If it is the church or some other organization signing on that doted line, make sure you are comfortable with it. Of course, you need to vet them as well.
From a people's perspective, I think communication is really key as people coming from another country and/or culture need to have things explained to them clearly and patiently. When you say something, don't always assume it is understood as you would. Don't be angry if you need to repeat yourself or maybe use a translator to get your point across. Different cultures also have different habits: I had tenants from another country, who loved to cook. So, the family cooked 2 or even 3 times a day using various ingredients that would leave a lasting smell. So I explained to them that I was expecting the smell to be gone when they moved out, else it would cost me money to remove it. And their deposit money would be impacted. Prior to moving out, they took care of the problem and the property was left is great standing.
As someone who grew up in a different culture and only moved to the USA at a college age, I can related to some of the issues. Open communication is really key.
Good Luck !!!