Quesnel City Council will write a letter of support to establish what’s called a rent bank in the community.
Housing Coordinator Lindsay Allman says it’s basically a homeless prevention tool to help people who are facing an unexpected crisis….
“Rent Banks provide no interest loans and this is sent directly to the landlord or the utility company or the service provider on behalf of the applicant. Applicants are expected to repay these loans but the agreements are flexible and it’s catered to each individual situation.”
Allman says the program allows vulnerable people to avoid loan sharks, which have insanely high interest rates and can get people into overwhelmingly high debt.
She says Rent Banks are now funded provincially…
“In December 2018 the Provincial Rental Housing Task Force recommended the province fund rent banks to assist low income households. The closest Rent Bank to us currently is the Aboriginal Business Development Centre, the ABDC, which is located in Prince George. They’ve been operating a Rent Bank for about a decade now, so prior to the provincial government’s funding. They’ve been getting their funding from a variety of local charities.”
The letter is in support of an application by the Aboriginal Business Development Centre for a rent bank to be administered by the Dakelh and Quesnel Community Housing Society.