In exchange, landlords agree to waive security deposits, credit checks, and employment records, and to give the Lotus Campaign and its partner organizations at least 30 days to try to work out any issues that arise before seeking to evict a tenant.

Jared Brey

Credit: contributed

Credit: contributed

So far, Payne said, evictions haven’t even come up.

“What we want is access,” Payne said, speaking of apartments in private apartment buildings. “We just want you to open the door so we can dispel the myths of all the problems this is going to cause you.”

‘It’s really the runway’

Payne started thinking about how the private housing sector could do more to address homelessness after helping to produce a report on homelessness in Los Angeles in 2017.

Along with Beth Silverman, co-founder and chief operating officer at the Lotus Campaign, Payne began talking with fellow real estate investors and landlords