Pay Vancouver rent on time, win a prize

June 8, 2016

By Eric MacKenzie | 24hrs Vancouver

Do you deserve a reward for paying rent on time? If you’re in a Metro Vancouver Housing Corporation suite, you may just get one.

Metro Vancouver staff are proposing a tenant incentive program with the hope it will encourage renters in its 3,500 units to make punctual payments through automatic withdrawals from bank accounts.

As per the proposal, all tenants making rent on time through direct debit payments over a full calendar year will be eligible for a random draw for one of four $250 grocery-store gift certificates. One prize would be awarded in each of the four housing regions — Vancouver and North Vancouver; Surrey and New Westminster; Richmond and Ladner; and Burnaby, Maple Ridge and the Tri-Cities.

Beyond getting tenants to pay up on the first of each month, staff hope the incentive will convince more people to establish pre-authorized debit payments. Just 30% of MVHC tenants are paying rent using that method, according to a report.

“Even the folks who honour their tenancy agreement every month and drop a cheque into the site office box, it still requires staff members to collect that cheque to bring it to head office before it gets deposited,” said Ulryke Weissgerber, supervisor of tenant programs and services.

“If more and more people join this program, we’ll be able to save valuable staff time that they can devote to other, more pressing issues.”

Additionally, 10 coffee shop gift cards worth $10 each would be distributed through random draw among tenants receiving rental assistance who file completed annual income and asset review packages on time. The report states only 10% of rent-geared-to-income tenants provide the relevant information on first request.

All prize draws would be in January.

“Not everyone’s going to get it, it’s a draw, but getting $250 worth of free groceries in the month of January is, I think, well-timed because people do tend to suffer financial strains more often than not right after Christmas,” said Weissgerber. 

See full story here.