Housing Connector tells Seattle committee its landlord-focused, data-driven model speeds placements and cuts evictions

Housing Connector, a nonprofit that matches renters with reduced-screening rental units and provides post-move-in supports for landlords, presented to the Seattle City Council Housing and Human Services Committee on May 14, arguing that early intervention and data integration can prevent evictions and stretch limited rental-assistance dollars.

Skelton Calamendi, founder and CEO of Housing Connector, told the committee the organization centralizes housing search and partners with property owners to "reduce their screening criteria" while guaranteeing landlord supports and a two-year safety net. Calamendi said, "If the homeless system is the emergency room, we have got to be the primary care doctor," arguing that prevention is cheaper and more effective than responding after a household loses housing.

Why this matters: Committee Chair Kathy Moore told the panel last year she secured $5 million in additional rental assistance and said Seattle now has $10 million for rental assistance; Calamendi said a proactive, data-driven approach can make those dollars reach more households by catching at-risk renters before arrears mount. Calamendi also framed the model as a public–private partnership that can scale if the city and property owners coordinate data and funding.

Key claims and metrics Calamendi gave to the committee:

- Housing Connector has placed nearly 10,000 people nationally since launching five years ago and currently partners with more than 2,700 property owners and managers (a portfolio the organization described as representing roughly 150,000 units).

- In the organization’s data, more than 85% of households renewed their leases after the first year (compared with a cited national average near 65%) and the eviction rate for households the organization places is under 1%.

- The group reported generating about $91 million in rental revenue for partner properties and said its average cost to keep a household stably housed over two years is roughly $1,100 (about $550 per year). Calamendi said only about 33% of households required the organization’s financial interventions after move-in.

Calamendi described the program’s components: a Zillow-integrated marketplace showing real-time units with reduced screening, landlord insurance-style financial supports (three months of emergency rent, up to $5,000 damage mitigation), and a two-year property-support model that centralizes communication among landlords, property managers and case managers. He described efforts to build an operating system to track the renter journey from intake through two years post move-in so communities can measure retention and outcomes.

Committee members pressed on several topics:

- Funding and scale: Calamendi said Housing Connector receives a local contract of about $1,000,000 (distributed through KCRHA) and has used private funding to scale; he invited the council to discuss what scale would look like if the city increased investment. "We can have a conversation to say, hey...what would it look like for you all to support an extra 2,000 households a year?" he said.

- Federal funding instability: Council members raised concern that shrinking federal resources place more emphasis on efficiency; Calamendi said decreased federal funding heightens the need for local prevention and efficiency.

- Data privacy and sharing: Council members asked about resident data protections; Calamendi said Housing Connector has data-sharing agreements with partners and releases of information with residents and that identifiable information is not shared externally except as needed to deliver services, offering to provide technical details in a follow-up briefing.

- High-acuity tenants and building safety: Council members and Calamendi acknowledged the small share of tenants who pose serious behavioral or safety risks and said those cases often require permanent supportive housing or other targeted interventions rather than rapid rehousing. Calamendi said Housing Connector will not rehouse individuals with recent "life-threatening" property incidents into partner properties without ensuring the appropriate supports exist.

Local footprint and next steps: Calamendi said more than 80% of Housing Connector’s placements have been in Seattle/King County; he told the committee the organization currently provides ongoing supports to over 2,000 households locally and that there are more than 800 available units in the platform in Seattle at a given time with reduced screening criteria. He urged the council to consider partnerships on data integrations (for example, utility-payment data) and on scaling prevention funding.

Chair Moore and multiple council members praised the organization’s results and said they were interested in deeper conversations on data-sharing, privacy guardrails and potential scale-up. Calamendi told the committee he and his team have held discussions with the mayor’s office and that Housing Connector is open to further partnership with the city to expand prevention-focused rental assistance.