Wisconsin municipalities hope online directory will help people find affordable housing

Some municipalities in Wisconsin are partnering with a company that creates an online directory to help connect people to affordable housing.

The city of Kenosha was the first municipality to work with CityWise — a Milwaukee-based startup company. The company created a subdomain on the official city website in October that allows renters to search for affordable and subsidized housing in the city for free.

Users can access a tool on the directory to find what subsidies they may be eligible for and they can search for properties that accept Low Income Housing Tax Credits and Section 8 vouchers. The listings also include any municipal code violations for the properties.

Over 7,500 people have used the website in Kenosha, according to Jeremy Schmidt, the chief operating officer of CityWise. The company was started around a year ago by the creators of Rent College Pads.

“We’re not going to solve the affordable housing crisis that’s going on in basically every city,” Schmidt said. “But if we can connect more people to more properties faster and get them better information, we think we can make an impact and a difference.” 

The company is now also working with Greendale, Mount Pleasant, Oak Creek, Greenfield and South Milwaukee. Local governments are not charged for the service. 

“We just want this to be a spot that anybody can come to if they’re looking for housing and really understand the complete and total picture,” Schmidt said. “And that’s kind of why we thought municipalities (websites) were the best spot for this to live.”

Landlords who use the service pay a fee. Those who offer subsidized housing or landlords who manage less than 20 units can list their property on the directory for free. Schmidt said every landlord who uses the directory works with the company to post the listing.

A city of Kenosha statement said the website is a “comprehensive resource” for people looking for affordable housing. 

“The launch of this directory is a huge step forward in providing our citizens with a reliable and transparent tool to find safe, affordable housing,” Kenosha Mayor David Bogdala said.

Greenfield Mayor Michael Neitzke said the directory is another “tool” for people looking for apartments in the city.

The partnership will soon be coming to all of Milwaukee County. Milwaukee County Supervisor Jack Eckblad said average rents in the county have increased by over 40 percent since 2020.

“The real-time nature of this (directory), and the concentration of this type of information is hopefully a game changer,” Eckblad said.

Eckblad hopes the directory can be another resource for people looking for affordable housing.

“So our goal is more access, more resources to anyone with a smartphone, or even just access to a public library, or anyone advocating for someone and their advocate has access to a smartphone or a public library,” Eckblad said.

Schmidt said the directory should be up and running in the county soon.

Eckblad said landlords with a “documented pattern of evictions” will not be able to use the directory.

“It’s not just cost, it’s not just pictures, it’s not just the state of the property,” Eckbald said. “We’re also actively taking off landlords who could be predatory.” 

Milwaukee County’s directory will also have an interactive map for people looking for warming shelters during the winter. 

Schmidt said the goal is to expand the online directory to more local governments.

“We want this to grow,” Schmidt said. “We want this to be a model that’s adopted across the state but then across the entire country.”