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The Montana Department of Commerce is sending out mailers to Montana renters this week asking them to complete an online survey the state will use to ask the federal government to update fair market rent rates and ideally benefit lower-income renters.
The department said it will send the data it receives from those that respond to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and ask for it to provide a better reflection of rent conditions in Montana after prices ballooned during the past four years.
“We are asking for your help with an important study to better understand how inflation, the limited supply of rental housing, increased demand, high cost of labor, increases in property insurance rates and other facts have driven up the cost of housing and impacted rental housing throughout Montana,” Department of Commerce Housing Division Administrator Cheryl Cohen said in a statement.
The department said it will use the survey data to ask for better rental subsidies for lower-income households, especially for people with disabilities and older Montanans on fixed incomes.
It said depending on the results, the maximum rent that could be paid to proprietors from federal rental assistance programs could be adjusted.
Between 2017 and 2022, the median house value in Montana went from $209,100 to $305,700, while the number of housing units only increased by about 16,000. Nearly 30% of homes were valued between $300,000 and $500,000 as of 2022.
And about 31% of Montana homes were being rented as of 2022, according to Department of Commerce data. But after residential property taxes largely rose for most homeowners last year, some renters are paying more to offset the costs incurred by their proprietors.
The Department of Commerce said the study is funded by the Behavioral Health System for Future Generations Commission. Renters should receive a letter this week with a code that will direct them to a website with the survey.
The department says it should take 10 minutes to complete and that responses and the names of people who fill out the survey will be kept confidential and not kept on a mailing list. The survey will be conducted by Econometrica, Inc. and M. Davis and Company, Inc. The state says anyone with questions should call the Department of Commerce at (406) 841-2840.