Finding affordable housing today presents a real challenge. Housing applicants face a practical dilemma: they need to secure housing while being cautious about sharing sensitive personal information. Applicants can fill out up to ten housing applications per week in order to increase their odds of housing, which means that they’re being asked to share their personal information widely. As housing professionals, we need to focus on creating trustworthy systems that protect applicant data while collecting the necessary information to connect people with safe, affordable housing.

Our Bloom Housing team recently collaborated with Massachusetts' Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) to explore the current landscape of applications for privately-owned affordable housing (properties not managed by government agencies). We invested five months into research with over 200 stakeholders—housing seekers, counselors, property managers, and jurisdiction staff to better understand their experiences with the application process from both submission and receipt perspectives. Here’s what we learned.

In summary:

• Affordable housing applications collect extensive sensitive personal information, creating privacy concerns and application barriers for vulnerable populations across Massachusetts.

• Our research reveals significant regional disparities in application support, with technology gaps and language barriers preventing access for low-income and immigrant communities.

• Housing data security practices vary widely among housing authorities and private landlords, leading to concerns about data handling and widespread applicant distrust.

• Housing counselors serve as vital trusted intermediaries in the complex affordable housing system, dramatically improving application success rates and housing outcomes for Massachusetts residents.

• Successful Massachusetts pilot programs demonstrate that simplified, common applications with plain language significantly increase completion rates while reducing processing time.

The Current Landscape

Intrusive Data

The affordable housing application process has traditionally been document-heavy and intrusive. Housing authorities and property managers routinely require deeply personal information from applicants.

Here’s a short list of what housing applications commonly ask for:

• Complete family information, including children's names and ages

• Social security numbers (often required for all household members)

• Age/Birthdate

• Birth certificates for every family member

• Government-issued photo IDs

• Current and past addresses

• Income verification (pay stubs, tax returns, bank statements)

• Gender and sexual orientation

• Credit reports and scores

• Criminal background checks

• Employment history

• Race/Ethnicity

• Registered sex offender status

• Homelessness status

• If you’re fleeing domestic violence

• Disabilities

The scope of this data collection is staggering. From our research, we learned that out of the six most prominent property management companies in Massachusetts, 50% of those property management applications ask for the applicant’s social security number. Private landlords cite running background checks on about a third of applications.

Our independent analysis of eight (8) applications from the six (6) biggest property management companies’ applications revealed that 50% of them ask for the applicant’s social security number. In addition, they ask for a wide variety of other personal information, as seen in this image of the Most Common Application Fields. View larger version by clicking the image.

These requirements reveal a troubling reality: affordable housing applications collect highly sensitive personal identifiable information (PII) that could risk identity theft or discrimination if mishandled. Our recent research in Massachusetts confirmed that many applicants feel distrust about the housing application process with many people having experienced housing scams firsthand. Housing scams commonly involve using a fake or plagiarized rental listing to solicit personal information and even an application fee, leading to loss of funds and often, identity theft. During our research, one person shared their experience of responding to a fake ad for an apartment, ultimately leading to losing their application fee.

“After getting scammed off of Craigslist, I, you know, I was snake bitten. It was like a huge roadblock was put up, you know, like, who can you trust?”

Additionally, experiences of discrimination contribute to wariness around sensitive application information. Many applicants we interviewed encountered barriers when their age, race, ethnicity, family status, rental history, or other identities were revealed. In one case, a landlord stopped responding when the applicant’s older age was revealed.

Some reported facing applications as long as 38 pages – an overwhelming barrier to people who urgently need housing.

Unsecure Data

In addition to collecting excessive PII, how this personal data is typically managed and stored is just as troubling.

Industry observers note that affordable housing is an attractive target for data intrusions because sensitive tenant data must be retained long-term under regulations. In settings where paper forms are still the primary mode of data collection, it can be crucial to store forms in secure filing cabinets and dispose of them by shredding. However, there’s no consistent mandate on how to do this.

While larger organizations may have robust security protocols and budgets, smaller landlords and property owners often lack adequate systems for securing applicant information, creating significant data vulnerability.

Even government agencies, such as housing authorities, along with property managers and city staff often lack the proper resources to manage and secure personal data effectively and consistently, and they all handle this sensitive data differently.

Massachusetts Research Insights

Over the past several months, our Bloom Housing team led a large-scale discovery research project with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to understand the current state of their affordable housing application process. Working alongside the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC), we spoke with applicants, property managers, and housing counselors across the state, from urban areas in and around Boston to more rural areas in Western Massachusetts. The Massachusetts research provides a deeper understanding of local challenges that mirror national trends but with important regional distinctions.

Application Barriers in Massachusetts

A recent study of Massachusetts housing applicants identified several critical pain points specific to the Commonwealth:

• Complex Documentation Requirements: Massachusetts housing authorities often require extensive paperwork that exceeds federal minimums. Surveys of Boston-area applicants revealed that 72% found the documentation requirements "extremely difficult" to fulfill, particularly for immigrants and non-English speakers.

• Regional Variation: Application requirements vary significantly across Massachusetts' 240+ housing authorities. Factors like limited technological infrastructure and fewer housing counselors create additional barriers.

• Technology Divide: In Eastern Massachusetts, particularly the Greater Boston area, 41% of low-income applicants reported lacking reliable internet access to complete online applications, while 38% lacked access to printers for required forms (from the 2024 Digital Equity Assessment performed by the City of Boston).

• Translation Gaps: Despite the state's diverse population, just over half of Massachusetts’ affordable housing applications offered materials in languages other than English, creating significant barriers for the state's growing immigrant communities.

We also found that people tend to drop off or leave an application process when more sensitive information or extensive documentation is required. Aforementioned barriers, like difficulty accessing a printer or scanner, difficulty understanding complexities of housing language, or even accessing reliable internet to upload forms, can force people to abandon the process altogether.

Building a More Trustworthy Process

So, how can we balance the need for comprehensive applicant information with respect for privacy concerns? How can we ensure property mangers get the information they need in order to make decisions about qualified applicants, while also being careful to not ask applicants for too much?

Here are key strategies we've identified:

Ask Only What You Need, When You Need It

The first step is simplifying the initial application process. A streamlined pre-application should collect only essential information needed to determine basic eligibility. Save the more sensitive questions for applicants once they move onto later stages.

This two-step approach (often referred to as a “pre-application”):

• Reduces barriers to entry

• Decreases time spent on applications

• Limits unnecessary data collection

• Protects applicant privacy

• Builds trust from the beginning

• Sets realistic expectations for receiving housing to align with time spent

Massachusetts pilot programs have shown promising results with this approach. One partner in our research, Mass Housing, already uses a short “pre-application” for their affordable properties and offers the application in 9 additional languages beyond English, ensuring access to the diverse population of Massachusetts.

Use Plain, Accessible Language

Housing applications should be written at approximately a sixth-grade reading level – the level at which most Americans read comfortably. Complex legal language and industry jargon create unnecessary barriers during an already complicated process. Applications should also be easily translatable for non-English speakers. In Massachusetts, where nearly 25% of the population speaks a language other than English at home, it’s especially important to provide housing applications and resources in a multitude of languages. Providing translators, or working with a local translation or interpreter group, can ensure more people are able to successfully navigate the application process.

Eliminate Redundant Questions

A well-designed system should store information securely and minimize duplicate requests. Through our research, we learned that applicants are frequently tasked with answering the same questions repeatedly. We also heard many accounts from applicants of being required to re-upload sensitive documents months or even years after their initial application with no clear answer to where the original document upload had gone. This frustrates people and feels like a waste of valuable time.

The Massachusetts Common Housing Application for Massachusetts Programs (CHAMP) — the current common application for public housing in Massachusetts — attempted to address this issue by creating one application for all housing authorities across the state. Applicants have reported a much more positive application experience, with fewer needs to take redundant actions.

Leverage Housing Counselors as Trusted Intermediaries

Housing counselors serve as vital navigators through the complex housing system. With applicant consent, allowing these professionals access to application information can accelerate the process. Counselors often have access to technology, knowledge, and language skills that applicants themselves may lack.

Massachusetts has a strong network of housing counseling agencies. The Massachusetts Housing Consumer Education Centers report that clients who work with housing counselors are 76% more likely to complete applications successfully and 32% more likely to secure housing (source: Urban Institute, 2021). Beyond helping an applicant fill out paperwork, a housing counselor can serve as moral support and voice of encouragement during a very stressful, complex process.

Prioritize Secure Data Storage

A core focus of our recent research across Massachusetts was the idea of a common application. This concept has been in-use for years in the U.S. for college admissions, utilizing common questions across college applications to reduce time and repetitive answers for applicants while opening them up to more opportunities. Perhaps most critically, any system collecting sensitive applicant information must store it securely. This is where a centralized portal offers significant advantages over the current fragmented approach.

By establishing consistent security protocols across properties, we can better protect applicant data regardless of which property management company is involved.

Massachusetts has made progress in this area through its CHAMP system, but adoption remains incomplete. A 2023 investigation by ProPublica and reported on by WBUR revealed that only 67% of Massachusetts housing authorities fully utilize the system (though this utilization is likely higher now), creating an inconsistent experience for applicants. Additionally, private affordable housing providers often maintain separate systems with varying levels of security. The lack of transparency in screening processes compounds these issues, especially with the rise of the use of AI screening by landlords. A 2024 research paper by TechEquity (Screened Out Of Housing: How AI-Powered Tenant Screening Hurts Renters) found only 3% of surveyed landlords even identified which AI screening agency they used, leaving applicants in the dark about who handles their sensitive information.

Building a standardized application and application management system has the potential to gather and secure applicant data in one place, providing simplicity and peace of mind for everyone involved.

Moving Forward

The affordable housing sector faces a crucial trust challenge. As housing scams proliferate and data breaches become more common, applicants are rightfully suspicious of processes that demand extensive personal information without clear protections.

The solution isn't to collect less information overall – property managers still need to verify eligibility and make informed decisions. Rather, we need to thoughtfully redesign our approach to data collection and storage, keeping applicant concerns at the forefront.

Many housing advocates have noted that overly burdensome documentation requirements can actively discourage applications and push vulnerable families away from assistance they desperately need.

We can create a more transparent, efficient, and secure application process that respects applicants' privacy while still meeting the needs of housing providers. In doing so, we take an important step toward making affordable housing truly accessible to those who need it most.

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This blog post was inspired by research conducted with housing seekers and providers in Massachusetts as part of a partnership with EOHLC and ongoing efforts by our Bloom Housing team to improve affordable housing access.

Let’s make housing systems work for everyone
Bloom Housing works with cities, states, and housing providers to remove barriers, protect applicant data, and scale access to affordable housing.