According to US Census Bureau data, mom-and-pop landlords, typically defined as individual landlords owning 10 or fewer properties, own more than a third of all rental housing units, and, on average, their housing stock is more affordable for renters. But because of limited data, there is a substantial lack of research to shed light on trends within this critical segment of our country’s housing market.

Since 2020, the Urban Institute has partnered with Avail, an online platform that supports mom-and-pop landlords to manage their rental properties, to conduct research from survey and administrative data to fill this void in the research. Urban has also partnered with NHS Chicago and used its local market mom-and-pop landlord survey data for research. 

We have covered various topics, including the financial struggles of mom-and-pop landlords and their tenants, changes in rental prices, awareness of emergency rental assistance, maintenance tenant screening, prospects of buying and selling rental properties, and rent reporting to credit bureaus. We also track monthly administrative rental payments, providing more accurate information than small sample survey data.

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