The Growing Movement to Give Money Back to Renters

Renter-equity programs are popping up around the country. Can they make a real difference, or are they just another fintech scheme?

Nikimbre Daniels spent her thirties living off the grid. Her homes included a yurt in a meadow in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, countless R.V.s in nearly every region of the country, and even a tent. It was the life she chose after spending her twenties in South Florida. She felt she needed to reconnect with nature.

“I never honestly thought that I would be renting again in this country at this point, you know, with all the statistics and rising housing costs, whether you’re a renter or you have a mortgage,” Daniels said. “I honestly never thought it would be possible again.… I’ve been so content living the way that I was living, because I built that life.”

But Daniels, now 40, found a job teaching classes about native plants in Estes Park, Colorado, near the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park, and found a townhome in a rental community set aside for people who work for the county. The workforce housing development she’s in—Fall River Village, near downtown—is one of the first two properties, with 185 total units, participating in Colorado’s new Renter Rewards Program. Every month, Daniels gets about $35 cash back from her rent, and the state will match that amount if she keeps it in a dedicated account for 12 months.

One of the most persistent wealth gaps in the United States is between renters and homeowners, and the gap is bigger than ever. The average renter has a net worth of just $10,400, versus $400,000 for the average homeowner, according to a 2024 Aspen Institute report. On top of that, almost half of renters struggle to pay their rent, which makes it even harder to save money for a house. Rent is a burden, and it’s always rising. Homeownership, in addition to building wealth, stabilizes housing costs and allows people to save in other ways, like investing in retirement accounts.

In the past few years, policymakers and start-ups have proposed trying to bridge that gap by allowing people to earn cash back and build wealth through the rent they’re already paying. “For millions of people, [rent] is the biggest source of precarity,” said Katie Deal, vice president of the Lafayette Square Institute, a nonprofit that studies economic security and mobility. “It is the thing that they spend all night thinking about, that really influences how or if they’re able to invest in their family’s future. The idea of turning that insecurity into something that actually helps people not only see a better future for themselves but for their kids, that can be a real asset.”

Renter-equity programs are rare, and only beginning to take........

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