Homes and Communities - www.hud.gov
The Search for Housing Made Easy

Finding rental housing in Louisiana will soon be made much easier thanks to a new service soon to be offered.

The State of Louisiana is joining a growing national movement to provide information on rental housing availability from Socialserve.com. This national nonprofit is dedicated to developing web applications that give agencies, municipalities and the general public access to tools and information that make it easier to find affordable rental housing. With more than 200,000 housing units damaged or destroyed in the state by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, this service couldn't have come at a better time for Louisiana residents.

LAHousingSearch.org is the website created by Socialserve.com and offers rental property owners, including providers of critically needed affordable and special needs housing, a place to advertise their properties at no cost. Funded by the Louisiana Housing Finance Agency and the Department of Health and Hospitals, the site also provides renters a place to find property that fits their needs. Individuals can easily search for housing using a wide variety of search criteria with special mapping features and receive apartment listings that provide in-depth details about the amenities in each unit.

The website also connects people to other housing resources through links and provides helpful tools for renters such as an affordability calculator, rental checklist, and renter rights and responsibilities information. The service can be accessed online 24 hours a day and is supported by a toll free call center open Monday - Friday.

A statewide launch of the website is scheduled for early 2007. In the meantime, property owners can register their units free of charge at www.LAHousingSearch.org or by calling toll-free at (877) 428-8844. Finding rental housing will soon be just a click away.

Link directly to this article:

http://www.hud.gov/local/index.cfm?state=la

CONTACT:
Natalie Wyeth
Louisiana Recovery Authority
(225) 342-1790
natalie.wyeth@la.gov

Robert Johannessen
Department of Health and Hospitals
(225) 342-1532
rjohanne@dhh.la.gov

Robert Barbor
Louisiana Housing Finance Agency
(225) 763-8700
rbarbor@lhfa.state.la.us