Property owners in South Lake Tahoe can earn $10,000. Here’s how

South Lake Tahoe is now offering up to $10,000 to homeowners who convert their properties to long-term rentals for local workers.

The city announced the new program Tuesday to incentivize the growth of rental opportunities for local workers as the region’s housing crisis continues to worsen.

“The housing crisis in South Lake Tahoe is at a critical juncture,” City Manager Joe Irvin said in a statement. “We have been evaluating all options and working with our partners to create new, innovative programs to ensure we can provide sustainable and long-term housing to our local.”

To qualify, property owners who own homes in the city limits must covert those properties to a 12-month lease and rent to households averaging less than 125% of the area median income ($79,688), according to a news release.

For example, rent for a 2-bedroom home cannot exceed $2,500 per month and for a 4-bedroom home cannot exceed $3,100 per month.

The program, Lease to Locals, will perform lease checks to ensure compliance and will grant up to $2,000 for every child and tenant placed in a rental. The maximum grant a property owner can receive is $10,000.

“The goal of the Lease to Locals pilot program is to convert some of the existing vacant housing stock to longer-term rentals for the local workforce to help address the critical shortage in workforce housing,” the news release said.

Property owners interested in the program can learn more by visiting Landing Locals, a Truckee, Calif.-based startup specializing in mountain-community workforce housing.