Dr. Michael C. Threatt Wins the 2023 Section 8 Housing Expert for AAOA and Recognized as a 2023 Top Agent by Best Agents

Dr. Michael C. Threatt Wins the 2023 Section 8 Housing Expert for the American Apartment Owners Association and Recognized as a 2023 Top Agent by Best Agents

DOTHAN, AL, UNITED STATES, March 5, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Dr. Michael C. Threatt is excited about receiving the 2023 Section 8 Housing Expert from the American Apartment Owners Association (AAOA) and the 2023 Top Agent award from BestAgents.us. He looks forward to releasing his first course with the AAOA for new Section 8 Landlords as The Section 8 Landlord Coach™. Dr. Threatt is a subject matter expert in the Section 8 Program and a licensed REALTOR^® with Community 1st Real Estate in Dothan, Alabama.

Next Generation Transformational Leader and Scholar-Practitioner

During his 18-plus years in the affordable housing industry's public, private, and nonprofit sectors, he spent his career working for public housing authorities (PHAs) in Alabama and Florida. Of those 18 years, 11 years have been in leadership, with eight years working in executive leadership roles as either a Vice President, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), or Chief Operating Officer (COO). As the current COO at Dothan Housing, Dr. Threatt is responsible for the agency’s day-to-day operations, including streamlining affordable housing programs through technology and analyzing intelligence data to support the PHA's long-term sustainability.

He obtained his Doctor of Public Administration (DPA) from West Chester University (WCU) in 2020. As a true advocate for the Section 8 Program, he completed his research on Section 8 landlords with a dissertation entitled "Using Input from Landlords Participating in the Dothan Housing Authority’s (DHA’s) Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP) to Streamline Operations and Increase Retention."

His dissertation research study evaluated landlords’ opinions regarding their feelings toward streamlining the operations of the Section 8 through technology and whether this will increase their retention. He was awarded the 2021 Most Outstanding Student at WCU for his research on Section 8 landlords. Additionally, his dissertation has created new knowledge of improving this public-private partnership, which he implemented at Dothan Housing, where his research was used for the agency’s Moving to Work (MTW) Landlord Incentives Cohort #3 application and supplement plans.

As Dr. Threatt was preparing the MTW application, he facilitated two focus groups to discuss the results of his dissertation study during the summer of 2021. During this discussion, he addressed the following landlord “pain points” and solutions with Dothan Housing's Section 8 Program:

• rental housing market conditions
• why some landlords do not accept Section 8 vouchers
• the strengths and weaknesses of Dothan Housing's Section 8 Program
• proposed landlord monetary incentives
• streamlining Section 8 operations through technology
• landlord education workshops and landlord orientations
• the new Landlord Liaison position
• removing the bureaucratic red tape of the Section 8 Program
• Ready to Rent (R2R) training certifications for voucher holders (Certified Renters)

In the fall of 2021, he launched his Attracting, Recruiting, & Retaining Landlords model. He also onboarded a Landlord Liaison and a Communications Coordinator who implemented his vision from his dissertation. In 2022, he released his game-changing affordable housing book based on his dissertation, The Price of Bureaucracy: Removing Section 8 Landlord Pain Points through the Investment in Technology. The book culminates his research, best practices he has implemented throughout his career, and innovative ways to build better PHA-landlord relationships.

2023 Results-Oriented Innovative Leadership

Dothan Housing is helping to pave the way for Section 8 Programs nationally through Dr. Threatt’s results-oriented innovative leadership. While the rest of the country is losing between 5,000 and 10,000 landlords annually, under the innovative leadership of Dr. Threatt, Dothan Housing has added approximately 130 new units and approximately 65 new landlords to their Section 8 Program over the past two years. Dothan Housing has expanded housing choices and opportunities for voucher holders through landlord monetary incentives and nonmonetary incentives.

During the summer of 2023, Dr. Threatt coordinated the Dothan Housing team meeting with Abt Global for their Moving to Work (MTW): Incentivizing Landlords in the Housing Choice Voucher Program study visit. Dothan Housing shared the innovative practices Dr. Threatt created, has implemented, and plans to implement regarding landlord monetary and nonmonetary incentives with the Abt Global researchers. As a result, Dothan Housing is uniquely positioned to work effectively with HUD and the HUD Office of Policy Development & Research (PD&R) during this landlord incentives study.

Next, addressing the future of affordable housing in America, Dr. Threatt presented his research at the 2023 Southeastern Conference for Public Administration (SECoPA) in Atlanta, GA, where he illustrated how scholar-practitioners should use their credibility as subject matter experts to add knowledge to the affordable housing industry and academia. He also had the privilege of presenting his research at the 2023 NAHRO national conference in New Orleans, LA, as he shared the stage with some of the best and brightest in the Section 8 Program as a panelist during the Landlords Wanted! Engagement Strategies to Increase Landlord Participation.

Speaking of innovation with the Section 8 Program, under his leadership, Dothan Housing won two 2023 NAHRO Merit Awards under the Affordable Housing category for Attracting, Recruiting, & Retaining Landlords with Technology and the Wiregrass Landlord Tour at the 2023 NAHRO national conference.

He recently graduated from the Executive Director Education Program (EDEP) program through a partnership with Rutgers University and the Public Housing Authorities Director Association (PHADA). Dr. Threatt also recently joined Troy University’s School of Social Work and Human Services Faculty as Adjunct Instructor. He teaches courses in the Master of Social Work (MSW) program specializing in Organizational Leadership and Management.

Dr. Threatt believes in leading change by bridging the gap from theory to practice by providing real-world professional experience to motivate students to engage with the course material through the worldview of a practicing professor. He also focuses on his students assimilating into today’s workforce with professionalism and maturity. As a researcher, his primary interest is affordable housing policy reform, specifically for landlords and voucher holders in the Section 8 Program.

Finally, he is excited about helping Dothan Housing become one of the best PHAs in the country as an MTW Expansion agency under the Landlord Incentives Cohort #3 and as a new Continuum of Care (CoC) under the Southeast Alabama Coalition for the Homeless (SEACH).

Dr. Michael C. Threatt
Elevate Housing Solutions, LLC
+1 205-552-9491
mthreatt@elevatehousing.com
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Dr Michael Threatt - Analyzing Section 8 Housing