Housing Link
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
CONNECTING PEOPLE TO AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOMES, INCREASING CHOICE AND ACCESS FOR ALL.
- Income
- $959,685
- Spending
- $987,609
- Spent on programs
- 81%
- Reserves
- 2.6 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- government grants, 48%
- Employees
- 0
- Volunteers
- 17
- Highest pay
- $168,383, president
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Fair: 64 out of 100. Higher than 63% of charities in its peer group (housing, $250k to $1m).
Reserves
10 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 2.6 months of spending.
Debt
16 of 20It owes 26% of what it owns.
Living within its means
8 of 15Spending exceeded income by 3% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 11% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1581% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 8 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 88% of charities in its peer group (housing, $250k to $1m).
Independent board
25 of 2515 of 15 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
15 of 15Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (2)
- $590,767 spent. HOUSINGLINK HAS BEEN PROVIDING AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING INFORMATION IN THE TWIN CITIES FOR TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS AND IS RECOGNIZED AS THE PRIMARY PLACE TO ACCESS HOUSING OPTIONS FOR LOW-TO-MODERATE INCOME RENTERS. IN ADDITION TO PROVIDING EASY ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING WAITING LISTS AND VACANCIES, HOUSINGLINK IS AN ESTEEMED DATA PROVIDER TO A LARGE GROUP OF STAKEHOLDERS THROUGHOUT MINNESOTA. CENTRALIZED, EASY ACCESS TO INFORMATION ABOUT THE SUPPLY AND LOCATION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING INFORMATION IS VITAL TO ENSURE THAT COMMUNITY DECISIONS ARE WELL-INFORMED, AND THAT LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS ARE EMPOWERED TO OBTAIN HOUSING IN THEIR LOCATIONS OF CHOICE. CONTINUED ON SCHEDULE O.HOUSINGLINK (WWW.HOUSINGLINK.ORG) CONNECTS RENTERS TO THE RELEVANT, VITAL INFORMATION THEY NEED TO FIND THE APPROPRIATE AFFORDABLE HOME FOR THEIR HOUSEHOLD AND STREAMLINES THE PROCESS FOR ADVERTISING UNITS TO RENTERS. SPECIFICALLY, OUR HOUSING SEARCH TOOL IS ONLINE AND ALLOWS USERS TO FIND AFFORDABLE VACANCIES AND WAITING LISTS. OVER 1.7 MILLION SEARCHES FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING WERE PERFORMED USING OUR WEBSITE DURING 2025. TYPICALLY, RENTERS ARE ABLE TO LOCATE THE INFORMATION THEY NEED IN LESS THAN FOUR MINUTES.THE FOLLOWING HOUSINGLINK ACTIVITY OCCURRED IN 2025: * 1,649,178 SEARCHES FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING * 22,120 AFFORDABLE VACANCIES & WAITING LIST OPENINGS LISTED * 3,768,923 PAGE VIEWS OF HOUSING RESOURCES * 108,895 VISITS FOR SUBSIDIZED HOUSING INFORMATION * 173,924 VIEWS OF HOUSING AUTHORITY WAITING LIST STATUS * 91% OF LISTINGS THAT WOULD CONSIDER A SECTION 8 VOUCHER IN 2025 * 495 FAIR HOUSING VIDEO VIEWS * 618,631 NOTIFICATIONS OF HOUSING OPENINGS SENT THROUGH IN 2025HOUSINGLINK PROVIDES INFORMATION ON THE SUPPLY AND LOCATION OF PUBLICLY FUNDED AFFORDABLE HOUSING THROUGH REPORTS AND A PUBLICLY AVAILABLE ONLINE DATABASE CALLED STREAMS. STREAMS (WWW.HOUSINGLINK.ORG/STREAMS) INCLUDES PROPERTIES AND AFFORDABLE UNITS WITH PUBLIC FINANCING. STREAMS IS USED BY RESEARCHERS AND COMMUNITY PLANNERS AND POLICYMAKERS INVOLVED IN PROJECT PLANNING. OUR DATA AND RESEARCH CAPACITY LED US TO PRODUCE THE HOUSING MEASURES REPORT FOR THE MCKNIGHT FOUNDATION. STREAMS DATA IS UPDATED ANNUALLY TO REFLECT THE MOST CURRENT INFORMATION. WE PUBLISH TWIN CITIES RENTAL REVENUE, A SUBSCRIBER-BASED QUARTERLY REPORT THAT COMPARES MARKET RATE SHADOW (RENTAL HOUSES, DUPLEXES, CONDOS, AND TOWNHOMES) AND APARTMENT MARKET RENTS FOR THE SEVEN COUNTY METRO AREA. THIS REPORT IS TURNING INTO A SUCCESSFUL EARNED INCOME VENTURE FOR HOUSINGLINK. WE AVERAGE 30 SUBSCRIBERS ANNUALLY; MAINLY RECURRING SUBSCRIPTIONS WHICH HELP SUPPORT OUR GENERAL OPERATIONS. HOUSINGLINK ALSO PUBLISHES A RENTAL HOUSING BRIEF FOR THE CITIES OF MINNEAPOLIS AND SAINT PAUL WHICH TRACKS KEY METRICS ON AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING IN THE COMMUNITY TO INFORM POLICYMAKING. HOUSINGLINK'S STRATEGIC PLAN INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING STRATEGIC PRIORITIES FOR 2022-2026. * PURPOSEFULLY ARTICULATE THE VALUE AND BENEFIT OF HOUSINGLINK. * USING NEW AND EXISTING TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, CONTINUE EXPANDING AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING OPTIONS. * MAKE HOUSINGLINK DATA AND RESEARCH MORE ACCESSIBLE TO IMPROVE COMMUNITY KNOWLEDGE ABOUT RENTAL HOUSING. * DEEPEN CONNECTIONS TO AND DEVELOP RESOURCES FOR DIY PROPERTY OWNERS. * CONTINUE STRATEGIC EXPANSION. * BUILD INTENTIONAL CONNECTIONS AND DEEPEN WORK IN GREATER MINNESOTA.
- $211,469 spent. THE BEYOND BACKGROUNDS PROGRAM HELPS RENTERS WITH BARRIERS (CRIMINAL CONVICTION, EVICTION, BAD CREDIT) BY PAIRING THE RENTER WITH A LANDLORD RISK MITIGATION FUND TO HELP THEM GET INTO A RENTAL HOME. THERE HAVE BEEN 1,247 RENTERS HOUSED, WITH 11% RISK FUND CLAIMS PAID TO LANDLORDS SINCE THE PROGRAM BEGAN IN 2022.WAITLIST CENTRAL TOOL CENTRALIZES AFFORDABLE HOUSING WAITING LISTS, GIVING RENTERS ONE ACCESS POINT AND TRANSPARENCY INTO THEIR STATUS ON WAITING LISTS WHILE EASING THE BURDEN ON PROPERTY OWNERS BY SHIFTING THE RESPONSIBILITY OF WAITLIST MANAGEMENT FROM OWNERS TO HOUSINGLINK.RENTER EDUCATION: THROUGH OUR WEBSITE'S EDUCATIONAL TOOLS WE EDUCATE RENTERS ABOUT FAIR HOUSING AND THEIR RENTER RIGHTS.PROPERTY ENGAGEMENT AND EDUCATION: THROUGH PROPERTY OWNER/MANAGEMENT ENGAGEMENT, WE ENCOURAGE PROPERTIES TO ACCEPT VOUCHERS AND EXPAND THEIR HOUSING VACANCIES TO RENTERS THEY MIGHT NORMALLY DENY. HOUSINGLINK DEEPENS RELATIONSHIPS WITH PROPERTY OWNERS BY OFFERING INTERACTIVE LANDLORD EDUCATION RESOURCES ON OUR WEBSITE.HOUSINGLINK DATA: HOUSINGLINK MAINTAINS RELIABLE THIRD-PARTY DATA REGARDING AFFORDABLE HOUSING THAT INFORMS POLICY MAKERS, AND HOUSING ORGANIZATION'S WORK. OUR RENTAL TRENDS DASHBOARD IS ONE OF OUR FIRST DATA VISUALIZATION TOOLS THAT EASILY SHARES AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING DATA FOR OUR WEBSITE USERS. HOUSINGLINK ALSO PROVIDES OUR STREAMS DATABASE OF PUBLICLY FUNDED RENTAL UNITS ACROSS MINNESOTA. THIS IS USED BY PLANNERS AND POLICYMAKERS TO KEEP THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF UNITS WITH AFFORDABLE COMMITMENTS IN THEIR OVERALL REGION CURRENT.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since June 1998.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 21, 2026.
Could it be confused with another charity? Worth knowing.
A much larger organization has a similar name: Linc Housing Corporation (Long Beach, CA), EIN 33-0578620. If that is the one you meant, check the EIN before giving.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.