Housing Resources for Tenants and Property Owners During COVID-19

The following are resources to support housing stability during COVID-19

Date Posted: June 11th, 2020 @ 9:58 AM
Last Updated: November 30th, 2020 @ 4:33 PM

RENTER AND HOMEOWNER RELIEF

The City of Oakland has limited funds available for renter and homeowner relief through the Keep Oakland Housed (KOH) partnership of KOH nonprofit partners and other nonprofit organizations. This funding will provide one-time financial assistance to low-income renters and homeowners impacted by COVID-19. The application period opens September 1, 2020.

The KOH partnership will disperse funds to eligible applicants, with each nonprofit leading the application process for their organization.

Renter applicants may contact:

  • Bay Area Community Services (BACS) | www.bayareacs.org

Call: (510) 899-9289 | Text: (510) 759-4877 | Apply: housing.bayareacs.org

  • Catholic Charities East Bay | www.cceb.org | (510) 768-3100

Homeowner applicants may contact:

  • Housing and Economic Rights Advocates (HERA) | www.heraca.org | (510) 271-8443 x300

Funding is extremely limited, and applications will be prioritized based on need, severity of COVID-19 impact, and funding availability.

*Applicants must be current Oakland residents, a low-income individual or household, and at risk of losing their home. Please see the chart below (from the Keep Oakland Housed Website) to find the maximum income level based on your household size to qualify for help:

Low-Income and Household Size Chart from Keep Oakland Housed Website
Low-Income and Household Size Chart from Keep Oakland Housed Website

LEGAL AID

For Tenants:

Centro Legal

Phone: 510-437-1554

Email: tenantsrights@centrolegal.org

Website: https://www.centrolegal.org/

East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC)

Phone: (510) 548-4040 ext. 629

Website: https://ebclc.org/

Eviction Defense Center (EDC)

Phone: (510) 452-4541

Website https://www.evictiondefensecen...

For Property Owners:

Housing and Economics Rights Advocates (HERA)

Phone: 510-271-8433

Email: http://www.heraca.org/#contact

Website: http://heraca.org/

The East Bay Rental Housing Association

Phone: 510-893-9873

Email: membership@ebrha.com

Website: https://www.ebrha.com/

For more information on the Keep Oakland Housed Covid-19 Relief Financial Assistance program, contact the City of Oakland Housing and Community Development, Housing Resource Center at (510) 238-6182. You can also visit the Keep Oakland Housed website here.

The City of Oakland’s Emergency Moratorium remains in place until the lifting of the Local Emergency Order by the City Council. For more information, visit the City’s Emergency Moratorium website here.

ABOUT THE RENT ADJUSTMENT PROGRAM

The Oakland City Council adopted the Rent Adjustment Program Ordinance (OMC Chapter 8.22) in 1980. This ordinance sets the maximum annual rent increase based on the annual CPI increase and handles rent adjustments for claims of decreases in housing services and handles other rent-related matters. The purpose of this program is to foster fair housing for a diverse population of renters and enforce the Rent Adjustment Ordinance set out by the City of Oakland.

CONTACT US

*Due to the Shelter-in-Place Order issued on March 16, 2020, all in-person counseling and form drop-offs have been canceled. Please read the information below carefully to find the best way to contact us.

By Phone

Phone: (510) 238-3721 | Fax: (510) 238-6181

RAP staff members are available from Monday to Thursday, 9:30am to 4:30pm to answer any RAP or housing-related questions you might have. Calls are generally limited to 10 minutes per person.

By Email

Email (for all inquiries): rap@oaklandca.gov.

To contact the Hearings Unit, you can email them at hearingsunit@oaklandca.gov. If you are initiating a new petition or have a case pending and need to submit petition-related documents, you must email the Hearings Unit.

All eviction notices should be scanned and submitted via email to evictionnotices@oaklandca.gov.

By Mail

Address: 250 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Suite 5313

Oakland, CA 94612

Due to the Shelter-in-Place Order, we are no longer accepting in-person petition applications and related materials in our office. All new petitions and petition-related documents can be submitted by mail to the address above.

All documents for Ellis Act cases must be mailed to 250 Frank Ogawa Plaza, Suite 5313, Oakland, CA 94612.

Online Petition Filing

We also offer an online portal where you can submit your petitions and all petition-related forms online. Click here to access the portal.

For a full list of documents, click here to access all tenant forms and here for all property owner forms.

JOIN THE EMAIL LIST

If you would like to receive emails about upcoming events or updates from the Rent Adjustment Program, please sign up! Please use the link below to add your name and email to our list for future updates.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VDB6CLX