Housing Resources for Tenants and Property Owners

The Federal government appropriated $25 billion for emergency rental assistance in the December 2020 COVID-19 relief package called the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP). Jurisdictions with populations above 200,000 received money directly from the Treasury Department from this appropriation.

• Oakland received a direct allocation of $12.8 million
• California received $2.4 billion
• The State will dedicate $13.8m of its $2.4 billion for Oakland

The $12.8m direct allocation will be deployed through Keep Oakland Housed (KOH). This program is tenant-focused, prioritizing housing stability and homelessness prevention and targeting the most vulnerable Oakland residents.

The Keep Oakland Housed ERAP launched April 1, 2021 and will go to March 31st, 2022 or until funding has been exhausted.

Keep Oakland Housed application materials will be posted on this webpage once available.

Program Overview  

The KOH provider agencies are:

• Bay Area Community Services (BACS)
• Catholic Charities East Bay
• Centro Legal de la Raza
• Eviction Defense Center
• Additional partners may be added this Spring

The State of California received $2.4 billion in funding for emergency rental assistance from the December 2020 COVID-19 relief package. The state will be operating a Rental Assistance Program with these funds pursuant to SB 91, the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act, adopted in January 2021. The state will dedicate $13.8m of this $2.4 billion for use in Oakland.

The $13.8m in State allocation will be administered by the State pursuant to SB 91, through its program implementers:  Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and Horne LLP. This program is focused on property owner rental debt for 5 or more unit property holders and tenants at or above 50% AMI.

State SB 91 Rental Assistance Program materials can be found here: https://landlordtenant.dre.ca.gov/covid_rr/index.html

In the Fall of 2020, the Keep Oakland Housed program deployed $4,315,000 in CARES Act funding to assist low-income renters and homeowners impacted by COVID-19 and most at risk of homelessness and displacement. These funds have been expended.

Keep Oakland Housed CARES Act funded program accomplishments can be found here: Keep Oakland Housed CARES Act outcomes page.

Two anti-displacement programs are currently available to low-income Oakland tenants, as well as low-income homeowners:

Oakland Housing Secure

* Tenants, please contact Centro Legal de la Raza at:

https://www.centrolegal.org/achousingsecure/

Centro Legal de la Raza - 510.422.5669

* Owners, please contact Housing and Economic Rights Advocates (HERA) at:

www.heraca.org

510.271.8443 x300

Keep Oakland Housed

* (Tenants only)

https://www.keepoaklandhoused.org/howtogethelp

Bay Area Community Services (BACS) - 510.899.9289

Catholic Charities East Bay - 510.768.3100

* 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...

Oakland Tenants Union (OTU)

Phone: (510) 704-5276

Website: http://www.oaklandtenantsunion...

* 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/

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.