With $43m Unspent, San Francisco Pauses Accepting New Applications to Local Rent Relief Program

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco has set aside significant local funding – more than any other city in California, including $42 million from Prop I – to make sure renters impacted by COVID are not evicted from their homes. Two weeks ago, however, the city decided to pause accepting new applications in order to catch up on a 4,000 application backlog, with $44 million in funds that remain unspent.

Preston held a hearing at the Government Audit and Oversight Committee today to get clarity on how and why the decision was made to pause accepting new applications, as well as how the city will continue to make sure impacted tenants are getting the help they need to stay in their homes.

“We recognized early in the pandemic the need to protect tenants impacted by COVID,” Preston said. “I’m proud that we have directed tens of millions to our local rent relief program, but we need to make sure these funds reach vulnerable tenants.”

San Francisco was among the first cities to study the impact of the pandemic on rent debt with an October 2020 BLA report, which laid the groundwork for the Board of Supervisors to allocate $42 million of Prop I funds in 2021 for rent relief. The Board continued to approve funds for this purpose, and the full amount to date, both dispersed and available, is $76.5 million. To date, the local program has served approximately 4,900 households for a total of $33.5 million, according to the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD).

In a September 21 email, MOHCD staff informed the Board of Supervisors that the program would be paused at close of business on September 23. The stated goal would be to “process the 4,000+ application backlog and ensure that eligible applicants receive financial assistance as soon as possible.”

“We need to get this program running again as soon as possible,” said Preston. “Thousands are relying on this assistance and need timely access to the funds. Let’s continue our commitment as a City to making sure that our pandemic health crisis doesn’t become an eviction or rent debt crisis.”

At the hearing today, MOHCD Director Eric Shaw was unable to commit to a timeline on when the program would renew accepting rent relief applications. During the pause, tenants will continue to have access to free legal counsel through the renter Right to Counsel program, thanks to a 2018 ballot measure authored by Supervisor Preston. In addition, Preston passed a law that prohibits pandemic-related eviction for rent debt incurred on or after July 1, 2022, although rent debt prior to July 1 can still subject a tenant to eviction.

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