*Support may end on March 31st
With the pandemic on its back, many tenants are unable to pay their rent arrears and fear eviction, while landlords face foreclosures due to the loss of capital to pay their mortgages.
However, there is still time and options to get help.
Housing advisors offered recommendations during a press conference held by Ethnic Media Services, California Black Media and the California Housing Finance Agency (CHFA), where they outlined various ways the state is trying to keep Californians in their homes despite the economic challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The situation does not look good, since according to Eric Johnson of the Communications and Marketing Division of the California Housing Finance Agency, as of January of this year, 721 thousand families owed more than 3.3 billion dollars in back rent.
Additionally, more than half of the many people in California considered “severely rent-burdened” — who pay more than half of their monthly income on rent — do not speak English as a first language, Johnson added.
Thus, 36 percent speak Spanish at home, 4 percent speak Mandarin, and 12 percent speak another language.
"So most people who need help don't get messages about free official assistance. That's horrible," he said.
After nearly two years of living devastated by COVID-19, the state program "Housing is Key" for tenants and owners will stop accepting applications on March 31.
In that regard, he noted that the National Mortgage Settlement, which is a housing counseling program, and the state of California have $73.5 million to help people with free counseling through 76 state agencies that employ 217 housing counselors.
"These housing counseling agencies were approved by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)," however, he warned that there are those who are committing fraud by charging for the counseling services, so he called on people to be alert and only go to those who provide support for free.
"If someone asks you for money to help, run as fast as you can, because those people are not going to help you, you should seek free counseling," he stressed.
The program can only be accessed digitally, through the web address housing.ca.gov. However, there are counselors available to help with applications and provide status updates at (833) 430-2122, and as long as you started your online application before March 31, you will be eligible.
"Counseling can be done in person, over the phone or remotely with your camera," he said.
He stressed that, to date, nearly 23 thousand families have benefited from the program, allowing them to have a roof over their heads.
“We have the money and the capacity to help many more,” she said. But some protections are about to expire, such as the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, whose services could be interrupted on March 31 if an agreement is not reached to extend the deadline, so it is critical that people can receive assistance and have access to a counselor as quickly as possible.
"If they apply before that date, they will be in the system," he recalled.
“Counselors can help you with the application for that program so that you can have some relief.” The aid applies to those who have been affected since March 2020, when the pandemic began.
The aid is not limited to tenants: it is extended to all those owners who are also going through a difficult time, since by not receiving the rents that helped pay their mortgages, they are on the verge of losing their homes.
Thus, Linda Jackson, director of the Inland Empire Resource Center (IERC), recalled that there is the California Mortgage Relief Program, a subsidy for homeowners who are behind on their mortgage by up to $80,000 and who have not been able to pay due to the pandemic.
"The eligibility requirements for mortgage relief are two months of back rent," he said.
For those struggling to keep up with mortgage payments, there is the California Mortgage Relief program. The site includes information in languages from African and Albanian to Yoruba and Zulu, more than 100 in all, and can also be reached by phone at (888) 840-2594.
If you are afraid of losing your property or being evicted, it is important to contact a counseling agency for help.
"I don't want them to be afraid of losing their home, or to stay up all night, not knowing what to do, because we have more money now to help them."
Lacking resources, landlords are left unwilling or unable to make improvements or repairs to their tenants' homes, leading to more precarious housing, said Maeve Elise Brown, director of Housing & Economic Rights Advocates (HERA), who said landlords are legally obliged to do so.
“We are in a chaotic period, and our Emergency Rental Assistance Program is not working as we would have hoped, but at least it is there,” she said.
A constant focus for HERA, she said, is disability rights, such as landlords' failures to provide reasonable accommodations, such as better access to parking or laundry facilities.
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