*Support could end March 31
With the pandemic on their backs, many tenants are unable to pay their rent arrears and fear evictions, while homeowners face foreclosures due to the loss of equity 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 in which 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, as according to Eric Johnson of the California Housing Finance Agency's Communications and Marketing Division, as of January of this year, 721,000 families owed more than $3.3 billion in back rent.
In addition, more than half of the many people in California who are considered "severely rent-burdened," and who pay more than half of their monthly income on housing 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.
"Then, most people who need help don't receive messages about free official assistance. That's horrible," he said.
After nearly two years of living with COVID-19, the state's Housing is Key program for renters and landlords will stop taking 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 employing 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 counseling, so he called to be alert and only go to those who perform the 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 housing.ca.gov. However, counselors are available for applications and status updates at (833) 430-2122, and as long as you have started your application online by March 31, you will be eligible.
"Counseling can be done in person, over the phone or remotely with your camera," he pointed out.
He highlighted that, to date, close to 23,000 families have benefited from the program, enabling them to have a roof over their heads.
"We have the money and the capacity to help many more," he said. But some protections are about to expire, such is the case of the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, whose services could be discontinued on March 31 if an agreement is not reached to extend the deadline, so it is critical that people are able to receive assistance and access a counselor as quickly as possible.
"If they apply before that date, they will be in the system," he reminded.
"Counselors can help you with the application for that program so you can get some relief." The relief 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 homeowners who are also going through a hard time, as they are not receiving the rents that helped pay their mortgages and 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 up to $80,000 behind on their mortgage and have been unable to pay because of the pandemic.
"The eligibility requirements to obtain mortgage relief, are two months of back rent," he noted.
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.
When faced with the fear 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 staying up all night, not knowing what to do, because we have more money now to help them."
Given the lack of resources, landlords find themselves in the situation of not wanting or being able to make improvements or repairs to their tenants' homes, which leads to more precariousness, said Maeve Elise Brown, director of Housing & Economic Rights Advocates (HERA), who said that landlords are required by law 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," he said.
A constant focus for HERA, he pointed out, is disability rights, such as the failure of landlords to provide reasonable accommodations, such as better access to parking or laundry facilities.
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