It all started with a Zillow ad. Meilin Liu posted two rooms for rent in a duplex she owns near downtown Oakland.
And she waited. She expected the rooms to be rented in a matter of days.
“Usually it's one move out, one move in. But this is the first time, after I managed for 20 something years ... I have to sit on the market for months,” she said.
Liu said before the pandemic her inbox would be flooded with requests from people eager to move in.
But now, with the economic fallout from the pandemic, the rental market is changing. Layoffs and remote work have led many workers to flee the Bay Area. In response, prices are plummeting — median rent on a two bedroom apartment is down 13% in Oakland and 24% in San Francisco since March, according to Apartment List.
That’s opened up an opportunity to get more landlords like Meilin Liu to rent to people who have been homeless — something they have been reluctant to do in the past. Bay Area homeless service providers see private landlords as a vital part of their effort to find permanent housing for people who have been staying in Project Roomkey hotels during the pandemic.
As Liu’s rooms sat vacant, her Zillow ad caught the attention of a woman named Jasmine Yohai. She is a housing locator for nonprofit Bay Area Community Services, and she spends most of her time finding places to live for her clients who are coming out of homelessness.
Yohai was hoping to convince Liu to rent to some of her clients, so she gave her a call.
“I immediately told her that I was not interested but she wouldn’t let me go. I almost hung up,” Liu said.
Liu’s resistance is not unusual. Landlords want stability in their tenants. They often turn down people who have bad credit, low income or a prior eviction on their record — all common for people who have been homeless.
“I just would like it to be simple. I don't want too much trouble,” Liu added.
But something that Yohai said made her change her mind, about renting to someone who had been homeless.
“She said that they are trying very hard to start a new life,” Liu recalled. “They just need someone to give them a chance. And I said usually I won’t, but because of you, I'm willing to give it a try.”
Yohai knows from experience that her call can make a difference.
“Building that relationship with landlords is really the important piece to our success in being able to house our clients,” said Yohai.
Liu agreed to rent the rooms to two of Yohai’s clients. Since then, she’s increased her commitment, agreeing to rent a five-bedroom house in Oakland to more people who have recently been homeless. Each person placed will pay their rent with the help of a rental subsidy, which means Liu gets a guaranteed monthly payment.
“She's a business woman, but at the same time she has a huge heart and cares,” Yohai said. “Meilin was able to understand that people change and ... she believes in [second chances], with the proper support."
From Hotels to Apartments
The need to find additional housing is urgent in the Bay Area.
Since the pandemic began, thousands of homeless seniors and medically vulnerable people have been placed in Project Roomkey hotels to help protect them from the virus. But that was always meant to be a temporary solution. Now, Bay Area officials and service providers are scrambling to transition people to more permanent housing so they don’t end up back on the streets or in a shelter.
But there’s a shortage of affordable housing options, so recruiting more landlords like Liu is a top priority.
Alameda County maintains a database of landlords who have available units and has added 65 names to the list since September.
The county coordinates with nonprofit agencies, who help match clients staying in Project Roomkey hotels with a new place to live. The agencies include Bay Area Community Services, where Jasmine Yohai works, and Abode Services, a homeless service provider that operates in six Bay Area counties.
