More than half a million people have applied to the state’s emergency rent relief program — called Housing Is Key — since it launched in March 2021. But fewer than half of those applicants have received payments, according to the state’s dashboard.
Meanwhile, more than a third of applicants have reported receiving an eviction notice or some other active threat of eviction at the time they applied for the funds, according to the National Equity Atlas.
“My birthday’s [next week],” Davis said. “Chances are I would have been homeless on my birthday. And, you know, that’s not right. And not just me, but thousands of others.”
The state received more than $5 billion from the federal government to assist renters who fell behind on payments due to the pandemic. Some of that money has gone to cities that set up their own rent relief options, such as Sacramento’s SERA2 program. The state’s dashboard does not show how many people have received assistance that way.
“It would be cruel” if protections expired March 31, said Assemblymember Tim Grayson, D-Concord, who co-authored the extension bill. “It would be wasteful and unfair to subject Californians to eviction or the loss of rental income now, when they have done everything that they have been asked and also the distribution of their emergency rental assistance is imminent.”
Housing Is Key has been mired with problems from the start. Tenants and landlords have complained about the lengthy and confusing application, technological barriers, and a general lack of outreach to let people know about the program, among a slew of other issues. The application also has not been translated into enough languages to sufficiently accommodate the state’s diverse population, some advocates say, making it difficult for some non-English speakers to apply.
The state took action last year to remedy some of those issues, but applicants were still reporting problems as late as February. An analysis of the program by the research group PolicyLink found that non-English speakers are still underrepresented among those who have applied.
But one of the biggest barriers — and complaints — has been the time it takes to get paid. Jim Siegel, 66, has nine rental properties in San Francisco and Sonoma counties. He applied for rent relief on behalf of six of his tenants in April 2021, but said he is still waiting on payouts for two of them.
Together, the outstanding balance totals around $150,000, he said.
“This wiped out my bank accounts,” Siegel said. “I have no money in the bank. I cannot retire. I’m going to have to continue to work.”
Many tenants say they are just now returning to work, and insist the ongoing protections are crucial. Concord resident Carlos Gama, 62, a banquet waiter at a hotel in San Francisco, said he only got called to resume work in April, and expects it will take time for him to regain his normal salary.
“We just need a little more time until everything gets back to normal,” he said in Spanish.
