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Home My WebLink About2021-02-25; County Administered Emergency Rental Assistance Program (District - All); Barberio, GaryTo the members of the: CITY COUN5R DateZ-25-21 CA_CC ✓ CM ✓ACM ✓ DCM (3) ✓ Feb.25,2021 Council Memorandum To: Honorable Mayor Hall and Members of the City Council {city of Carlsbad Memo ID #2021052 From: Gary Barberio, Deputy City Manager, Community Services Branch Jeff Murphy, Community Development Director Via: Re: David de Cordova, Housing Services Man~ ' Geoff Patnoe, Assistant City Manager ~ County Administered Emergency Rental Assistance Program (Districts -All) This memorandum provides information about the $101.5 million County of San Diego Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP). Please note that this is a county administered program, and there is no reserved amount specifically for Carlsbad residents. Eligible residents are being encouraged to file an application with the County of San Diego. Background Through the COVID-19 relief bill signed into law Dec. 27, 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, though passage of H.R. 133 Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, made $25 billion in rental assistance funds available to states, U.S. territories, and local governments with more than 200,000 residents and for households economically impacted by COVID-19. The County of San Diego's portion of these funds is $49 million. Relatedly, SB91 passed by the state legislature on Jan. 28, 2021, replaces the expired CA Relief Act and extends the key tenant and property owner protections provided by AB3088 through June 30, 2021, due to COVID-19 related financial distress. SB91 provides new protections for tenants impacted by COVID-19, including debt treatment and civil procedures, and appropriates $1.5 billion for the State Rental Assistance Program. The State Department of Business Consumer Services and Housing Agency (BCSH) has awarded the County of San Diego approximately $52.5 million of that amount for rent relief. Discussion The County Board of Supervisors approved a plan on Feb. 9, 2021, for how the County of San Diego will distribute these emergency rental assistance funds. Approximately $101.5 million (less administrative costs) will be available to eligible residents in the unincorporated areas of the county as well as all cities except San Diego and Chula Vista, which are receiving their own funds directly. The County of San Diego announced on Feb. 23, 2021, that it would begin accepting applications for emergency rental assistance beginning March 2, 2021, and will remain open through March 16, 2021. Community Services Branch Community Development Department 1635 Faraday Avenue I Carlsbad, CA 92008-7314 I 760-573-3927 t Council Memo -County Administered Emergency Rental Assistance Program (Districts -All) Feb.25,2021 Page 2 A summary of program eligibility and benefits are provided below. Additional information is available on the County of San Diego's website at: www.SDHCD.org. Eligibility Criteria • Household income must fall at or below 80% AMl1 • Household must have an obligation to pay rent • Household must have qualified for unemployment benefits or experienced a financial hardship directly or indirectly related to CQVID-19. • Household is at risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability. • Household must not receive any other forms of rental subsidy, such as Section 8 or other rental assistance programs, rapid rehousing assistance, or rental assistance from non-profit agencies. • Only one application per residence will be permitted. Application Selection The County of San Diego will prioritize applications according to the following: • Primary prioritizations: o Household income at or below 50% Area Median Income (AMI) o One or more household members are unemployed as of the date of the application for assistance and have not been employed for the 90-day period before such date (household income must not be above 80% AMI) • Secondary prioritizations: o Single-parent households o Health Equity (using the lowest two quartiles of the Healthy Places Index or HPI to prioritize), residents who live in areas that have less access to healthy opportunities2 ERAP Benefits • The ERAP will provide payment assistance for renters behind on rent and utilities. Financial assistance for arrears can be from April 2020 to March 2021, up to twelve months. • Landlord participation o If the landlord accepts participation in the ERAP, the County of San Diego will compensate 80% of an eligible household's rental arrears accumulated from 1 Adjusted for household size: 1-person: $64,700; 2-person: 73,950; 3-person: $83,200; 4-person: 92,400; 5-person: 99,800; 6- person: 107,200; 7-person: 114,600; 8-person: $122,000 2 NOTE: The county's announcement does not specify the source of the Healthy Places Index, but presumably it is a reference to The California Healthy Places Index published by the Public Health Alliance of Southern California (https://healthyplac:esindex.org/). The online HPI map indicates that most of Carlsbad scores in the two highest quartiles, with the exception of a portion of northwest Carlsbad bounded between the Buena Vista and Agua Hedionda Lagoons, the railroad tracks and 1-5 freeway, which appears to be in the second lowest HPI quartile. Council Memo -County Administered Emergency Rental Assistance Program (Districts -All) Feb.25,2021 Page 3 Outreach · April 2020 to March 2021. The landlord must agree to accept the 80% payment as payment in full of the rental debt owed by the tenant, which means the landlord forgives the remaining debt. The rental arrears will be paid directly to the landlord. o The landlord does not have to participate in the ERAP. If the landlord declines participation in the ERAP, the County of San Diego can compensate 25% of the eligible household's monthly rental arrears accumulated from April 2020 to March 2021. In this situation, payment of rental arrears can be paid directly to the tenant. The County of San Diego's outreach strategy includes outreach to apartment associations, the Regional Task Force for the Homeless, non-profit organizations, and school districts. Marketing will include social media, TV, radio, websites, FAQ, and fliers for use by cities and other local partners. Fliers will be available in multiple languages. The city's Housing Services Division staff within the Community Development Department are working with the city's communications team to help disseminate information about the county's ERAP to Carlsbad residents. Communications staff will include information in this week's citywide e-newsletter that distributes on Friday afternoon, post the county-prnvided FAQ and flier on the city's COVID-19 information webpage, and share via the city's social media channels. Additionally, Housing Services Division staff will post information to the Housing web page, email to apartment owners and managers, and local nonprofit services providers. Additionally, staff will contact individuals who have previously inquired about COVID-19 related emergency rental assistance. Relationship to the Carlsbad Emergency Rental Assistance Program As the County of San Diego rolls out its ERAP for which Carlsbad residents are eligible to apply, the city will continue to administer its emergency rental assistance program through our primary service providers: Community Resource Center and Interfaith Community Services. The · City Council has allocated a total of $997,130 of CDBG-CV (CARES Act) funds to provide one- time grants of up to $4,500 to cover past due and future rent payments for eligible households financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Status of the Carlsbad ERAP to date: • Total applications: 226 • Approved: 53 • Denied: 80 • Pending: 93 • Total dollars approved so far: $240,000 County of San Diego staff have stated that residents who have received assistance from previous county or city emergency rental assistance programs may also apply to the county's Council Memo -County Administered Emergency Rental Assistance Program (Districts -All) Feb. 25,2021 Page 4 current program. However, the County of San Diego and city staff will need to coordinate efforts to avoid duplication of benefits (e.g., providing assistance for the same time periods). Those coordination efforts are underway. Next Steps Housing Services Division staff will continue to coordinate with County of San Diego staff on both programs with the goal of assisting as many Carlsbad residents as possible. cc: Scott Chadwick, City Manager Celia Brewer, City Attorney Babaq Taj, Engineering Manger David Graham, Chief Innovation Officer Faviola Medina, City Clerk Services Manager Gary Barberio, Deputy City Manager, Community Services James Wood, Environmental Manager Jason Haber, Intergovernmental Affairs Director John Maashoff, Public Works Manager Judy Von Kalinowski, Human Resource·s Director Kristina Ray, Communication & Engagement Director Kyle Lancaster, Parks & Recreation Director Laura Rocha, Deputy City Manager, Administrative Services Maria Callander, Information Technology Director Michael Calderwood, Fire Chief Morgen Fry, Executive Assistant to the City Manager Neil Gallucci, Police Chief Paz Gomez, Deputy City Manager, Public Works Ryan Green, Finance Director Sheila Cobian, Assistant to the City Manager Suzanne Smithson, Library & Cultural Arts Director Tom Frank, Transportation Director Vicki Quiram, Utilities Director Ron Kemp, Assistant City Attorney Don Neu, City Planner Eric Lardy, Principal Planner Scott Donnell, Senior Planner