Agenda

Return

D.3

To:	Board of Supervisors
From:	Monica Nino, County Administrator
Date:	July 12, 2022

Contra

Costa

County

Subject:

EMERGENCY RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM UPDATE

APPROVE	OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR	RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE

Action of Board On: 07/12/2022

APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED

OTHER

Clerks Notes:

VOTE OF SUPERVISORS

Contact:

Timothy Ewell, (925) 655-2043

I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: July 12, 2022
Monica Nino, County Administrator

BY:	, Deputy

RECOMMENDATION(S):

ACCEPT a report on the Emergency Rental Assistance Program and status of program infrastructure to support legal, housing stability, and mediation services for tenants and landlords in Contra Costa County.

FISCAL IMPACT:

No fiscal impact. This report is informational only.

BACKGROUND:

Emergency Rental Assistance Program History

BACKGROUND: (CONT'D)

The Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) makes funding available to assist households that are unable to pay rent or utilities. Two separate programs have been funded by the federal government to support this endeavor: ERAP 1 provides up to $25 billion under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, which was enacted on December 27, 2020; and ERAP 2 provides up to $21.55 billion under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which was enacted on March 11, 2021. The funds are provided directly to states, U.S. territories, local governments, and (in the case of ERAP 1) tribes. Grantees use the funds to provide assistance to eligible households through existing or newly created rental assistance programs.

In Contra Costa County, the combined share of ERAP 1 and ERAP 2 allocations is $147,427,324 ($75,822,312 from ERAP 1 and $71,605,012 from ERAP 2). Note that both figures include a state allocation to the County in addition to the federal direct allocation. ERAP 1 funds must be spent by September 30, 2022 and ERAP 2 funding must be spent by September 30, 2025.

Contra Costa Joins State ERAP Program – “Housing is Key”
On February 9, 2021, the Board of Supervisors selected ‘Option A’ pursuant to Senate Bill 91 (Chapter 2, Statutes of 2021), allowing the State to implement the ERAP on behalf of the County for the benefit of County residents. The County was one of several large counties (i.e. those with populations over 200,000), including Butte, Los Angeles, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo, Tulare, Ventura, and Yolo that opted into Option A along with all small counties (i.e. those with populations under 200,000). Subsequently, the County Administrator filed an Expression of Interest Form with the California Department of Housing and Community Development and, ultimately, executed an agreement with the State to operate the program on March 18, 2021. Authority was granted to the County Administrator to take these actions on March 2, 2021 as part of Resolution No. 2021/78.

On September 21, 2021, the Board selected to again opt-in to participate in the statewide rental assistance program for the ERAP 2 allocation and subsequently transferred the County ERAP 2 federal direct allocation back to the U.S. Treasury for reallocation to the State for the benefit of County residents on September 27, 2021. In addition, staff provided an update to the Board and members of the public on eviction protections that took effect beginning on October 1, 2021 through March 31, 2022, pursuant to AB 832. Much of the protections in place during this time period required active action by a tenant to maintain tenancy, including application to the ERAP program for benefits. As part of this discussion, the Board directed staff to return in October 2021 with options for funding additional tenant/landlord services using local ERAP funds.

Statewide “Housing is Key” Program Launches on March 15, 2021

On March 15, 2021, the statewide program opened to the public, including a multilingual website (housingiskey.com) and toll-free hotline. The State contracted with the Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC) to assist with outreach for the program. The State's partnership with LISC included contracts with "Local Partner Network Organizations" (primarily local community-based organizations), to provide assistance to residents seeking rental and utility payment relief.

Contra Costa Authorizes Supplemental Outreach/Legal Assistance Services

In addition to the resources funded by the statewide program for the benefit of local residents, including in Contra Costa County, the Board of Supervisors has funded supplemental programming services to further assist residents facing housing insecurity. Over the course of the ERAP program, the Board has funded $4.8 million to legal assistance, housing stability, outreach, mediation and additional rental assistance programs for the benefit of residents in the County. These programs, outlined below, were funded from a range of sources including the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Older Americans Act (OAA), the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) and the Dispute Resolution Programs Act of 1986 (DRPA).

Note that the table above includes all programs funded, some of which have concluded and some of which remain ongoing as denoted in the “End Date” column. A table with active programs with contact information is included later in this report.

Conclusion of the “Housing is Key” Program on March 31, 2022

On March 31, 2022, the Housing is Key program concluded and ceased to accept new applications from residents. This was following significant demand for rental relief statewide resulting in the full obligation of federal ERAP funds and after the State had pursued more funding from the U.S. Treasury for California residents. The State was successful in receiving an additional $200 million from the U.S. Treasury, but more funding would be necessary to fund all eligible requests for relief.

In recognition of the demand for rental relief exceeding federal ERAP funding allocations, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed Senate Bill 115 (Skinner), which provided a backstop of State General Fund resources to ensure payment of benefits to qualified households. Senate Bill 115 also put in place the process to close down the ERAP program by designating March 31, 2022 as the final date for residents to apply for relief. Subsequently, Assembly Bill 2179 (Grayson) provided for eviction protections to those who had filed for rent relief by March 31^st to be extended for an additional three months, through June 30, 2022. No protections for rental debt incurred from April 1, 2022 forward were put in place at that time.

Contra Costa County ERAP Performance

As of July 5, 2022, 16,151 Contra Costa households have received $199,809,752 in rental and utility relief assistance since March 2021. It is important to note that this reflects approximately $53 million more than the County’s initial federal ERAP allocations, due in large part to the State’s advocacy for reallocation of additional federal ERAP revenue and the passage of Senate Bill 115 (Skinner). The average benefit per household is $12,371. Currently, the State is completing review of approximately 400 remaining Contra Costa applications.

Current Tenant/Landlord Resources

In anticipation of the final state eviction moratorium and ERAP program concluding, the Board has funded legal assistance, housing stability, outreach, mediation and additional rental assistance programs at least through December 31, 2022.

In addition, during the May 2022 budget adoption, the Board directed staff to return to the Finance Committee to discuss future funding sources for the continued provision of tenant/landlord services, including legal assistance and housing counseling. That report is scheduled for October 2022, in advance of the December 31, 2022 end date for many of the programs identified above.

CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:

The report will not be formally accepted by the Board.

CLERK'S ADDENDUM

Speakers: Robin Lepay, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE); Judith Ortiz, Executive Director, Monument Impact; Oscar reads letter from Adolfo Ruiz; Reverend Millie Phillips;Donna on behalf of Alejandra Plaza; Alex Worth, East Bay Housing Organizations (ECHO); Wilma Navarette; Raul Vasquez, ACCE; Edith, ACCE; Devon Williams, ACCE; Guadalupe Tolento, Concord; Gigi Crowder; Adam Poe, Bay Legal Aid; Patricia Aguilar, ACCE; Kristi. Written commentary received from: Cubanelsa; Adolfo Ruiz, Concord;

ACCEPTED the report and DIRECTED the County Administrators Office to work with stakeholders, which includes landlords, housing advocates and existing relationships that we have with community organizations, and identify if there is a need for immediate further support in court legal representation and what scale and what period of time, to return to the Board on August 16, 2022.