Emergency Rental
Assistance Program
Jennifer Mora
Housing Specialist I – Housing Division
Community Development Department
La Trice Taylor
Senior Director of Programs and Services
Samaritan House
July 28, 2025, City Council Regular Meeting
Agenda
• Background
• Emergency Rental Assistance Program
• Samaritan House Presentation
• Staff Recommendation
Background: Housing staff presented on the
implementation of the following policies in
the City’s 2023-2031 Housing Element:
• Policy H 3.4 and Policy H 5.4.1: Expand
tenant protections in local ordinance to
extend measures of AB 1482 related to
relocation, documentation, and right to
return policy in eviction cases.
• Policy H 3.6: Monitor rents, evictions,
and tenant displacement citywide.
April 21, 2025, City
Council Study
Session on Tenant
Protections and
Anti-Displacement
Background: Outreach conducted over a 7-month period
from August 2024 – March 2025:
• Legal service providers (2)
• Community partners (6 focus groups)
• Community workshops (2)
• Local jurisdictions and collaboratives (8)
Examples of frequently-mentioned topics:
• Termination of COVID-19 rental assistance
• Evictions due to non-payment of rent
• Concerns about cost of living
• Support for City rental assistance program
• Rental assistance as anti-displacement tool
April 21, 2025, City
Council Study
Session on Tenant
Protections and
Anti-Displacement
Background: Research:
• Zumper, Census data, CoStar, City’s Business
License Tax Records, etc.
• Eviction study: Mills Legal Clinic – Stanford Law
School: Evictions in San Mateo County 2019-2023
Findings:
• San Mateo is one of the four jurisdictions (Daly
City, East Palo Alto, and Redwood City) with more
than 100 unlawful detainer cases in 2019 and 2023.
• Unlawful detainer: special court proceeding to evict a tenant from a business or residence.
• Most unlawful detainer cases are due to non-
payment of rent
April 21, 2025, City
Council Study
Session on Tenant
Protections and
Anti-Displacement
City Council Direction – April 21, 2025
• Prioritize the establishment of an emergency rental assistance program and amending the City’s Tenant Relocation Ordinance to protect tenants from unsafe living conditions.
• $150,000 for assistance plus administrative costs.
• Extend AB 1482 provisions: relocation assistance for no-fault evictions for tenants with a tenure of less than one year (11 months) and the right-to- return to substantially rehabilitated or demolished units. • Staff to continue analyzing available data sources and return with a proposal how to build on existing City data collection to monitor rental rates and evictions citywide.
• Emphasis on tenant and landlord education on current policies, such as AB 1482
Emergency Rental Assistance Programs
• Staff met with local jurisdictions to learn more about existing emergency rental assistance programs.
• Cities with an existing emergency rental assistance program:
City Funding Source Amount Max per Household People Served Operator South
San Francisco
Housing
Successor Funds
$150,000 $4,5000 33 individuals YMCA
Half Moon Bay General Fund $50,000 $3,000 16 individuals Coastside Hope Daly City Housing
Successor Funds
$50,000 $5,000 10 individuals Daly City
Partnership
Redwood City General Fund $120,000 $5,000 24 individuals Fair Oaks Community Center
Foster City Measure K $35,000 – One
time
$3,000 11 individuals In-House
Brisbane Housing
Successor Funds
$100,000 –
One time
$4,000 25 individuals Samaritan House
*Foster City’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program is only available to residents living in Below market Rate Units Emergency Rental Assistance Programs
• Cities with an existing emergency rental assistance program:
• Sole sourced eligible operators
• Core Service Agencies selected
• Identified potential operator: Samaritan House
• Previously administered the City of San Mateo’s emergency rental assistance program during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Administrated City funds for flood relief during the 2023 storms.
City of San Mateo’s
Emergency Rental
Assistance Program
Eligibility:
• Live in the City of San Mateo
• Gross income 60% or less of County’s
AMI of the Poverty Guidelines
• Not related to landlord
• Have a signed lease agreement or
application to a rental unit
• Utility bill must be under applicant’s
name
Program budget: $168,000
• $150,000 for client assistance
• $18,000 for administration
City of San Mateo’s
Emergency Rental
Assistance Program
Assistance Payments:
• Made directly to landlords/property managers
and/or utility companies:
• Rent
• Security Deposits
• Utilities
Maximum Amount Per Household:
• $4,000 per household, per fiscal year
• 37 households proposed
Program Administration
• Pilot Year: One-year agreement with Samaritan House.
• Program guidelines developed for program administration. • Samaritan House to submit on a quarterly basis:
• Expense summary for reimbursement
• Supporting documentation for expenses required
• Progress report
Housing Element and Transit-Oriented Communities
• Program supports the City’s Housing Element Goal H-3: Protection of Current Residents to Prevent Displacement.
• Also supports Policy H 3.1: Prevent Homelessness
• Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s (MTC) Transit-Oriented Communities (TOC) Policy:
• In compliance with the TOC’s Affordable Housing Protection Policy #5: Rental Assistance Program.
• Increases eligibility for the One Bay Area Grant (OBAG) for Year 4.
Program Administration – Budget
• Proposed budget for 2025-2025 of $168,000 using Housing Successor Funds, also known as Low and Moderate Income Asset Fund (Fund 255):
• Also funding $190,000 out of Fund 255 for the City’s Homeless Outreach Team.
• Two concurring programs focusing on homelessness in the City of San Mateo.
Line Item Amount
Personnel $18,000
Client Assistance $150,000
TOTAL: $168,000
Samaritan
House
Fighting Poverty, Lifting Lives
Copyright Samaritan House 2024
Staff Recommendation
• Establish an Emergency Rental Assistance Program.
• Appropriate $168,000 from the Low and Moderate Income Asset Fund for 2025-2026.
• Approve an agreement with Samaritan House to administer the program.
• Authorize the City Manager to execute the agreement in the substantially the form presented.
Thank You
Jennifer Mora
Housing Specialist I,
Housing Division, Community Development Department
[email protected]
Key Themes of San Mateo Rental Market
Unit Type San Mateo
Average
Rent
Income
needed
Area Median
Income
Low Income
(up to 80%
AMI)
Studio $2,352 $94,080 $130,600 $109,700
1 bedroom $2,706 $108,240 $149,300 $125,350
2 bedrooms $3,609 $144,360 $167,950 $141,000
3 bedrooms $4,948 $197,920 $186,000 $156,650
4 bedrooms $9,993 $399,720 $201,550 $169,200
Source: Zumper, Q2 2025 and CA Department of Housing and Community Development. Occupancy assumption is number of bedrooms plus one.
• Gap between incomes and rents is a known driver of displacement • Renters constitute ~ 50%* of San Mateo residents, and ~ 49%* of renters are in lower-income category (50% AMI - 80% AMI)
• Rents in older (and often smaller) buildings significantly lower than “market” • Ownership type varies significantly across housing type (individual vs. entity) • Exact number of units not known:
• 1,110 rental properties (excl.
single-family homes) on CoStar
vs. 1,028 registered rental
properties in City records
• Significant older/smaller housing
stock
*2023 5-yr American Community Survey/HUD Comp. Housing Afford. Survey 2019 Evictions Data – Overall Trends
• Providers reported increase in caseloads after COVID-19 pandemic • Termination of rental assistance and eviction moratoria contributing factors • AB 1482 associated with decrease in “no-cause” eviction rates • Non-payment of rent is the main cause for evictions
• Rents and areamedian income (AMI) are increasing, but many lower-income tenants’ incomes static
• Does not cover “soft” or “functional” evictions. Full extent of displacement is unknown.
• Data from legal aid providers is only a portion of the total number of eviction cases in San Mateo County.
Mills Legal Clinic – Stanford Law School: Evictions
in San Mateo County 2019/2023
• Analysis to identify underlying basis for unlawful detainers in San Mateo County by reviewing eviction cases in San Mateo County through a court order • Compared cases from 2019 and 2023 (pre- and post- COVID-19) Findings:
• San Mateo had 141 unlawful detainer filings in 2019 and 2023 combined • One of the four jurisdictions (Daly City, East Palo Alto, and Redwood City) with more than 100 unlawful detainer cases
• Most unlawful detainer cases are due to non-payment of rent • AB 1482 has shown apparent success in reducing “no-cause” evictions • Disparity between tenant and landlord representation
Public Feedback:
• Concern about displacement
• Concerns about the cost of living and
overcrowding
• Support for more protections against unsafe
living conditions, such as mold or pests
• Support for improved tenant and landlord
education
• Support for City rental assistance program
• Support for, and opposition to, a rental
registry
• Concerns about risk to mom-and-pop
landlords from expanded tenant protections
beyond AB 1482
Community Workshop #1
Hosted by Community
Relations Commission
November 20, 2024
Public Feedback:
• Support for anti-harassment and rental registry policies • Insurance and maintenance expenses on rental
properties are increasing
• Consistency of relocation assistance amount across City Code provisions
• Fairness of relocation assistance amount in substantial rehab scenario
• Limiting no-fault evictions during the school year
• Support for more education on current policies and
resources
• Additional restrictions/policies on landlords can add administrative burden
• Support for just-cause protections, regardless of tenure • Support for rent registries to support policymaking
Community Workshop #2
Hosted by Community
Relations Commission
January 15, 2025
Focus Group Meetings
• Focus groups in December 2024 and January 2025 with tenant/property owner groups, nonprofit service providers, developers, and general public. Feedback included:
• Rent increases as driver of displacement
• Outreach and education on existing laws, especially AB 1482 • Impact of escalating external costs on rents (e.g., utilities) • Relationship between tenant protections and new housing production/maintenance of existing units
• “Functional evictions” (lack of reasonable accommodations, substantial rehab, etc.) • Relocation assistance and right to return after substantial rehab (incl. amount of assistance; rent upon return to unit; means-testing of recipient household) • Rent registries
• Language barriers in outreach and policy-making
• Negative effects of eviction, especially on school-age children • Rental assistance and mediation as anti-displacement tools