Homelessness & Housing Development
Housing & Community Development
FY 2023-25 PROPOSED POLICY BUDGET
SERVICES
External Services
Affordable Housing Loan Servicing
Underwrites, reviews, and administers loans for proposed affordable housing developments for Oakland residents.
Affordable Housing Monitoring and Policymaking
Monitors existing affordable housing properties with City affordability restrictions and property conditions. Assists with tracking of affordable housing production and preservation, and provide technical expertise for program and policy planning initiatives.
Loan Servicing
Underwrites, reviews, and administers loan applications for the purpose of repayment and subordination requests, including commercial, residential and rehabilitation grants and loans.
First-time Homebuyer Loan Program
Provides loan funding to first-time homebuyer Oakland residents and workers and creates homebuyer education activities.
Housing Resource Center
Supports via phone calls Oakland residents seeking housing assistance and information.
Code Compliance & Relocation Program
Reviews applications on tenant eligibility for relocation benefits in accordance with O.M.C. 15.60 and determines if City payment is appropriate. Assists tenants and property owners in understanding their rights and responsibilities under the law.
Fair Chance Access to Housing
Prepares informative materials that provide information and guidance on Fair Chance Access to Housing. Manages contract with East Bay Community Law Center to provide legal assistance to tenants. Coordinates with Just Cities which performs community outreach to vulnerable communities.
Oakland Housing Secure
Provides legal and direct financial support via HERA and Centro (nonprofit legal service providers) to Oakland tenants and homeowners at risk of displacement.
Keep Oakland Housed
Provides emergency rental and homeowner assistance to residents facing loss of their housing related to COVID-19 impacts via contracts with HERA, Centro, Catholic Charities East Bay, and BACS.
Rent Adjustment Program (RAP): Housing Counseling and Hearings
Provides holistic counseling to tenants and property owners regarding RAP laws, including just cause for eviction and eviction moratorium. Reviews petitions, hears cases, renders decisions, reviews appeals, coordinates appeal hearings before Rent Board.
Rent Adjustment Program (RAP): Community Engagement and Public Education
Prepares materials that provide information and guidance on rent and eviction laws at local, state and federal levels to educate public about their rights and responsibilities under these laws. Engages in extensive public outreach to disseminate this information.
Lead-Safe Paint and Access Improvement Grant Programs
The Lead Safe Housing Paint Program provides grants from $15,000 to $24,000 for exterior painting and lead hazard remediation. The Access Improvement Program provides grants from $15,000 to $24,000 for accessibility improvements to both rental property and property owned and occupied by disabled persons.
Grants for Earthquake Seismic Retrofitting of Apartment Buildings
The Safer Housing for Oakland Program (SHOP) offers grants to reimburse owners for a portion of the costs to seismically retrofit a multi-unit apartment building with a “soft-story” condition. The Earthquake-Safe Homes Program offers grants to owner-occupants of 1-4 unit properties for partial reimbursement of the cost of a seismic retrofit.
Minor Home Repair Program
The MHRP grant program provides financial assistance for home repairs up to $2,499 to correct immediate threats to the health and safety of low‐income homeowners in Oakland. Single unit residences, including mobile homes are eligible. This grant can be used to make minor plumbing, carpentry, electrical repairs and can be used for railing grab bars, toilets, water heaters, doors, locks and more.
Emergency Home Repair & Home Maintenance and Improvement Loan Programs
Provides Oakland's low-to-moderate income, senior and disabled homeowners with 0-3% interest bearing loans for home repair and rehabilitation from $15,000 to $150,000 to homeowners that require immediate attention to correct health and safety repairs, life-threatening hazards, and exterior appearance if blighted.
Community Development Block Grants (soon to be Community Engagement & Enforcement Unit)
Funds, monitors and reports CDBG funded services and projects that predominantly benefit low- and moderate-income residents of Oakland. Administers community engagement activities that informs Oakland residents and collects Oakland residents’ feedback.
Internal Services
Administration & Grant Management
Monitors department budget, pays vendors, prepares reports, and manages various grant programs.
Data Collection & Analysis
Develops various databases to collect data on evictions, rents, petitions and hearings, etc., to inform public policy and internal program design and improvements.
PRELIMINARY PERFORMANCE MEASURES
Service Title: Affordable Housing Loan Servicing
Council Priority: Housing Security & Homelessness Solutions
Service Description: Underwrites, reviews, and administers loans for proposed affordable housing developments for Oakland residents
Service Type: External
Output Measure: Number of newly funded units that are homeless/PSH units; Number of new construction NOFA projects funded in 2022/number of affordable units
Objective Description: Pending funding availability from other funding sources, close City affordable housing loans and start construction within 6 months of project completing funding
Success Measure: Percentage of loans closed within six months of project getting its development funding committed
Service Title: Affordable Housing Monitoring and Policymaking
Council Priority: Housing Security & Homelessness Solutions
Service Description: Underwrites, reviews, and administers loans for proposed affordable housing developments for Oakland residents
Service Type: External
Output Measure: Increase lending opportunities to funding opportunities for populations with unequal access to funding, contracting and employment opportunities
Objective Description: Increase loans made to emerging developers each year
Success Measure: Percent of loans made that feature an emerging developer partner
Service Title: Loan Servicing
Council Priority: Housing Security & Homelessness Solutions
Service Description: Services HCD housing and commercial loan portfolio, which includes processing payoff demand and subordination requests, loan modification, collecting payments, updating loan schedules, preparing and mailing statements and confirming loan status for audit purpose
Service Type: External
Output Measure: Number of payoff demands processed per month; Number of subordination requests processed per month; Monthly statements prepared and mailed to borrowers per month; Number of loan confirmation processed per year
Objective Description: Process borrowers’ requests within 5 business days
Success Measure: Percentage of requests processed within 5 business days; Percentage of approved subordination requests
Service Title: Homebuyer Education
Council Priority: Housing Security & Homelessness Solutions
Service Description: Provides homebuyer education, referral, guidance
Service Type: External
Output Measure: Number of persons educated, referred, guided per year (Includes those who completed the 2-day class and received certificate)
Objective Description: Maintain or improve the program’s reach and results to BIPOC education attendees
Success Measure: Percentage of BIPOC attendees
Service Title: Affordable Housing Program
Council Priority: Housing Security & Homelessness Solutions
Service Description: Assist owners and buyers of deed-restricted affordable housing units.
Service Type: External
Output Measure: Number of new affordable housing homeowners
Objective Description: Maintain or improve the program’s reach and results to BIPOC loan applicants
Success Measure: Percentage of units closed submitted by BIPOC applicants
Service Title: Oakland Housing Secure
Council Priority: Housing Security & Homelessness Solutions
Service Description: Anti-Displacement Program for eviction protection, legal supports and emergency funding assistance
Service Type: External
Output Measure: Number of clients served; Number receiving financial assistance
Objective Description: To keep Oakland residents housed through legal services, wrap services, flexible financial assistance, outreach & referrals
Success Measure: Percent remaining in their house (housing stability)
Service Title: Code Compliance & Relocation Program
Council Priority: Housing Security & Homelessness Solutions
Service Description: Reviews applications on tenant eligibility for relocation benefits in accordance with O.M.C. 15.60 and determines if City payment is appropriate. Assists tenants and property owners in understanding their rights and responsibilities under the law. Informs property owner of its obligations to the tenants for temporary relocation, permanent relocation and immediate vacation of rental unit.
Service Type: External
Output Measure: Number of property owners per month informed of obligation to pay tenants the required relocation assistance based on length of displacement (temporary-less than 60 days and permanent-60 days or more) based on unit size and additional conditions per OMC 15.60; Number of property owners per month to pay mandatory tenant relocation costs without City financial assistance; Number of Oakland residents to receive City-paid relocation assistance per year
Objective Description: Improve housing quality for racially and ethnically mixed neighborhoods with 60% or more non-white population, where geographic and racial disparities exist around housing habitability (Housing Stability Indicator Score 40)
Success Measure: Percentage of tenants maintaining safe and healthy living environments; Percent of properties brought up to code and residents move back in 60 days or less; Percentage of Property owners that pay required relocation benefit to tenant within 10 days of notice to vacate in order to remedy violation or habitability problem; Percentage of city-paid relocation payments to displaced tenants reimbursed by property owner to the City.
Service Title: Fair Chance Access to Housing
Council Priority: Housing Security & Homelessness Solutions
Service Description: CDE participates in the planning, coordination, and monitoring of Fair Chance Access to Housing services in collaboration with the City Attorney’s Office, Housing Development Services, external legal agencies and other City departments/divisions as deemed necessary to establish education, enforcement and reporting of the Fair Chance Access to Housing on a regular basis. Staff is in process of developing the Fair Chance Access To Housing Ordinance into a full program.
Service Type: External
Output Measure: Number of Annual Certifications collected affordable housing providers to track and report compliance with Oakland Municipal Code 8.25.040(F); Number of formerly incarcerated residents to receive assistance and/or referrals under this program that result in secured housing; Number of formerly incarcerated residents to not become homeless, separated from family or return to jail as result of fair access to stable housing; Number of formerly incarcerated reintegrated into the Oakland community
Objective Description: Annually decrease the use of criminal history in making housing decisions for approximately 3,900 formerly incarcerate Oakland residents; identify ongoing barriers to housing, examine relationship between housing
Success Measure: Percentage of formerly incarcerated residents of Oakland to secure housing without barriers from criminal history; Percentage of affordable housing developers certifying compliance with OMC 8.25.040
Service Title: Property Owner and Tenant Counseling
Council Priority: Housing Security & Homelessness Solutions
Service Description: Provides holistic counseling to tenants and property owners regarding landlord-tenant laws, including the rent adjustment and just cause for eviction ordinances, the tenant protections ordinance as well as the eviction moratorium
Service Type: External
Output Measure: Number of consultations provided to property owners per month; Number of consultations provided to tenants per month
Objective Description: Respond to 100% property owners’ and tenants’ inquiries regarding their rights and obligations under the City’s ordinances, including follow ups within 48 hours
Success Measure: Percent of inquiries responded to within 48 hours
Service Title: Rent Adjustment Petition Hearings
Council Priority: Housing Security & Homelessness Solutions
Service Description: Reviews petitions, hears cases, renders decisions, reviews appeals, coordinates appeal hearings before Rent Adjustment Board
Service Type: External
Output Measure: Number of tenant petitions received per year; Number of property owner petitions received per year
Objective Description: Process, hear, and close property owner and tenant rent adjustment petitions within program year
Success Measure: Percent of rent adjustment petitions assigned hearing officer, heard, and issued decisions; Percent of rent adjustment petitions resolved through settlement; Percent of rent adjustment petitions resolved through hearing
Service Title: Emergency Rental Assistance Program (COVID Response)
Council Priority: Housing Security & Homelessness Solutions
Service Description: Provides emergency rental assistance to residents facing loss of their housing related to COVID-19 impacts or during the COVID pandemic, through contracts with BACS and EDC. This is an expiring grant opportunity – one-time funding specific to COVID-19 impacts.
Service Type: External
Output Measure: Number of rental assistance applications processed per month; Number of rental assistance applications approved and paid per month
Objective Description: Process 76%-86% of ERAP assistance requests from high impact zip codes within 15 days of receiving completed applications
Success Measure: Percent of assistance requests processed within 15 days from high impact zip codes; Percent of assistance requests processed within 15 days from residents with income of 0-30% of AMI
Service Title: Lead-Safe Paint and Access Improvement Grant Programs
Council Priority: Housing Security & Homelessness Solutions
Service Description: The Lead Safe Housing Paint Program provides grants from $15,000 to $24,000 for exterior painting and lead hazard remediation. The Access Improvement Program provides grants from $15,000 to $24,000 for accessibility improvements for property owned and occupied by disabled persons or their tenants.
Service Type: External
Output Measure: Number of accessibility improvement project completed per year; Number of lead-based paint remediation home repairs completed per year; Total number of grants approved per year
Objective Description: Upon receipt of all documentation, process and approve accessibility grants within 10 days. Upon receipt of all documentation, process and approve lead paint grants within 10 days.
Success Measure: Percent of accessibility grants approvals completed within 10 days; Percent of lead-paint grant approvals completed within 10 days
Service Title: Grants for Earthquake Seismic Retrofitting of Apartment Buildings
Council Priority: Housing Security & Homelessness Solutions
Service Description: The Safer Housing for Oakland Program (SHOP) offers grants to reimburse owners for a portion of the costs to seismically retrofit a multi-unit apartment building with a “soft-story” condition. The pending grant targets 72 buildings in high-risk areas of Oakland as determined by the State’s ranking system that measures both economic and hazard mitigation challenges.
Service Type: External
Output Measure: Number of unit buildings retrofitted in 3-year period
Objective Description: To retrofit 72 soft-story apartment buildings in the high-risk zones established by the State funding agency within the 3 year grant period
Success Measure: Percent of soft-story, rent-controlled buildings retrofitted in high-risk zones
Service Title: Minor Home Repair Program
Council Priority: Housing Security & Homelessness Solutions
Service Description: The MHRP grant program provides financial assistance for home repairs up to $2,499 to correct immediate threats to the health and safety of low‐income homeowners in Oakland. Single unit residences, including mobile homes are eligible. This grant can be used to make minor plumbing, carpentry, electrical repairs and can be used for railing grab bars, toilets, water heaters, doors, locks and more.
Service Type: External
Output Measure: Number of minor home repair projects completed per year; Number of grants approved per year
Objective Description: Upon receipt of all documentation, process and approve of emergency grants within 5 days. Upon receipt of all documentation, process and approve non-emergency grants within 10 days.
Success Measure: Percent of emergency loan approvals completed within 5 days; Percent of non-emergency loan approvals completed within 10 days
Service Title: Emergency Home Repair & Home Maintenance and Improvement Loan Programs
Council Priority: Housing Security & Homelessness Solutions
Service Description: The Residential Lending program administers loans for the Emergency Home Repair and Home Maintenance and Improvement programs to assist minority homeowners with comprehensive and emergency home repairs requiring immediate attention including life threatening hazards, health and safety repairs and housing code violations. The program offers Oakland's low-to-moderate income household, seniors and disabled homeowners with 0-3% interest loan from $15,000 to $150,000.
Service Type: External
Output Measure: Number of emergency home repair projects completed per year; Number of comprehensive home maintenance repair projects completed per year; Total number of loans approved per year
Objective Description: Upon receipt of all documentation, process and approve of emergency loans within 10 days. Upon receipt of all documentation, process and approve non-emergency loans within 30 days.
Success Measure: Percent of emergency loan approvals completed within 10 days; Percent of non-emergency loan approvals completed within 30 days
Service Title: Community Engagement and Public Education
Council Priority: Housing Security & Homelessness Solutions
Service Description: Prepares materials that provide information and guidance on rent and eviction laws at local, state and federal levels to educate public about their rights and responsibilities under these laws. Specifically, educate property owners and tenants about Rent Adjustment issues on City’s moratorium, rent adjustment petition process, safe and habitable requirements, eviction grounds, landlord’s right to entry and requirements, and security deposits.
Service Type: External
Output Measure: Number of Know Your Rights Workshops for tenants per year; Number of Know Your Rights Workshops for landlords per year; Number of Eviction Moratorium Workshops per year
Objective Description: Educate property owners and tenants, specially in historically underserved communities and/or communities experiencing higher need as measured by evictions data, including: 1. Hold 12 workshops for property owners with a target audience of 135 per event, 2. Hold 16 workshops for tenants with a target audience of 47 per event, 3. Hold 2 workshops on the City’s moratorium with a target audience of 135 per event.
Success Measure: Number of property owner workshops attendees; Number of tenant workshops attendees; Number of moratorium workshops attendees
ORGANIZATIONAL CHART
BUREAUS/DIVISIONS
Administration
Provides the overall executive management of the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) including strategic direction, personnel, fiscal policy, and data management. HCD’s Fiscal unit includes budget, loan servicing, and accounting services.
Community Development & Engagement
The Community Development & Engagement (CDE) unit acts as a program administrator and grant manager for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and other U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) resources. CDBG funds rebuild and revitalize depressed neighborhoods and target benefits to low- and moderate-income residents and areas of Oakland. CDBG provides funding for housing, homeless services, other public services, economic development, and other public infrastructure and neighborhood improvements benefitting low and moderate-income residents. Staff also serve as the lead preparers for the City’s Consolidated Annual Action Plan and Consolidated Annual Performance & Evaluation Reports, both submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development for the CDBG, Emergency Solutions Grant, HOME Investments Partnership, Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS programs and other Federal grants administered by the City.
Rehabilitation & Residential Lending
This unit provides direct financial and technical assistance for the purchase of homes and minor-to-substantial rehabilitation, including Accessory Dwelling Units, to very-low, and low- and moderate-income persons. Staff aids owners and first-time homebuyers about refinancing, purchasing, and maintaining homes to promote safe, healthy, and accessible neighborhoods, to identify and thwart predatory lending practices, as well as fraudulent home improvement contracting. Staff collaborates with lenders, general contractors, code enforcement, citizens, and other housing agencies to expand opportunities for all homebuyers and to provide rehabilitation construction management services that identify and correct health and safety hazards and code violations.
Priority is given to assisting seniors and disabled persons to maintain the independence and security of homeownership.
Housing Development Services
This program implements and leads the City’s affordable housing development programs. Staff works with for-profit and non-profit developers to revitalize neighborhoods and to increase housing opportunities through new construction, substantial rehabilitation, and preservation of rental and ownership housing for very low or low and moderate-income households. Staff implements the City’s biannual Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) process to make competitive funding awards for affordable housing projects; and monitors the City and Agency portfolio of over 116 projects to ensure proper management and maintenance and compliance with rent and income limits. Also, the staff manages several City-owned sites that are in the process of being developed as affordable housing. The City also runs the city’s first-time homeowner program via the Mortgage Assistance Program (MAP) and Cal HOME loan programs, operating jointly with participating lenders, to assist low and moderate-income first-time homebuyers with the purchase of homes in the City of Oakland.
Rent Adjustment Program
The mission of the Rent Adjustment Program is to promote community stability, healthy housing, and diversity for Oakland residents, while preventing illegal rent increases and evictions, and ensuring a fair return for property owners. The Rent Adjustment Program (RAP) is charged with administering the Rent Adjustment Ordinance and Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance for the City of Oakland. Staff employ an active enforcement model of rent control and use extensive outreach to inform tenants and owners about their rights and obligations under the law and program regulations, maintains full and accurate records through reporting requirements, including eviction notices and a rental registry, provides housing counseling and mediations, and adjudicates rent petitions through the RAP hearings unit.