MEHC Supports AB 1961 – Implement a unified database of affordable housing listings

MEHC supports AB 1961 (Gabriel), a bill to require the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to create and implement a unified, statewide database of affordable housing listings. 

Low-income households face significant barriers to finding and applying for subsidized housing. There is no centralized resource for searching for housing— housing seekers must know the names of the housing developers and know how to search their webpages for housing locations. They have to be persistent, checking constantly for open waiting lists, calling offices that seldom pick up the phone, and then keeping track of their applications, often over the course of years, as they await an opening. 

Affordable housing providers often request applicants to submit hard-copy forms in person. While many affordable housing providers request similar information, a prospective tenant must prepare and submit these applications repeatedly. We published a blog post on our website about one woman’s experience: Finally Home–Finding Affordable Senior Housing in Marin (marinmehc.org). Our interviewee observed that this process as being like a part-time job. Low-income senior and disabled households seeking housing may struggle to coordinate transportation to and from new geographies as they seek housing to fit their needs. Our interviewee did not have a private vehicle, which made preparing and submitting these applications and attending interviews much more arduous. Applicants also need to be aware of whether the rents at the buildings they apply to are based on area median income (AMI) or on a percentage of the tenant’s income.If the former, their rents could rise as their region becomes wealthier—which could spell disaster for those living on a fixed income.

By establishing a coordinated and streamlined statewide database of available affordable housing listings, the state can remove these burdens for households with the least resources. For these reasons, MEHC strongly supports AB 1961.