Marin supervisors extend rental assistance program

A federally funded Marin rental assistance program could continue through the end of the year.

County supervisors acted Tuesday to extend a contract with a nonprofit that is administering the program from the end of this month to Dec. 31. The extension will allow for the distribution of several million dollars of additional rental assistance payments.

Marin County ended its direct involvement with rental assistance after distributing $27 million to more than 1,900 households from April 2020 through September 2022. The money came from the American Rescue Plan Act, the $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill signed into law by President Biden in March 2021.

At the time, the county had not exhausted all of the funds potentially available to it. In October, rather than have the county continue to operate the rental assistance program, supervisors approved a $3.2 million contract with Community Action Marin, the largest nonprofit social services provider in Marin, to administer it.

“Since that time, 603 applications have been submitted and 341 households have received assistance, with about 80% being extremely-low income and 19% being very-low to low income,” Genevieve Hahn Kerr, a county budget analyst, told supervisors Tuesday.

The $3.2 million contract with the nonprofit allotted $2.88 million for rent payments; $185,000 for administrative, accounting and fiscal oversight services; and $145,000 to be shared with North Marin Community Services and Legal Aid of Marin.

Supervisors approved an approximately $4 million addendum to that contract that includes $3.35 million for rental assistance, more than $329,000 for housing support and stability services, and $375,000 for administrative costs.

“We have definitely seen there is still a demand out there,” said Leelee Thomas, deputy director of the Marin County Community Development Agency. “Many of our low-income renters are still impacted by COVID and are digging themselves out of that hole. Having that rental assistance is really helping with stabilization and preventing displacement.”

The county believes it has $4 million in federal funds for rental assistance still available to it to cover the cost of the contract extension. Supervisor Dennis Rodoni, however, asked county staffers how certain they are of securing the funds.

“It is so vital to all our communities,” Rodoni said.

Thomas said, “There is a level of uncertainty because, if other programs are moving forward and they have a higher demand, there is a possibility the state could reallocate the funds. But at this point we think the funds will be available.”

Thomas said the county was required to wait until it had used 75% of its most recent allotment of American Rescue Plan Act funds before it could ask for more.

Kerr told supervisors, “As of March 20 about $2.5 million of the $2.8 million first tranche received from the state has been dispersed. Based on conversations with the state having obligated over 75% of the first tranche, the county will likely receive additional funds.”

This rental assistance program is different in several key respects from the program that the county operated. The new program can reimburse renters who borrowed funds to pay their rent and makes subtenants eligible for the first time. It also allows grants to be used to pay up to three months of prospective rent.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, Johnson Reynolds of San Rafael asked if applicants for the rental assistance have to demonstrate that they were unable to pay their rent because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A state moratorium on evictions of people unable to pay their rent because of COVID-19 ended on June 30, 2022. Marin County supervisors, however, kept a prohibition on evictions of renters affected by the disease in place through Sept. 30, 2022, and some Marin municipalities, including San Rafael, Novato, Larkspur and Fairfax, followed suit.

“The definition around COVID impact is very broad,” Thomas said. “If you were a low-income renter during the pandemic, then I believe that you would be eligible. It’s fairly permissive.”