Costa Mesa officials are looking to beef up the city’s rental assistance program in a town that’s been increasingly pushing increased renter protections in recent years – including a controversial eviction moratorium during the pandemic.
It also comes after officials reduced eviction rates by roughly 50% last year after enacting a renter protection program, curbing no-fault evictions stemming from things like renovations under Costa Mesa’s no-fault eviction ordinance.
[Read; Costa Mesa’s Evictions Are Down By 50%]
The ordinance requires landlords to notify the city of evictions within three days and for landlords to provide rental assistance if a person is evicted for no fault of their own.
Costa Mesa isn’t alone – Buena Park officials adopted a similar program a few years ago.
[Read: Buena Park Renters to Get Greater Eviction Protections]
Over the years, those types of ordinances have seen pushback from landlord interest groups like the California Apartment Association, which says no-fault eviction ordinances places an undue financial burden on landlords and could curb housing investment.
Last week, Costa Mesa City Council members voted unanimously to expand rental assistance services for up to three more years if federal funding is available.
Five additional families will have the opportunity to receive rental assistance through Families Forward, a nonprofit organization that looks to prevent family homelessness.
The federal funds come from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which allocates a low-income housing grant.
It’s unclear if the funding will be available after federal officials have been eying cuts to the housing department’s rental assistance funds, according to the Associated Press.
According to the staff report, the tenant-based rental assistance “objective is to prevent homelessness or shelter insecurity by providing rental assistance and supportive services to qualified lower-income households so they can attain and maintain safe, stable and sanitary housing.”
Families Forward has operated the tenant-based rental assistance program since fiscal year 2020-2021. So far, the program has helped 92 families since March 2021. They have paid out $327,062 in rent from March 2021 to Dec. 2024.
At the April 1 city council meeting, Councilwoman Arlis Reynolds said the program was essential in keeping people off the street.
The program allows for rental assistance up to two years but the average time families have needed it is around five months.
“I did want to see the impact of the program and just remind ourselves and the public that one of the focuses in creating this program is homelessness prevention. After we worked very hard to get our shelter up and running to support people who have already become homeless, this was a really essential program to keep people housed,” Reynolds said.
“It’s great to see these numbers and see there were 92 people that were very close to losing their homes. It’s fantastic to see it was only five months to getting to a point of self sufficiency,” she added.
Rosalinda Bermudez, the director of data and compliance at Families Forward, said there was a wait list for the program.
“Most, if not all of the referrals that we receive for this program come from your city staff, your outreach team. We use a model called progressive engagement, so that’s a case management model where the participant uses more subsidy at the onset of the program and then tapers off,” Bermudez said.
The program requires tenants to pay 30% of their income while the city pays the balance.
With the expansion, the program will be able to assist 5 families at $10,000 each while the previous 10 families receive around $15,000.
Mayor John Stephens asked if officials could increase the assistance, giving each family $15,000. However, staff said it would be a substantial difference that would trigger a public hearing since it was more than 45% the annual allocation.
Last year, the city’s original rental assistance program was slated to run out of money. It’s listed on the city website but the webpage shows that the program is no longer available.
In 2021, a city report found that almost half of Costa Mesa residents are considered low income and almost 30% of residents qualify for very low or extremely low income housing.
Last year’s point in time count showed Costa Mesa as having 218 unsheltered people and 79 sheltered people.