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ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW DRAFT -,..---W Economic Access to Housing The 1989 Housing Element included the following goal on economic access to housing: Goal 9: Improve access to housing for all economic segments of the community. The Goal was followed by one objective and four policies. Although the goal applies to "all economic segments of the community," the objective and policies focus exclusively on lower income renters. Goal 9's objective was to achieve 100 percent utilization of the HUD Section 8 vouchers allocated to San Leandro residents. At the time only about 80 percent of the potential vouchers were in use, presumably due to a shortage of landlords willing to accept Section 8 tenants. The policies called for counseling programs to assist families in overcoming financial barriers to housing, maximizing the amount of aid from state and federal sources, discouraging projects that reduced the City's rental housing inventory, and assisting tenants and landlords in mediating disputes. Although the City has worked diligently to maximize landlord participation in the Section 8 program, it continues to fall short of its objective to use all available vouchers. When market rents escalated in the late 1990s and vacancy rates hovered near zero, many landlords declined to participate in the program. The situation has changed in the last year, as vacancy rates have risen again. However, there are still barriers to full utilization of the City's Section 8 voucher allocation. The City's Section 8 program is administered by the Housing Authority of Southern Alameda County, with a City -appointed commissioner participating in planning and funding requests. In 2001, there were approximately 840 certificates and vouchers in use in the City. There are many more households who are on the Section 8 waiting list —the number of persons who have applied for vouchers greatly exceeds the number that are available. More active participation in the Section 8 program remains a valid objective and has been carried forward into the new Housing Element. One forum for achieving this objective is the Multifamily Management Assistance Program, sponsored by the City and the Rental Housing Organization (RHO). The program has been in effect since 1992 and educates apartment owners and managers on tenant screening and property management practices. This program has been effective, with more than 85 persons participating in the most recent seminar. Additional programs provide assistance to tenants who may be having difficulty locating suitable housing, or who are at risk of losing their homes. Other local programs have been implemented to improve economic access to housing. Most notable are first-time homebuyer programs, including downpayment assistance and Mortgage Credit Certificate programs. The City has contributed redevelopment set -aside money for both purposes, helping approximately 25 low and moderate income households a year with the purchase of homes in the City. The number of Mortgage Credit Certificates issued to San Leandro residents averaged 15 to 20 a year during the early 1990s but declined during the late 1990s due to reduced allocations from the State. The City's Downpayment Assistance Program for first time buyers was initiated in 1995. The program has assisted 132 San Leandro households since that time by providing low interest loans of up to $10,000 HOUSING ELEMENT 2-15 SAN LEANDRO GENERAL PLAN q 07