Keys to a Successful Affordable Housing Application

Make sure your address is current

Affordable housing providers cannot forward mail. Neither can COTS. Waitlists can be months or years long. You may change your address multiple times between now and the time your name comes to the top of a waitlist.

Here are strategies to make sure you receive your notifications.

• If a trusted friend or family member will let you receive mail at their home AND will notify you anytime you have mail, use their address. All the application forms allow you to list a residence and a mailing address.

OR

• Get a PO Box and use it for all official business.

OR

• Keep a record of all affordable housing waitlists you’re on.  When you change your address, update your information with each waitlist. When you update, include any changes of your address, phone number or email address. You can use this Affordable Housing Waitlist Record to keep track of all your waitlist information.

Check your mail at least once per week

Most affordable housing opportunities are time limited. Typically, you have ten days to respond.

Be on the lookout for purge letters

Affordable housing providers often shrink their lists by sending out interest letters periodically. Whoever does not respond is dropped from the list.

Keep track of all your applications

You can use the Afffordable Housing Waitlist Record to keep track of your applications. If you find it difficult to hold on to paperwork, It’s a great idea to scan or take pictures of every piece of correspondence you receive from an affordable housing provider.

Avoid a paper chase

Most affordable housing opportunities are extended to several people at once. The winner is the person who provides a complete application first.

A complete application will include:

• Copies of official identification, tax information and income verification.  You can refer to this Record Keeper Checklist for specifics.

• Residential History. Just as with market rate housing providers, affordable housing providers will need to review your residential history. You can use this Residential History Form and keep it current until your name comes to the top of a waitlist. This history can include shelter, camping, staying with family or friends, hotel stays and renting. If you create it now and update it in the months to come, you won’t lose valuable time when your name comes to the top of a list.

Do a targeted credit clean-up

• The most important thing you can do is avoid new debt and stay current on any payment schedules you have in place.

• Prioritize housing-related bills like utilities and debts to landlords.

• If you have questions about your credit report, make an appointment with the Client Enrichment Services Manager to review it. Ask your case manager for a referral.  

• Make a plan for how you will talk to a prospective landlord about your credit. Read more about credit here.

If appropriate, address your background

About one in five adults in California has been convicted of a crime. Some 24 percent of them encounter difficulties finding housing. (source: “Repairing the Road to Redemption in California,” Californians for Safety and Justice)

You have some legal protections when it comes to how a landlord can screen your application.

And you have steps you can take today to clear your record or provide ameliorating context.

• Your protections

  • A landlord has to judge everyone’s application with the same standards.

  • A landlord cannot deny your application based on your criminal background unless her or she reasonably believes that your past behavior would impact your ability to be a good tenant or would put your neighbors at risk.

    • For example, you may not be denied for past drug use, but you can be denied because of past drug manufacture or dealing. A landlord could reasonably assume that a recurrence of manufacture or dealing would endanger his or her property and neighbors.

• Your steps

  • Now is a great time to address your record. Through Sonoma County Legal Aid, without charge, you can petition to have felonies knocked down to misdemeanors, expunge many misdemeanors, and seal your arrest records. Ask your case manager for a referral to Sonoma County Legal Aid.

  • You can also document your good citizenship. If you do have a history of theft or violence, you can make it less relevant by working, volunteering, and staying out of trouble. Time plus good works can make it less reasonable for a landlord to have concerns about your tenancy. Affordable housing providers are frequently open to these arguments. Please note that you may need to appeal an initial denial. Learn about appeals, starting with What if I Get Denied?