Housing Advocacy Council of Monterey County

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Programs

In order to assist and educate Monterey County residents to obtain and maintain affordable housing and prevent homelessness we offer the following programs:

The Security Deposit Guarantee Program is a "self help" program providing assistance with move in costs for low-income Monterey County residents.  Tenants pay their deposit to the landlord over a year's time in monthly installments without interest.  We provide a guarantee to the landlord, via a Letter of Credit, for the full deposit amount, which protects the landlord while the tenant is paying their deposit. We have provided over $386,000 of deposit guarantees in the past seventeen years to more than 835 families.  This program has not only served many families but it has done so with less than a 7% default rate (the number of families not following through and paying the full deposit themselves). 

The Emergency Rent Payment Program has two components.  First, there is an eviction prevention component for low income Monterey County resident.  Through that assistance we provide financial assistance to households who are experiencing an emergency, but have the ability to pay future month’s expenses.  This program allows these households to remain in their current unit and avoid homelessness and the high costs associated with moving.  Secondly, we assist homeless households or those already evicted to move into a rental unit.   In the past eleven years we have provided more than $935,000 of  rental assistance to over 1,690 households. 

We provide public education to enable Monterey County residents to locate community resources to address their housing concerns.  Since 1994 we have served 10,470 individuals through our educational services.  While we target low-income individuals, our workshops are open to all county residents with no income restrictions.  Our educational offerings include: