Landlord Resources

How do I list my unit as an available rental for Housing Choice Voucher Participants?

Please fill out Details Regarding the Unit and Property and submit this form to the Housing Authority of the City of Alameda receptionist at 701 Atlantic Avenue:

Available rental(s) will be listed in our main lobby and on our website at the Available Rentals page.

Lease Agreement

In most cases, an initial 12-month lease must be used. Landlords sign a lease agreement with the tenant and a Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) contract for payment by the Housing Authority.

Rent Increases

Annual rent increases are allowed, if the new proposed rent is consistent with similar sized unassisted units with similar HCV program. Units are exempt from the rent portion of the Alameda rent control program (www.alamedarentprogram.org) amenities in the same neighborhood. AHA will research comparable units in the area to confirm rent reasonableness of any owner requested rent increases. For more information, please refer to AHA’s Administrative Plan.

On January 1, 2020, Assembly Bill No. 1482 (Bill), also known as the Tenant Protection Act of 2019, went into effect and imposed caps on contract rent increases for properties within the State of California that are not exempted by the Bill (link to Assembly Bill No. 1482: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1482).

On February 11, 2020, Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) were told that both Project-Based Voucher (PBV) and Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) units were exempted from this Bill.

However, on June 29, 2023, Attorney General Rob Bonta told PHAs that while PBV units are exempt, HCV units that are not subject to a regulatory agreement with a government agency are not exempted from this Bill (link to the Attorney General’s website: https://oag.ca.gov/home). On February 9, 2024, PHAs in California received a letter from HUD Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Monocchio which confirmed the Attorney General’s position regarding the Bill.  The letter from HUD advises PHAs to implement this Bill and alert HCV owners when a rent increase is received that violates the Bill’s requirements.

Effective March 1, 2024, all contract rent increases for Housing Choice Voucher units not subject to a regulatory agreement with a government agency will need to be in compliance with Assembly Bill No. 1482. If the AHA receives a contract rent increase for a Housing Choice Voucher unit not subject to a regulatory agreement with a government agency that violates the rent control requirements of Assembly Bill No. 1482, the AHA will alert you of the violation and provide an explanation of the applicability of Assembly Bill No. 1482 so that you may revise your contract rent increase request to be in compliance. Please note that this is in addition to the current rent reasonableness requirement.

In short this means the Housing Authority will reject contract rent increases for private market landlords that exceed the current maximum under AB1482. Please note that the maximum allowed amount changes with updates to the Consumer Price Index and as such landlords can expect the rent increase cap to change August 1. If you are a member of California Apartment Association, you can calculate the maximum allowable contract rent increase here: https://caanet.org/topics/ab-1482/.

If you have a rent change notice pending or coming up, please contact Iyana Barnes via email at ibarnes@alamedahsg.org. If you have any questions about the application of Assembly Bill No. 1482 itself, please contact the Attorney General’s Office (link to the Attorney General’s contact information: https://oag.ca.gov/contact).  As this is not just a requirement for the HCV program, you may want to review the bill to ensure your compliance with your other units.  As an aside, there are other provisions of the bill that you may want to review such as ones affecting evictions. 

Please note that in the City of Alameda, the Alameda Rent Program also has rules that apply to rental housing www.alamedarentprogram.org.

To submit future HCV rent change requests please do this here: https://form.alamedahsg.org/Forms/HCVRentIncrease . We appreciate your cooperation and continued participation in the Housing Choice Voucher program.

Inspections

A subsidized unit must pass the Housing Quality Standards inspection. AHA must inspect the unit prior to any tenant moving in and then regularly after that. AHA Inspectors look for health or safety concerns plus any potential hazards. The inspector may alert the landlord to issues which could prevent costly expenses in the future. For more information, please refer to AHA’s Administrative plan.

How to contact Inspectors (Outsource IT)?

All inspection requests are handled by the inspections team which can be reached at:

How to call for a special inspection?

Inspections are regularly scheduled for every unit at least once every three years, but more frequently for many units. Both the landlord and/or tenant can request a special inspection for issues that occur between routinely scheduled inspections.

To request a special inspection, please contact Outsource IT:

The Violence Against Women Act

WHAT IS VAWA?

Initially passed in 1994, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (VAWA) created the first U.S. federal legislation acknowledging domestic violence and sexual assault as crimes and provided federal resources to encourage community-coordinated responses to combating violence. The Housing Choice Voucher and HOME programs must be operated allowing for the protections of VAWA.