Questions and Answers Regarding Shared Housing

Shared Housing Agreement

Question:	Answer:
What does a “valid” shared housing agreement mean and are these agreements for temporary and permanent homeless assistance?	For a temporary shared housing agreement, a lease would not be necessary and any form of documentation showing the address where the client is being allowed to stay, the dates of their stay, how much they are paying per night, and the contact information of the housing provider is sufficient. A permanent shared housing agreement will have to show how much of the rent is the responsibility of the CalWORKs family in order to determine if the rent does not exceed the 80% total monthly household income limit. In instances where the agreement does not include the necessary verification, the EW may contact the landlord/property owner to ensure the housing agreement is allowable, with the written consent of the CalWORKs family.
The minimum that is required for temporary shared housing includes the name of the landlord/property owner, can the person renting the property, if it isn’t the landlord/property owner be named on the agreement?	Short-term shared housing agreements for temporary homeless assistance should include the names of the people who are sharing the housing, which could be the landlord/property owner or a tenant of the housing unit. For long-term shared housing agreement for permanent homeless assistance, if the provider of housing is not the owner or landlord, the name of the person legally responsible for the property should also be included on the agreement.
What does the person renting the property must have the legal right to do so mean? Is there a process to determine whether or not the person renting the property has the legal right to do so? Is there a requirement to confirm and verify that the legal owner of the property is the one signing the lease?	For a long-term sublease or shared housing agreement for permanent homeless assistance, there should be documentation that the family is legally allowed to reside in the property and that the sublease or shared housing agreement is not in violation of the original lease. This can be verified by reviewing the original lease or contacting the property owner or manager, with the consent of the CalWORKs family. For short-term shared housing agreement for temporary homeless assistance, the EW needs to confirm that allowing a short-term house guest isn’t violating the terms of the original lease regarding houseguests, thereby putting the tenant providing the housing at risk of eviction. For short-term shared housing agreements that are entered into with a tenant, a note or statement from the tenant providing the housing that the shared housing arrangement is not in violation of their lease is sufficient and should be approved without confirmation from the landlord or property owner.
If contact is made with the legal owner of the property, is a verbal response sufficient (i.e., the landlord states over the phone that they are aware of the sublease)? Is it within regulation to do a property search on a property to verify who the legal owner is?	If there is no verification that there is a valid rental agreement, the EW may contact the landlord directly with written consent from the CalWORKs family. This contact may be done by phone and if contact cannot be made a sworn statement by the client is sufficient. A property search is not a recommended best practice.
What does it mean that a renter have the same legal protections granted to all renters in the state of California? What are those legal protections and how are they verified?	These legal protections only apply to long-term housing agreements. If there is a valid lease or sublease in place, legal protections apply, and no additional verification is needed. These legal protections are in California law and include rules regarding late fees, termination for non-payment of rent, tenant rights to withhold rent, eviction rules, and landlord access to rental property, among others.
Prior to issuing permanent housing assistance in a shared housing arrangement, is there a necessity to ensure the agreement will not result in overcrowding? Are there any habitability guidelines that must be met in order to authorize the homeless assistance payment?	There are no homeless assistance regulations regarding the maximum number of people per room; however, some landlords may, for example, be unwilling to rent a two-bedroom unit to a family of 8. There are also no requirements that a habitability check on a property prior to approving homeless assistance; however, a discussion regarding safety concerns with the family are encouraged.
What verification can be accepted in lieu of receipts when a client is in a temporary housing situation and has executed a shared housing agreement with someone who is not in the business of renting? For example, the client has provided a valid shared housing agreement prior to receiving temporary homeless assistance. They receive their first issuance of temporary homeless assistance and have returned with their permanent housing search. Their friend whom they have entered a shared housing agreement with is not in the business of renting, so they don’t have receipts to provide to the client. Will a handwritten statement from said friend suffice for proof that the temporary homeless assistance benefits were indeed spent on housing? “ If so, what should the statement include?	In these instances, the shared housing agreement is sufficient verification that the benefits were spent on the shelter. A statement from the housing provider or a sworn statement from the client that the money was spent on shelter is also adequate verification.
What if someone charges the client $50 per night to stay with them temporarily and we receive a signed rental agreement indicating this. Is the maximum amount of temporary homeless assistance for each night issued or just the $50 per night.	Regulations set the nightly amount of temporary homeless assistance is based on the number of members in the assistance unit (AU), not actual costs, so families must receive the maximum nightly amount they are entitled to (i.e. $85 for a family of 4, $100 for a family of 5, etc.).
Do homeless assistance payments have to be issued to the family or issued as a voucher/service arrangement to the provider/relative/friend that is providing the housing?	The homeless assistance payments must be issued per AU’s request for temporary shelter, permanent shelter, or utilities, unless there is a finding of mismangement of funds.
Can the 16 days of temporary homeless assistance be issued all at once?	No, not unless the family is homeless due to a state or federally declared natural disaster or they are an applicant family fleeing domestic abuse. All other families receiving homeless assistance payments can get three days while their homelessness is being verified, followed by weekly payments.
Can the homeless assistance payments be issued to a shared housing provider and a motel? For example, a family stays with a friend in a shared housing situation for 4 days, then utilizes a motel for another 4 days and then returns to the friend’s home for a shared housing situation again?	There are no regulations stating that clients must use the 16 nights of temporary homeless assistance at the same location. Clients must be given flexibility to stay where they want, including part-time at a motel and part-time in a shared housing arrangement.
Client applies for permanent homeless assistance requesting a deposit payment to move into a friend’s home. The friend is in a current rental agreement and does not own the property but will provide a room to the client. Can a person, who is a renter themselves, and presumably already paid the deposit for the shelter, charge a deposit, and if so, is there any limit to a deposit that can be charged other than the limit based in CalWORKs regulations?	Permanent homeless assistance can be used to pay security deposits. This can include the payment of a new security deposit that a client pays directly to a landlord or the payment of a client’s share of an existing security deposit that the client pays to the provider of housing. The limits on the cost of security deposits still apply.
If a family is moving into a permanent shared housing situation and the deposit has already been paid, can two months’ of rent be paid instead of the last month’s rent and security deposit?	No, regulations only allow permanent homeless assistance to cover last month’s rent, security deposit and utilities that are necessary to secure permanent housing.
Are clients still eligible for arrears owed in a shared housing setting?	Yes, there are no changes to these rules.Permanent homeless assistance can pay arrearages for the AU’s portion of back rent in a shared housing arrangement as long as the payment of the arrears will prevent eviction and the AU’s portion of the monthly rent does not exceed 80% of the family’s total monthly household income.

Temporary versus Permanent Homeless Assistance

Question:	Answer:
What if the client wants to use their homeless assistance to stay at their current residence or return to a former residence? Is there a distinction between a former temporary residence and a former permanent residence? Example 1: Client was living with a relative for several years and reports that they can no longer live at the residence free of charge and are told to leave. After receiving temporary homeless, client requests a deposit to return to the relative’s home where they formerly lived free of rent and provides a shared housing agreement stating they now will be obligated to pay rent. Example 2: Client is reported to be homeless and has stayed with a relative for the past 3 weeks. Client reports that they can no longer stay at the relatives house for free and requests temporary homeless assistance to pay this relative. Is this allowable?	Permanent homeless assistance is not available to assist recipients to return to their most recent former residence unless there are unusual circumstances beyond the recipient’s control. In Example 1, the client may be eligible for two months of back rent to avoid being evicted to their relative, presuming back rent is due. However, if the client has already been evicted from this property, permanent homeless assistance cannot be issued to pay a security deposit and last month’s rent at this location. In Example 2, yes, this client would be eligible for temporary homeless assistance and could use these benefits to continue staying at the relative’s house.
If the client states that they intend to live permanently at the same place in which they are requesting temporary homeless assistance, should temporary benefits be denied, and permanent homeless assistance approved?	Per regulations, the issuance of permanent homeless assistance ends the instance of homelessness, so if a client receives permanent homeless assistance, they are no longer eligible for temporary benefits unless they need those benefits to remain sheltered until their new lease begins. If the permanent homeless assistance has been approved, but the lease doesn’t start right away, the family could use temporary homeless assistance to pay the family to let them stay there short-term with a valid short term agreement until their lease is in effect, but this isn’t likely to be a common occurrence. Additionally, the intent or desire for the place the family is staying short-term to become permanent is not equivalent to having permanent homeless assistance approved and issued for that residence.
Currently, permanent homeless assistance would be denied to someone who secures permanent housing before their homeless assistance is approved. If the client moves into temporary housing and the temporary living situation becomes permanent, is the client eligible to receive permanent homeless assistance for the required costs of securing the residence?	Homeless assistance shall be granted for a continuous period of homelessness, which ends when the AU receives payment for permanent homeless assistance. In the scenario described above, the AU is eligible for permanent homeless assistance payments because they were living in temporary shelter and are still considered homeless when they secured permanent housing. Prior to denying permanent homeless assistance, a determination should be made to see if the housing was actually secured. In the example above, just because the family has decided to make the temporary housing situation permanent, doesn’t mean that a security deposit and last month’s rental payment isn’t still required prior to actually securing the residence or making the shared housing arrangement official. Additionally, there are situations where the AU may pay the deposit themselves on a day the county office is closed in order to secure the unit, but the county should still approve the permanent homeless assistance when the office reopens, if the family is otherwise eligible.
Can homeless assistance payments to an undocumented individual who is the person willing to provide housing to the client?	Yes, there are no restrictions on who the client may rent from, provided there is a valid lease, sublease or shared housing agreement.
Can a person on CalWORKs sanction receive homeless assistance benefits?	Yes, all eligible and apparently eligible CalWORKs families may be eligible to receive homeless assistance benefits, even if the adults are sanctioned, timed out or otherwise not aided.

Broken Agreements

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May homeless assistance benefits be replaced when the housing provider breaks the shared housing agreement with the client? For example, the client uses their second payment of seven days of temporary homeless assistance for a short-term housing agreement. The housing provider prematurely evict the client after two days without returning the remaining five days-worth of payments, and the client becomes homeless again.	Benefits should not be replaced in this situation. Clients should be encouraged to use their homeless assistance benefits with a reliable provider of housing to avoid these situations from occurring.
There are concerns that these shared housing rules could lead to an increase in fraud for the program. Primarily for permanent homeless assistance, there could be situations in which a client may rent from a provider who later does not provide shelter, or other situations where the permanent homeless assistance funds are simply kept without any shelter being provided. How can fraud be prevented in the homeless assistance program?	Ensuring that there is a valid lease, sublease or shared housing agreement in place prior to authorizing the permanent homeless assistance should help mitigate the situations where a client does not receive the intended shelter.
Once benefits are issued in a shared housing agreement, is it necessary to ensure the client receives the agreed upon housing? For example, a CalWORKs family requests temporary homeless assistance benefits and would like to enter into a shared housing agreement with the applicant’s sister and her family. The sister rents her apartment from a property management company; however, she agrees to the shared housing without consulting the property manager or her lease. Seven nights of temporary homeless assistance in the amount of $85/night. After three days, the property manager is notified that the family is staying at the residence and that it violates the lease. The property manager posts an “Unauthorized Occupant Violation Notice” stating, “The unauthorized occupant must vacate the premises immediately. What can be done to avoid this situation where two families are in jeopardy of homelessness.	It is not a requirement to ensure that the client receives the agreed upon housing, however, ensuring that the shared housing agreement is “valid” and doesn’t violate the terms of the lease should be done prior to issuing the homeless benefits.

Mismanagement of Funds

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Answer:

For instances of mismanagement (if the client uses the benefits for something other than shelter), a Tax ID number is used to issue a check to a vendor, but under the new rules clients can utilize people as a shelter provider who will not have a Tax ID number, as they are not a business.

Since the person cannot be required to obtain a Tax ID number and the vendor payment cannot be issued without it, would the payment be issued as a restricted payment to a vendor who will accept the payment?

That would significantly reduce the shelter options for the client.

It is not a state requirement that providers have a Tax ID number. If it is not possible to issue a vendor/voucher payment, or no providers will accept them, issue the benefits directly to the client, as they will remain entitled to their remaining days of benefits, despite a finding of mismanagement.

If clients do not provide receipts verifying the benefits were used for housing, is it a requirement to provide additional homeless assistance benefits or should an overpayment be established.

There should never be an overpayment assessed due to a mismanagement of homeless assistance funds. If clients do not provide receipts verifying that their homeless assistance benefits were spent on housing and they are not granted good cause for not having the receipts, there would be a finding of mismanagement and future benefits associated with the same instance of homelessness should be vendor/voucher payments. The only time an overpayment for homeless assistance is assessed is when the family was not eligible for the homeless assistance benefits at the time when they received them. Please note that a valid short-term shared housing agreement that includes the amount per night, should be accepted as proof that the benefits were spent on housing.

Miscellaneous

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What happens when the housing provider who is sharing their housing is also on CalWORKs and CalFresh?

Would the homeless assistance be treated as unearned income for the recipient receiving that money as payment?

Does the recipient need to report the income once it is actually received or does the county have the responsibility because these payments are known to the county?
What about ongoing rent received in shared housing agreements?

Is the answer the same for temporary and permanent homeless assistance payments?