San Juan Bautista Housing Authority

The Housing Authority of the County of Santa Cruz was created in 1969 to provide housing assistance for the county's low and moderate-income residents. The Housing Authority of the County of Santa Cruz also administers by contract the Housing Authority of the City of Hollister.

The Housing Authority is governed by a seven member Board of Commissioners. Two of the commissioners must be tenants of the Housing Authority, one over 62 years of age. The cities of Santa Cruz and Watsonville each have a commissioner representing them, as does the Community Action Board. All are appointed by the County Board of Supervisors. Commissioner serve for 4 years, tenant commissioners for 2 year and are at-large appointments made by the Board of Supervisors; however, other than appointing the Board of Commissioners, the Board of Supervisors has no direct responsibility for the Housing Authority and the Housing Authority is not supported by County funds.

Although the Housing Authority is an independent, distinct entity, cooperation and interaction occurs between the Housing Authority and local government. The Housing Authority acts as the housing authority for each of the localities within the county and strives to be of service according to the needs of each.

The Housing Authority also provides services under contract to the County and municipalities. Security Deposit, First Time Home Buyers, Mortgage Credit Certificate and Mobile Home Resident Ownership Program are just some of the programs the Housing Authority administers for local governments.

The largest and best known programs operated by the Housing Authority are the federal rental assistance programs: the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program and the Low Income Public Housing program as well as the USDA Farmworker Housing Program. To a smaller extent, the State of California programs also provide housing assistance such as the seasonal Migrant Housing program or the Rental Housing Construction Program. Regardless of the source, the Housing Authority must apply and compete for funds. There is no automatic funding and the fees received by the Housing Authority for operating these programs are performance-based.

In the early 1980s, the Housing Authority further used its statutory powers in providing housing assistance by issuing mortgage backed revenue bonds to assist private developers in providing affordable rental units as well as issuing single family bonds for home ownership. The Housing Authority has assisted non-profit groups to provide housing for family shelters, transitional housing and housing for people with disabilities.

Since its creation in 1969, the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Cruz has increased the number of families it assists to over 4,000, bringing to the County more than $46.5 million annually in housing assistance funds.

Over the last 4 decades the Housing Authority has carried out its mission in
a variety of ways, some of which has been by:

Developing and managing affordable rental housing.

Developing affordable housing for sale to qualified local residents.

Administering the federal government's Housing Choice Vouch (Section 8) program providing rental assistance to tenants in market-rate housing.

Administering security-deposit assistance programs helping tenants move into rental units.

Administering first-time home buyer programs, which provide mortgage relief for low and moderate-income residents buying their first home.

Offering programs for mobile home rehabilitation and improvements.

Helping mobile home park residents take over ownership of their park.

Distributing and administering disaster-relief housing funds.

Rehabilitating dilapidated housing units for sale to low-income families.

Developing and managing migrant and farm-labor housing.

Providing technical services on housing issues to government agencies and developers of affordable housing.

Offering informational seminars for landlords.

Offering informational seminars for first-time home buyers.

Providing property management services.

Obtaining state and federal grants for property improvement and maintenance.

Issuing tax-exempt bonds to assist developers of affordable housing with financing.

Administering the Mortgage Credit Certificate program.

	Agency Name	City	State	Section 8 Voucher	Housing Units	Status	Distance
	Hollister Housing Authority	Hollister	CA	344	N/A	Open	0.05 Miles	Contact
	Housing Authority of the County of Monterey	Salinas	CA	4,534	486	Open	18.53 Miles	Contact
	Soledad Housing Division	Soledad	CA	N/A	N/A	Open	29.6 Miles	Contact
	Housing Authority of the County of Santa Cruz	Santa Cruz	CA	4,432	234	Open	37 Miles	Contact
	Housing Authority of the County of Santa Clara	San Jose	CA	11,171	4	Open	43.32 Miles	Contact
	San Jose City Housing Authority	San Jose	CA	6,476	N/A	Open	43.32 Miles	Contact