Fair Housing Resources

★ Project Sentinel	★ Legal and Mediation Services
★ Brisbane Fair Housing Assessment	★ Housing Affordability Levels and Income Limits

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Project Sentinel

Project Sentinel is a non-profit organization and HUD-approved Housing Counseling Agency that assist individuals with housing problems such as discrimination, mortgage foreclosure and delinquency, and rental issues including repairs, deposits, privacy, dispute resolution, home buyer education, post purchase education and reverse mortgages. Please call first before visiting their offices to ensure that the appropriate staff member is available to meet with you. Call toll free (888) 324-7468 or email at info@housing.org.

Tenants and Landlords

Project Sentinel provides tenant/landlord assistance and fair housing education, counseling, investigation, conciliation, advocacy, and enforcement services at no cost to Brisbane residents. When appropriate, Project Sentinel connects clients with free legal representation. They also provide guidance on how to jointly and amicably resolve tenant-landlord disputes on issues such as rent increase, termination of tenancy, security deposit, repairs, and finding below market rate housing.

Call toll free (888) 324-7468 or email at info@housing.org.

Homeowners

Project Sentinel is also a HUD-approved Housing Counseling Agency that provides counseling on reverse mortgages, home buyer education, financial and credit counseling and more.

Call toll free (888) 324-7468 or email at info@housing.org.

Other Resources

The California Landlord & Tenants Guide, produced by the California Department of Consumer Affairs, contains helpful information on legal protections and obligations for both renters and landlords in California.

Legal and Mediation Services

Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County

The Legal Aid Society provides tenant/landlord assistance and helps tenants who are having problems with their landlords. They offer legal counseling, advice, and representation for evictions, disputes over the condition of the premises and illegal acts by landlords. Appointments are recommended and tenants may call Legal Aid at (650) 517-8911 to set up an appointment.

Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center

The Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center offers mediation services for landlord/tenant and neighbor/neighbor disputes, and training for community organizations. Call (650) 345-7272 for more information.

NOLO

NOLO has helpful law articles regarding tenant & landlord issues.

Brisbane Fair Housing Assessment

The City of Brisbane 2023-2031 Housing Element contains an assessment of Fair Housing withing the City. Please see Appendix C for Brisbane's Fair Housing Assessment.

Housing Affordability Levels and Income Limits

Based on Federal and State definitions, affordable housing means only 30% of your household’s monthly income should go to housing related expenses. When it becomes more than that, it affects a community member's ability to buy food and support other essentials like healthcare. When we use the term "affordable housing", we mean housing that is in some way designed for lasting affordability (like City regulatory restrictions) to ensure households are not paying more than 30% of their monthly income on housing related expenses, such as rent, utilities or a mortgage.

Defining Affordability

Affordability levels have both Federal and State definitions. There are generally four levels defined as “lower income households”. These levels are based on the Area Median Income (AMI), which is the midpoint of a jurisdiction’s income distribution.

Extremely low-income households are households with an annual income of 30% or less of AMI. Extremely low-income households can include seniors or people on fixed income, such as social security or disability, or working households, families or individuals that that earn lower wages.

Very low-income households are households with annual income of 50% or less of the AMI. Very low-income households include a broad range of household types that can include nonprofit employees, teachers, single parents and other working households that earn lower wages.

Low-income households are households with an annual income of 80% or less of the AMI. Low-income households can include working small and large families, retired persons receiving pensions, public employees and often include two household members that are working full time at lower income levels.

Moderate-income are households with an annual income of 120% or less of the AMI. Moderate-income households have incomes that are slightly higher than the median, but still not high enough to afford market rents or home purchase prices.