New Report: 10,000 Households Saved by SF’s Pandemic Rent Relief

Biggest Local Program of Any City Provided $61.2 million to SF Renters 

SAN FRANCISCO – A new report issued today by the City’s Budget and Legislative Analyst reveals that San Francisco’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) provided $61.2 million worth of local rental assistance to 10,110 households from 2021 through March 2024. This is the first comprehensive report on the pandemic rent relief program. San Francisco had by far the largest local rent relief program of any city. 

“20,000 San Francisco renters were spared eviction and crushing debt thanks to our unprecedented local rent relief program,” said Supervisor Preston. “I’m incredibly proud of how our city came together to make this happen.”

The program overwhelmingly benefitted the most vulnerable San Francisco residents, preventing thousands of people from becoming homeless during the pandemic and recovery. Half of the ERAP recipients were Black or Latinx, while 87% of recipients were extremely low-income, earning under 30% of Area Median Income. 

"I had just been laid off, fell behind on my rent and bills, and was at real risk of facing homelessness,” said Lorena Caldera, a social worker living in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco. “I am truly grateful that safe and caring spaces like La Raza Community Resource Center and the ERAP Program exist to help hard working people during difficult setbacks.”

The biggest source of funding came from Supervisor Preston’s Proposition I (2020) ballot measure which taxed the sellers of $10+ million properties to fund rent relief and social housing. 

“Taxing the rich to fund rent relief absolutely worked here in San Francisco to prevent massive displacement over the last few years,” said Roisin Isner, Director of Activism and Operations of the San Francisco Tenants Union. “The Tenants Union backed these taxes at the ballot for a reason: they help stop displacement and allow tenants to stay in their homes.”

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