Project Sentinel

Dispute resolution services - the organization's staff provided information on rental rights and responsibilities to 8,512 tenants, owners and managers of rental housing by way of workshops, seminars, one on one counseling and phone counseling so that informed decisions could be made. There were 2,247 additional household persons served. 2,096 tenants, owners and managers of rental housing attended workshops and webinars. 1,910 cases were opened for households needing additional assistance of extensive counseling and dispute resolution and rental assistance. 106 total outreach activities were completed. Panels of volunteer and paid mediators along with salaried staff resolved rental disputes with mediation and conciliation.

Hud housing counseling - hud housing counseling provides needed and sometimes required counseling to homeowners and future homeowners. Most first time homebuyer assistance programs require a certificate of either counseling or an educational workshop. Other government programs also require counseling for housing programs such as applying for a reverse mortgage. The organization also uses funds from national mortgage settlement funds ("nmsf"), which is being administered by the California housing finance agency ("calhfa"), to support its hud housing counseling program. It provides free housing counseling service to California households struggling to pay rent, mortgage and living expenses. During the year ended june 30, 2023, the organization assisted 1,203 first time home buyers prepare for home ownership through homebuyer educational workshops and an additional 660 households with individual one-on-one pre-purchase counseling. The organization assisted 107 homeowners with mortgage default and delinquency counseling and intervention and reverse mortgage counseling with 409 households.

Fair housing - the fair housing center investigated 409 complaints of discrimination for the year ended june 30, 2023. 862 people benefited from those investigations, and the organization staff provided information, education, and referrals on 1,172 calls. The organization settled three fair housing cases for a total of $3,124,144 during the year. The litigated settlement amounts for these cases resulted in a recovery of fees for organization's staff time and dispersed resources totaling $110,813. Many other fair housing cases were resolved with a change in rental policies and practices, reasonable accommodations granted and evictions withdrawn. The organization conducted 186 formal outreach activities with community members from targeted populations and organizations who serve them with fair housing education, as well as housing providers, an increase from the prior fiscal year which had been more heavily impacted by covid-19 restrictions. The organization also distributed 4,872 brochures and 1,136 mailers, had 121,893 hits on the website, and made 101 posts on social media regarding fair housing protections.