Rent Help & Legal Aid

Do you need help paying rent?

The YMCA Community Resource Center may be able to help! To find out if you qualify, call 650-276-4101 Ext. 4. You can also visit the YMCA CRC at 1486 Huntington Avenue, Suite 100, in South San Francisco.

For more information and up to date walk-in hours, visit the Community Resource Center website. 

The YMCA CRC is a core service agency providing safety net services to San Mateo County residents in need of food, emergency housing assistance, emergency utility assistance, shelter and other basic needs.

Legal Assistance & Eviction Defense

Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County provides free legal advice and assistance to low-income residents of San Mateo County including legal counseling, advice, and representation in evictions, disputes over housing conditions, and illegal acts by landlords. To contact Legal Aid, call (650) 558-0915 or visit theLegal Aid Society of San Mateo County website.

Other legal aid resources are available from:

Fair Housing Resources

Project Sentinel provides fair housing education, enforcement, dispute resolution in cases of housing discrimination, community education, and information on mortgage default and delinquency. To contact Project Sentinel, call (800) 339-6043 or visit the Project Sentinel website.

Housing Equality Law Project (HELP) provides fair housing and landlord-tenant counseling, consulting, investigation, and advocacy services. Services are free of charge to all tenants and housing seekers. To contact HELP, call (650) 273-8140 or visit the Housing Equality Law Project website. 

Homeownership Preservation Foundation operates the HOPE Hotline which provides free foreclosure assistance and housing counseling services. To contact the Foundation, call 1-888-995-HOPE (4673) or visit the Homeownership Preservation Foundation website.

Additional Resources

Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing

To receive Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the City is required to certify that it affirmatively furthers fair housing, by:

  1. Completing an Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (AI);
  2. Developing a Fair Housing Action Plan; and
  3. Maintaining records reflecting the actions taken in response to these analyses.

The City works with the County of San Mateo and the cities of Daly City, San Mateo, and Redwood City to prepare the analyses listed above. Those documents are available here:

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