Professional Documents
Culture Documents
April 2017
Edited by
S. Lynn Martinez &
Madeline S. Howard
This Manual is for all housing advocates, grassroots organizers and community members who
believe that clean, decent, safe and available affordable housing is a right for every human. After
joining the legal services community in 1989, I was amazed atand overwhelmed bythe
number of planning and advocacy tools available to local advocates. I also was frustrated by the
absence of a user-friendly compendium that would guide effective utilization of these tools. This
Manual is the result of a long-term desire to provide an easy-to-understand, comprehensive
approach to increasing the supply of affordable housing in our communities.
This Manual is fondly dedicated to the memory of Rev. David Burgess (19172008), co-founder
of the Affordable Housing AffiliationBenicia and housing advocate extraordinaire.
Lynn Martinez
Western Center on Law & Poverty
Co-Editor, January 2017
Defending tenants facing eviction in Californias high opportunity areas is something like trying to
catch a tidal wave with a teaspoon. You can prevent some evictions, but the lack of affordable
housing means that even the wins are short-lived. With many low-income tenants paying more
than half of their income towards rent, vulnerable families are always on the brink of
displacement. I hope that this Manual will provide tools for advocates to make long-term, far
reaching changes in their communities so that we can fulfill the goal of safe, integrated, affordable
housing for all.
Madeline Howard
Western Center on Law & Poverty
Co-Editor, January 2017
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Acknowledgements
This Manual was also made possible by the generous financial support of the
Bank of America Foundation.
Western Center also wishes to thank the following individuals for their tireless work
on this Manual:
Catherine Bishop, Jean Blanchard, Craig Castellanet, Laura Chiera, Deborah Collins,
Aleric Degrafinried, Nichol de Guzman, Navneet Grewal, Meghan Haswell, Marvin Katzoff,
Michel Kim, Deanna Kitamura, Andrea Luquetta, Michael Moynagh, Michael Rawson,
Richard Rothschild, Richard Schirtzer, Eric Shultheis, Jay Smith, Greg Spiegel, Mona Tawatao,
Ryan Wells, and the great team at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP: David Elson, Robert Eller,
Sue Shelton, Allen Riberdy, Max Gaertner, Tom Muller, Matthew Dombroski, Randall Keen,
Susan Hori, Bryan LeRoy, Roger Grable, Scot Fishman and Alexis Wesley.
Disclaimer: Although Western Center on Law and Poverty strives to ensure that the information
contained in this Manual is accurate and up-to-date, we make no warranties in that regard.
Frequent changes in this area of the law can render some sections out of date. This Manual is not
intended to be a substitute for independent legal research.
Copyright 2017 Western Center on Law & Poverty, All rights reserved. Permission is granted
to copy and share this publication with LSC- and IOLTA-funded organizations. For other
permissions, please contact us at mhoward@wclp.org.
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Table of Contents
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Housing for All: Western Center on Law & Povertys Affordable Housing Manual
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Housing for All: Western Center on Law & Povertys Affordable Housing Manual
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Housing for All: Western Center on Law & Povertys Affordable Housing Manual