Housing the Dream. Living the Nightmare.

We were raised believing in the American Dream –if we worked hard, played by the rules, and took a little risk, then prosperity would follow. While many workers are offered 401(k) retirement plans and guaranteed pensions, we invested our life savings into small businesses that provide housing for our neighbors. As California residents and small-business owners in the age of COVID-19, we’re left to wonder whether that American Dream applies to us anymore.

Our dream was about saving for our retirement, our long-term health care, and our children’s college tuition. It was also a chance to leave something for our family’s future generations.

This was not just an investment in our financial future, it was an investment in our own community by providing quality housing.

Our dreams and futures faded over the years as more regulations were imposed on rental housing providers. But the COVID-19 pandemic did more than just harm everyone’s health---it brought endless government regulations and essentially confiscated our property. Government officials promised us that the COVID restrictions that let people live in our rental homes essentially for free would end, but they haven’t.

Other residents and businesses have had access to government relief programs. Many small businesses had access to Paycheck Protection Program loans, but government officials told us those weren’t for most of us. Many people received enhanced unemployment benefits and numerous stimulus checks, but most of us didn’t. The government forced us to keep paying our taxes, insurance, and mortgages, but they told those we house they don’t have to pay rent. That’s unfair.

In 2021, the State of California and numerous local governments offered to pay off the accrued rental debt of qualified tenants, but the process was complex and untimely for a number of housing providers.

Californians are working again; during the pandemic, only one industry was forced to stay in business with no immediate relief. Local governments like the City of Los Angeles and Alameda County/Oakland are telling renters they don’t have to pay rent; they don’t have to communicate with their property manager. The tenants didn’t even have to suffer a COVID related hardship.

We invested in housing to build our dreams and provide a place for families to make their own memories.

Now, that dream has become a nightmare.

Who Are We?

Housing the Dream is a coalition of mom-and-pop housing providers across California who are frustrated that our state and local governments have failed us.

We are your neighbors. Many of us have families, work full-time or are retired, and had dreams of a better future.

We take pride in our homes, make sure they are well-maintained, and are part of the community fabric. Unfortunately, ability to screen or remove bad actors from the community are being restricted under state, county, and city laws.

When COVID hit, we did our part; we worked with our tenants, we worked to accommodate their financial needs amid the initial hardships that the pandemic brought. Now, we have vaccines, a stronger economy, and people are back at work. We helped those who needed help, but now we’re being robbed by those who took advantage of California political leaders saying that no one needs to pay rent.

Housing the Dream seeks to empower all property owners with the ability to share their stories, advocate for better solutions to housing in California, educate public officials that the current system isn’t fair, isn’t working, and isn’t being fixed fast enough.