Plus Housing Waitlist

Back to top

If you identify as homeless, you must request housing services through a Coordinated Entry Access Point, not Plus Housing.

• In order to better coordinate our homelessness efforts as a City, and in recognition of the fact that Plus Housing has always prioritized currently housed persons with high rent burden and those exiting transitional housing, Plus Housing is closed to homeless applicants.  Plus Housing remains open to stably housed and transitionally housed applicants (medical, substance treatment or other time-limited programs). We sincerely appreciate your understanding.  Homeless persons should enroll instead in the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH)
   
• Coordinated Entry COVID-19 update: Problem Solving, Assessment and Prioritization and Housing Navigation are core components to coordinated entry and to helping San Franciscans connect to housing. But during a public health crisis, these services are essential to ensure our most vulnerable can “shelter-in-place” in their own housing or in a safe alternative.
   
• Access Points provide access, eligibility, problem solving, assessment, and housing referrals for people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco. Below are the phone numbers to connect with the Access Points.

• You will not be contacted unless your application is prioritized for placement and we have an available resource.
  • Plus Housing prioritizes persons who are currently housed but have high rent burdens (pay a high percentage of their income in rent).
• If you are currently a resident of a Residential Care Facility for the Chronically Ill (RCFCI), you must be submitted for placement by your facility management.

Back to top

Resources for Back Rent, One-Time Emergency Financial Assistance or Move-In Cost assistance, you may apply to the below community partners:

San Francisco Emergency Rental Assistance Program (SF ERAP) - online application

PRC Emergency Financial Assistance

Seasons of Sharing

Back to top

What is the Plus Housing waitlist?

Plus Housing is a housing program through the San Francisco Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD) for low-income people living with HIV.  In this program, applicants apply to be referred to either (or both) housing subsidies and subsidized units when they become available. Please note that current need is greater than current capacity of subsidy programs and subsidized units. Stably housed households, which are those who are currently housed and not in a transitional housing program (medical, substance treatment or other time-limited programs), are eligible for available rent subsidies/vouchers when they become available.  Transitionally housed households are eligible for available subsidized units as they become available.

The Plus Housing list is a waitlist of applicants seeking referral to subsidized housing units or tenant-based subsidies from the Plus Housing program. The waitlist is not first come first serve, rather applicants with the highest rent burden will be prioritized when resources become available.

Back to top

How do I qualify?

In order to be eligible for the new Plus Housing program, an applicant must:

• Currently live in San Francisco
• HIV+ (An AIDS or disabling AIDS diagnosis is not required for general program participation, but is for some program resources)
  • Not all persons in your household must be HIV+, but at least one must be
• Annual household income less than 50% of area median income (For 2023: $50,450 for a 1-person household, and $57,650 for a 2-person household).  See AMI link for other household sizes
  • Note for some resources in the Plus Housing program, you must have at least some type of income (general assistance, social security, wages, etc.)
• Unsubsidized rent burden of 50% or greater (the amount of monthly rent divided by the total before-tax monthly income)
  • If you pay a percentage of your income as a "program fee", we consider that fee to be rent for the purposes of this program
  • Exemptions from the rent burden requirement include the following:
    • Persons living in transitional housing (medical, substance treatment, or other time-limited programs)
    • Persons currently receiving a partial housing subsidy (a flat monthly rental assistance amount, unlike paying a percentage of your income toward rent), provided that subsidy does not reduce the applicant's rent burden to below 35%
  • TO CALCULATE RENT BURDEN:  First, determine your monthly income.  If you only know your annual income, just divide it by 12.  Next, divide your rent by your monthly income.
    • Example:  If you earn $16,752 per year, your monthly income is $1,396.  If your monthly rent is $700, your rent burden is just over 50% ($700 divided by $1,396 = 50.1%)

Note that some housing and subsidies placed by Plus Housing may have additional eligibility requirements.  Also, if you don't qualify now, you can certainly apply in the future if/when you do qualify.

Back to top

What do I need to apply?

You can apply to the program by submitting the online Plus Housing List form.
(If you started a Plus Housing application but did not finish it, please know we have moved to a new system. Any unfinished forms will not be saved. If you started a form before but did not submit it, you will need to start again with the new form)

If you apply online, you'll get an immediate confirmation by email (if you provide an email address). MOHCD will not respond to your application unless you are selected for assistance. Paper applications are also available, either through Plus Housing Paper Application (PDF). Please do not apply more than once; duplicate applications will be removed. If you need to change information you submitted on an application, please email us at plushousing@sfgov.org. Thank you.

Back to top

How are Plus Housing waitlist participants prioritized?

The Plus Housing list ranks applicants in the following order and with the following criteria.

1. Patients from Residential Care Facilities for the Chronically Ill (RCFCI) or Transitional Residential Housing Facility (TRCF) have top priority
   RCFCIs/TRCFs provide temporary, supportive housing for persons with disabling HIV/AIDS and have a continued need for additional medical support and assistance with daily living.  Clients being discharged from RCFCIs/TRCFs have top priority, to free up space at the RCFCI/TRCF for others that need that higher level of care. If you or the person you represent is an HIV+ person that needs supportive housing for a medical-related condition, please email us at plushousing@sfgov.org.
2. Eligible transitionally housed applicants are entered into a lottery for each available unit.
3. New Plus Housing applicants
   • As of 2/8/2024, there were over 800 active PLUS housing applicants awaiting assistance.
   • Stably housed applicants are given priority last and if available may request assistance in the form of a partial housing subsidy through the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

Back to top

What happens to my application after I send it in?

1. You will only be contacted if we have a question about your application, or if you have been prioritized for placement.
2. Please note that if you are selected for placement, the following will be verified.  If any of the following cannot be verified, the applicant may be removed from the Plus Housing list.
   • HIV+ diagnosis letter
   • Proof of income (two most recent pay stubs or if receiving public benefits/assistance - your most recent award letter)
   • Proof of rent burden (current lease or program agreement)
3. When housing subsidies and units become available, a MOHCD staff person will contact the top applicant deemed appropriate for (and interested in) the type of housing opportunity available. Note that a participant that turns down any subsidy or housing unit for which they've indicated interest may have to reapply for the program.

Note that if you submit an application that is not eligible for the program per the above guidelines, your application will not be considered and you will not be otherwise notified.

Back to top

What happens if I want to change information on my application, or if my housing or financial situation changes?

You are responsible for keeping your application information updated.  Please contact MOHCD at plushousing@sfgov.org. Please do not submit more than one application; duplicate applications will be removed.

Back to top

After I apply, can I find out where I am on the Plus Housing waitlist?

***Note that we cannot give you an exact rank on the list, as it could change if applications with higher priority (i.e. higher rent burden) come in. Also given a relative shortage of resources, and that this is a dynamic list, per the above, we are unfortunately unable to provide an estimate of how long it might take to place you.

Back to top

Is my information kept confidential?

Yes! The Plus Housing program fully complies with both the City of San Francisco's online Privacy Policy and with San Francisco's Administrative Code Chapter 12M, which requires us to obtain your consent before disclosing your information to any outside party.  By signing or submitting an application, you agree to allow us to share your information with our Plus Housing partners, but only as necessary to process your eligible application and deliver the services you requested.

Please note that we reserve the right to make adjustments to program policies as needed, in order to serve the overall program aims and provide the greatest benefit to San Franciscans living with HIV.

Back to top