DAHLIA housing portal: how to apply for San Francisco housing

On the DAHLIA housing portal, you apply to San Francisco's below market rate homes one building at a time. These are lower-priced rentals and homes for sale for households under an income limit, the most a household can earn and still qualify. Most buildings fill their homes by lottery, a random drawing, so applying on the last day is as good as the first.

A preference is a rule that moves some households ahead of others in a lottery. Two of San Francisco's strongest preferences need a certificate, a document from the city that proves you qualify. One is for families the city's former Redevelopment Agency forced to move, and their descendants; its holders go first in every city lottery. The other is for tenants forced out by a fire or by certain evictions; its holders go next, for up to 20% of a building's apartments.

What is DAHLIA, and who runs it?

DAHLIA is the city's one website for these homes, run by the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD). For most listings, applying means entering a lottery for the open apartments or homes in one building. For a small number of rentals, the city takes applications in the order they arrive until the apartments are rented, which is called first come.

The city's preferences don't help with state or federal programs such as a Section 8 voucher, which pays part of the rent on an apartment you find yourself.

How do you apply on DAHLIA?

You apply to each building you want, one short application at a time:

1. Find a listing on DAHLIA and read who can live there, the income range and the deadline.
2. Apply before the deadline, usually online. The form asks who will live with you, your income, and whether anyone in your household qualifies for a preference.
3. Keep your lottery number. The city emails it to you after you apply.
4. Check the results on DAHLIA, usually right after the lottery date shown on the listing.
5. Answer fast if the building's leasing office contacts you. The leasing office, which the city calls the leasing agent, contacts households in lottery order until every apartment is rented.

A person can be on only one application per building. Under the city's lottery manual, if the same person shows up on two, every application with that person is removed.

Which certificates should you get from the city first?

The Certificate of Preference and the Displaced Tenant Housing Preference, two of the strongest preferences, each need a certificate from MOHCD before the lottery. Neither arrives right away, so apply for yours well before you enter lotteries.

The Certificate of Preference (COP) is for households the former San Francisco Redevelopment Agency forced to move in the 1960s and 1970s, and for their direct descendants. It gives the highest priority in city lotteries and waitlists, the lists of people waiting for an apartment to come free. You can use it once to rent and once to buy, and a senior holder can use it a second time for senior housing.

A COP can't be passed to a family member, and it doesn't come with a voucher or any help paying rent. Call the COP info line at 628-652-5801 with questions.

The Displaced Tenant Housing Preference (DTHP) is for San Francisco tenants who had to leave their home in one of four ways:

1. An Ellis Act eviction (the owner took the building off the rental market) or an owner move-in eviction, filed with the Rent Board in 2010 or later.
2. A fire so bad the household can't move back within six months.
3. You rented a below market rate apartment whose rent limits ended, and the new rent is more than 40% of your income. This covers only certain apartments in the Fillmore Center.
4. Having to leave an illegal apartment after the city's Planning Commission ordered it removed.

You can use a DTHP once, to rent or to buy. Until you move in with it, you can claim it in as many lotteries as you like. It only counts once MOHCD has issued the certificate. Questions go to the DTHP line at (415) 701-5500.

The other common preferences need no certificate. You claim them on the lottery application and send proof. The Neighborhood Resident preference is for people who live within half a mile of a new building or in its supervisor district. The Live or Work in San Francisco preference is for people who live in the city or do at least 75% of their work hours there.

How do the lottery number and preferences work together?

Every application gets one random rank, drawn without looking at preferences. If 3,000 households apply, each gets a rank from 1 to 3,000. Then MOHCD makes a separate list for each preference, and you sit on every list you qualify for, always with your same rank. Households with no preference go into the general list, which comes last.

In a new building, the leasing office works through the lists in order: certificate holders first, then displaced tenants, then neighborhood residents, then people who live or work in the city, then everyone else. Each listing on DAHLIA shows its own order. A household that takes an apartment comes off all the other lists.

Two preferences can fill only part of a building:

• Displaced tenants: up to 20% of the apartments.
• Neighborhood residents: up to 40%.
• Small buildings: neither preference applies when a building has fewer than five apartments.

Fractions are dropped. Say a new building has 34 apartments. 20% of 34 is 6.8, so up to 6 go to displaced tenants. 40% is 13.6, so up to 13 go to neighborhood residents. Once those numbers are reached, the leasing office moves on to the next list.

A preference moves you ahead of the general list, but it doesn't promise you a home. There are usually many applicants for only a few apartments, so many households with a preference still don't get one.

How does the veteran priority work?

A veteran in your household moves your application to the top of a preference list you already qualify for. The city's veteran page names three: the Certificate of Preference, the Displaced Tenant Housing Preference, and Live or Work in San Francisco. If you qualify for none of them, you go into the general lottery and the veteran priority doesn't apply.

To claim it, answer "Yes" to the veteran question on the application and pick the preference you qualify for. Then send three things with the veteran's name on them:

• a photo ID issued by the government, such as a driver's license or passport;
• the Department of Defense discharge form, called a DD Form 214, or a letter from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs confirming you qualify for benefits;
• proof of the preference you chose. Live or Work papers must be dated within 45 days of your application.

You only prove veteran status the first time you apply. For help with discharge papers, call San Francisco's County Veterans Service Office at 415-934-4200.

How do first-come rentals work?

First come means complete applications are reviewed strictly in the order received. A rental building can switch to first come when its lottery list runs out, under the city's rules for the lower-priced homes developers must include in new buildings. The city's first-come page lists the apartments you can apply for that way.

What extra steps does buying a home take?

Buying a below market rate home takes more steps than renting one. A home for sale can also switch to first come when no lottery applicant qualifies. Under the city's rules:

• Everyone 18 or older who will be on the title, the ownership record, must finish 10 hours of homebuyer education before you enter the lottery. The class must come from a provider approved by MOHCD and by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the federal housing department. HUD lists approved housing counselors.
• Nobody in the household may have owned a home in the past three years, with some exceptions.
• You need a mortgage from a lender MOHCD approves.
• Buying a resale home takes about 4 to 5 months from the day the owner offers it.

What happens after the lottery?

The leasing office contacts households by email, phone or text, in rank order, until every apartment is rented. The city's after-the-lottery page says this can take weeks or months, and many households never hear back because the apartments run out first. Check your spam folder.

When the leasing office does reach you, move fast:

• Answer within the deadline the leasing office gives you, typically 2 to 5 business days. If you don't, you can lose that apartment.
• Have your papers ready. The city lists up to 3 to 6 months of pay stubs and bank statements and tax returns for the last 1 or 2 years. It also asks for your past addresses and landlords, a government photo ID, and proof of any preference. Gather them before the lottery, using a documents checklist.
• Ask for reconsideration within five calendar days if you are turned down. A denial based on criminal history gives you 14 days.
• Expect checks in a set order. A rental building may check your credit and rental history only after your income and savings are approved, and your criminal history only after everything else.

You can turn an apartment down without losing your place in future city lotteries. Once you are approved, you get at least seven calendar days to sign the lease or purchase agreement.

What should you do next?

Apply to every San Francisco building where your household fits the income range. Each lottery is separate, so more applications give you more chances. If your household was displaced, apply for the COP or DTHP certificate now, before your next deadline. Lotteries in other cities use different preference rules, so read each city's before you apply there.

See what is open on our San Francisco page or across the Bay Area, and use the qualify check to see which listings fit your household size and income.