Our Program
CALHFA ADU Grants are provided by HPP Cares, a nonprofit 501c3 approved by the IRS. In our capacity as a nonprofit approved provider, we developed a program that provided households with an alternative to refinancing their existing mortgage at record low rates in order to access the CALHFA ADU grant, while incurring origination fees of $7,000 to $13,000, that absorb the majority of the grant award.
With the variety of options we offer in our program, we have been able to address the needs of homeowners in creating affordable housing for loved ones, creating generational wealth by offsetting monthly expenses with rental income, and creating neighborhood density in the process.
Whether you are:
- Cash-funding your project
- Obtaining financing after submitting an application, such as a HELOC or a second mortgage
- Funded by a prior refinance or home equity line of credit
- Borrowing money from relatives
Or one of many other options
As long as your managed Escrow account is fully funded, HPP CARES is willing to support all funding options.HPP CARES gives you the flexibility to pursue the best funding options with any institution, and you can consult with any professionals who are interested in building your ADU.
HPP CARES offers options for all households interested in joining the ADU movement.
Have questions about the program? Join our Wednesday Live Leader Led Webinar or send an email to [email protected] for further assistance.
Terms and Income Guidelines
CalHFA 2023 Government & Conventional Income Limits Accessory Dwelling Unit Grant ProgramConsult A Tax Advisor Before You Apply
The CAHLFA ADU GRANT is a grant, not a loan. All recipients of the CALHFA ADU GRANT in the 2022 Calendar Year will receive a 1099 in January for the full amount of $40,000.00. We regret to inform you that there is no way to defer the 1099. Even if the awardee does not use the funding until 2023. We regret to inform you that 1099s will be issued for 2022. In this case, there is no way to change it.
As soon as you realize that you wish to use less than the award amount for the 2022 calendar year, we will amend the award amount and adjust your 1099 for the amount used. We must be notified of this change by December 21, 2022. We must have the remainder of the year to ensure the award has been correctly adjusted and all systems are properly updated.
what is the actual grant award?
When approved, you will receive an award of $35,500. The HPP CARES and La Mesa Fund Control fee is $4,500. The $2,500 holdback is used to pay a licensed professional to get the project back on track if the homeowners choose an unethical licensed professional.
CALHFA ADU GRANT is a grant and is not to be repaid.
Our Application and Process
Review
Application reviewed two weeks from submissionConfirmation
Confirmation application has met the requirements and reserved CALHFA ADU GRANT FUNDS have been assigned to applicant. Email sent two weeks from submissionYour decision to pursue CALHFA ADU GRANT funding with our agency is greatly appreciated. It is imperative that when we resume accepting applications, you complete your submission in one sitting due to the high demand to work with our agency. Therefore, we advise potential clients seeking funding to complete their entire application at once.
Application samples
required documents
Please find a sample of all required documents you must have at the time of submission in PDF format. Not having these items ready in PDF format at the time of submission may cause you to miss the window for submission.
- Proof of Income
- Utility Bill (Water, Electricity, Gas)
- Tax Returns 2021
- Scope of Work (also known as the budget or cost of your ADU project)
As soon as confirmation is received that you have been selected, you will receive an email with details on your reservation number. This is simply a confirmation that your application is being processed for final approval of the CALHFA 40K ADU Grant.
Learn how to ADU
Come learn how to start or continue your ADU project, no matter where you are in your ADU journey.
We invite you to attend our live leader-led webinars on HOW TO ADU BY HPP CARES: DESIGN, FINANCE, CONSTRUCT, LEASE, PROTECT as many times as you need. We will help you with a clear strategy on how to achieve your goals and/or ensure you have taken all the necessary steps to achieve success with your ADU.
Enroll Now See the updated ADU Handbook for changes to State ADU Law – including the impacts of SB 9 on ADUs – that became effective January 1, 2022. We also updated and expanded the FAQ section. View the Accessory Dwelling Unit Handbook (PDF). For additional assistance, please contact HCD’s ADU team. HCD Accessory Dwelling Unit Handbook (ca.gov)Our Guidelines
Our program is unique in that we are able to offer many different options to households interested in ADUs. When considering working with our agency, there are still some standard rules to follow.
To qualify for a grant, the property must be owner-occupied at the time of application. In the case of homebuyers, the deed must be recorded within 20 days of the application being submitted, reviewed and considered for approval.
The applicant must be named on the property’s deed. It is pertinent to note that we will work with households whose property is owned by a Trust, an LLC as long as it is not a corporate LLC, or Tenancy In Common. All documentation must be presented, and ownership must be clearly demonstrated.
A single-family residence or a multi-unit building with 1-4 units are acceptable property.
Please note that Freddie Mac qualifying guidelines are followed when determining participants’ income requirements.
In terms of funding, we allow a wide range of options when it comes to building your ADU.
Our Fees
Fees are charged by all CALHFA-approved providers. There are some providers who charge origination fees as high as $7,000 in order to originate your loan, all of which are deducted from the grant funds.
HPP CARES, as an approved provider of CALHFA, has determined that our fees are $2,500 (A Fee that is Tax Deductible As We Are An IRS Recognized 501c3), which is deducted from the first draw to administer and manage your ADU project. Since we are a nonprofit organization, we decided to partner with a fund control company to handle the escrow for our program, La Mesa Fund Control. In order to ensure the full protection of your money, La Mesa Fund Control is a managed escrow with all the necessary licenses and insurance. There is a fee of $2,000 for the entire duration of your project (the first draw is $650 from grant proceeds only, the final draw is $1,350 disbursed at the time of certificate of completion.) Please note no fees nor invoices will ever be paid without a signature from you, the owner, before funds are disbursed to HPP CARES and La Mesa Fund Control.
There has been a misconception that we charge $7,000. This is not the case. A false narrative has been created about our program due to a lack of education. Currently, we are holding back $2,500 from the grant proceeds to help homeowners are who preyed upon by unethical contractors. If this occurs, then we must pay another licensed professional familiar with ADUs to help you get your projects back on track.
Once approved
The most prudent advice is not to disclose that you are an awardee to the licensed professionals you are getting bids from. Fees and costs for projects are increasing by 100%. Keeping your grant funds under wraps is the most effective way to protect them. There has been an increase in predatory activities and it is sad to observe them. On social media, there is concern that our agency is this, that, and the other. As a result of homeowners’ ignorance of construction costs, licensed professionals mark up their prices. We urge the unlicensed individuals on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok to target the real predators, the shady professionals out there who rip off consumers. That’s the real story. There is no doubt that it is not a small nonprofit that is true to its mission of advocating for consumers and educating them, in addition to helping California address the housing crisis.
Next Steps
Receive Official Award Email
DocuSign Fund Control Agreement
to establish account for grant funds and funds for the hard cost of the project to sit as you work through your ADU project.
Set Up Documents
for the selected Licensed Professional for your ADU project and for yourself if you are looking to receive a reimbursement toward your Loan that is funding your ADU project. Learn about the Reimbursement Process.
Meet Your Account Manager
We have provided the names for the Account Managers assigned to the grant awardees. If you are an awardee, please do not call the Account Managers listed below. As they will be requesting details pertaining to your award, they will politely terminate the call if you do not have those details.
For the awardees, please look at your award notification as the award numbers are assigned to certain account managers. Please contact the appropriate account manager to seek assistance with your award.
The Account Manager assignments are in addition to the weekly Live Leader Lead Q&A session.
SET UP W9, Release of Lien, Wire Form Tuesday 12:00 pm pst to 1:00pm pst: (Invoice Request Form) Wednesday 12:00 pm pst to 1:00pm pst (Leader Led Live Q and A Session Every Question Answered) Wednesday 1:00 pm pst to 3:00pm pst Friday 12:00 pm pst to 1:00pm pst (Leader Led Live Q and A Session Every Question Answered) Friday 1:00 pm pst to 3:00pm pst
Attend Educational Webinar
Excited to learn more about how to go about building the ADU and creating a strategy? Join us for our HOW TO ADU BY HPP CARES DESIGN FINANCE CONSTRUCT LEASE PROTECT webinar. It’s been said that we stay until the last question is answered.
Enroll NowHow Reimbursement works
The first questions we ask are: How are you funding your project and is there an existing mortgage on the property?
Using Cash
If you don’t have a mortgage and are paying cash, it is recommended that you put the full cost of the project in the managed escrow account and use it as intended. You will present the invoices for the predevelopment costs and hard costs to the ADU builder as they are received. HPP CARES cannot reimburse you directly for any items you pay out of pocket.
The cash paying ADUer awardees may get a mortgage, second mortgage, or a HELOC after the fact — this is fine if they wish to realize the predevelopment grant.
Mortgage
If you have a existing mortgage, 2nd, HELOC or obtaining a new mortgage, 2nd HELOC and are paying cash, our team can help you realize your grant proceeds by paying down the principle of the mortgage on the property or the loan associated with funding your ADU project if you wish to cover all predevelopment expenses upfront.
If you are on the waitlist and wondering what to do, you should follow the above information to determine how you will set up your project. Then if you become an awardee, you can comply with reimbursement procedures.
Managed Escrow
La Mesa Fund Control was chosen to assist with the management of the funds. The reason we have established this relationship is to have an additional party ensuring the safety of your funds. We appreciate you asking but we will not be able to accommodate — it is non-negotiable
You should be aware that even if you work with a construction lender or a prefab company that requires you to place all of your funding in their managed escrow account, we will not be able to offer you a grant. We must have all the funds for the project in our managed escrow account. There are no exceptions.
La Mesa is licensed and bonded to provide those services to manage your project funds.
Transferring From Another CALHFA ADU Provider
We do not poach clients because that is not what we are interested in. #NotInKindergarten
When you do good work with passion and conviction, it shows. We are happy to accommodate all households and their requests. Please contact the CALHFA Grant Program for more information.
Transferring to Another CALHFA ADU Provider
Should you desire to transfer to another provider, we’re sorry to see you leave, but we understand you have the option of moving. Best wishes to you. HPP CARES wants households to receive the CALHFA ADU GRANT funding in any way they can. Please email ADU Awardee Notification Department via email [email protected]
On The Waitlist
Thank-you for submitting all the requested items. At this point we would like to update you on the current situation, and the next steps.
The current situation
We had a tremendous turn-out pertaining to the CALHFA ADU Grant Program, and with such limited funds available we have been able to reserve a limited number of Grants. With the State being aware of the high demand for the Grant, we were extremely hopeful that the State Legislation will allocate additional funds toward the Program. However, this has not been the case – there is no new funding for the Grant program, currently.
The State will be issuing a formal update in the coming week regarding the number of ADU Grants that are available. Once we have the final allotment, we will submit those on the waitlist in the order that they appear on the list. We will send out an update email, once we have the details.
We are doing everything we can to advocate for additional funding.
We invite, and encourage, you to do the following:
Please sign the Sign-On Letter and contact your legislative members letting them know that you want an ADU and the much-needed grant funding.
Sign the letterWhat happens to your personal application and personal data?
We will hold all in our secure system as we await any new details and update from the CALHFA Leadership.
Step-by-step guidance
No matter what your needs are, access to quality, unbiased information is your right. Follow along as we provide essential information and resources to guide you at every stage of your journey.
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As a social enterprise, HPP CARES CDE has achieved significant and wide-ranging accomplishments in recent years. Working under the National Coalition for Equities' (NCFE) umbrella, our focus has been on advocating for a strong community voice among federal and state regulators and major private sector corporations. We've dedicated ourselves to addressing public policy issues, particularly those related to wealth and income inequality impacting affordable homeownership and small business growth.
Through collaborative efforts with NCFE, HPP CARES CDE has expanded outreach initiatives, leading to increased corporate social responsibility and consumer protection awareness. Our endeavors have enabled us to engage with a broader audience, forge partnerships with numerous companies, and engage with regulators, all with the goal of supporting deserving individuals in achieving sustainable homeownership, fostering successful small businesses, protecting consumers, and empowering California communities.
At HPP CARES CDE, we are committed to championing opportunities for people of color to become integral partners in our mission to reduce income and wealth inequality, thereby contributing to the creation of stronger futures for all minority groups.