Committee advances bill to protect home‑sharing income for low‑income older homeowners

Assemblymember Ward presented AB 474, which aims to expand affordable housing by encouraging nonprofit home‑sharing programs and ensuring income earned by low‑income home providers does not jeopardize their eligibility for public benefits.

Harrison Linder, associate director of housing policy for LeadingAge California (the bill sponsor), said nonprofit home‑sharing programs match low‑income home providers (frequently older adults) with home seekers, providing no‑cost services such as mediation and case management to promote housing stability. Linder said the model helps older Californians supplement income and gain social support without displacing existing benefit eligibility.

Advocates including Front Porch and several nonprofit partners testified in support; no witnesses testified in opposition. Committee members expressed support and noted the bill aims to help seniors who are "house rich, cash poor" and to increase affordable housing supply.

The committee recorded a motion and later advanced AB 474 to the Appropriations Committee. The motion recorded was "pass as amended" in committee notes.

Supporters emphasized the bill's intent to remove a "false trade‑off" between supplementing household income and retaining eligibility for Medi‑Cal, CalFresh and other program benefits. The bill as presented directs state agencies and counties to adopt clarifications to the effect that rental income from nonprofit home‑share programs should be excluded from eligibility determinations "to the extent legally possible." Implementation details would be worked out in subsequent administrative or regulatory steps.

What happens next: AB 474 advanced to Appropriations; sponsors signaled willingness to work with counties and utilities for implementation details.