Welcome to
The City of East Palo Alto
Below Market Rate (BMR) Homeownership Program Administered by East Palo Alto Community Alliance Neighborhood Development Organization (EPACANDO), a Public benefit nonprofit organization
The city utilizes a random lottery system and maintains a notification list to select eligible applicants to purchase BMR unit as they become avaailable.
Guiding BMR homeowners with the steps to resale, refinance, and the home improvement process.
Below-Market-Rate (BMR) housing is a program designed to provide affordable housing options for individuals and families with moderate, low, or very low incomes
Affordable Homeownership Administrator
The City of East Palo Alto (EPA) contracts with a local non-profit housing agency, EPACANDO, to administer the BMR Program. The Bay Area Affordable Homeownership Alliance (BAAHA) works with EPACANDO to assist in the sale of the city’s BMR units. BAAHA is a nonprofit organization that conducts BMR application screening, lottery, and property sale services. The City of East Palo Alto is committed to providing affordable housing options. The Below Market Rate (BMR) Program is designed to increase the availability of affordable housing options for low- to moderate-income households. It helps first-time homebuyers with low, moderate, and middle incomes by offering specified units sold at below-market-rate prices. These homes are also resold at below-market-rate prices to future eligible buyers.
The program aims to assist those who are priced out of the competitive housing market, ensuring diversity and inclusivity within communities. It regulates the price of the BMR units to ensure affordability.
The program was developed in response to “inclusionary zoning” ordinances prevalent in various jurisdictions, which require developers of new residential projects above a specific size to sell a percentage of the units at below-market rates.
In 2003, EPACANDO received a contract from the City of East Palo Alto to administer the City’s “below-market-rate homeownership” program. For many years, the city required developers of for-sale housing to set aside a substantial number (typically 20%) of the new homes for purchase by qualified low-income buyers. EPACANDO helped buyers obtain homes, then monitored them for compliance with restrictions on refinancing, resale, and subletting. Later, as production of new for-sale homes in the city slowed—and therefore production of new BMR homes slowed—the City decided to operate the program using City staff. However, beginning in 2019, EPACANDO was once again awarded the contract to provide this service for the City. In 2025, the City renewed EPACANDO’s contract to administer the homeownership program.