Who to Call in Berkeley

(510) 981-7368 · (510) 452-4541 · (510) 981-2489

Rent Stabilization Board · Housing Retention Program · 311 Customer Service

Rent Board counseling, the grant that clears back rent before an eviction, 311, trash and recycling — and the line that works when 911 routes you out of town.

The numbers Berkeley residents ask for most, in one place. Tap a number to call it. If you are not sure who to ask, 311 will point you at the right desk.

Section 8 is not open

The Berkeley Housing Authority's Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) waiting list has been closed since the July 2022 random draw, and housing specialists do not answer waitlist questions. The recorded information line is (510) 981-5495. If you were in the 2022 draw you can still check whether your name came up.

Renting

Rent Stabilization Board

Free counseling for tenants and landlords: rent ceilings, rent increases, evictions, security deposits. You do not have to give your name.

Phone: (510) 981-7368
Email: rent@berkeleyca.gov
Address: 2000 Center Street, Suite 400, Berkeley, CA 94704
Website: rentboard.berkeleyca.gov

The TDD line is (510) 981-6903. Counseling appointments can also be booked through the Rent Board's website.

Housing Code Inspections

Report a serious repair problem or a code violation in a rental. An outstanding violation also stops a landlord taking the annual rent increase.

Phone: (510) 981-5444
Email: hci@berkeleyca.gov

Housing Retention Program

A one-off grant of up to $10,000 to clear back rent for a Berkeley tenant who has been served a Pay or Quit or an Unlawful Detainer notice. Run for the city by the Eviction Defense Center.

Phone: (510) 452-4541

Leave a voicemail with your name, your number and the fact that you are a Berkeley resident looking for housing help; staff ring back to check eligibility. Have your lease, the notice, photo ID for everyone over 18 and proof of income ready. Household income has to be at or below 50% of area median income.

Affordable housing

City affordable housing office

Which buildings have below-market-rate units, and how the city's programs work.

Phone: (510) 981-5304
Email: AffordableHousing@berkeleyca.gov

Affordable housing preferences

The BART-displacement and foreclosure certificates you need before you apply for a lottery. Replies take five to ten business days.

Email: HousingPreferences@berkeleyca.gov

Health, Housing and Community Services

The department behind the housing programs, including the Housing Retention Program.

Phone: (510) 981-5100
Email: HHCS@berkeleyca.gov

Berkeley Housing Authority

Section 8 vouchers. Front desk for people who already hold a voucher.

Phone: (510) 679-2330
Website: berkeleyhousingauthority.org

Waitlist questions go to the recorded line on (510) 981-5495; the list itself is closed.

211 Alameda County

Emergency housing, shelter, food and utility help. Free, around the clock, interpreters available.

Phone: 211

Free, 24 hours a day. You can also text your zip code to 898-211 between 9 am and 4 pm on weekdays.

Trash, recycling and compost

Zero Waste (city crews)

Compost and landfill carts, missed pickups, bulky items, and which day your street is collected.

Phone: (510) 981-7270
Email: customerservice@berkeleyca.gov

Report a missed pickup after 10 am on your service day and before 5 pm the next working day. There is no collection on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day or New Year's Day; that week's collections shift one day later.

Ecology Center (curbside recycling)

The blue and brown recycling bins are collected by the Ecology Center, not by city crews.

Phone: (510) 527-5555
Email: recycling@ecologycenter.org
Hours: Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm

Blue bin: glass, cans, rigid plastic containers, foil. Brown bin: paper, card, magazines, cereal boxes. No plastic bags, no polystyrene, no food-soiled paper.

The city, day to day

311 Customer Service

The general number for the city. Potholes, street lights, abandoned vehicles, and anything you cannot place.

Phone: (510) 981-2489
Email: customerservice@berkeleyca.gov
Hours: Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm

Public Works

Streets, sidewalks, sewers and street trees.

Phone: (510) 981-6620
Email: PWworks@berkeleyca.gov

Planning and Development

Permits, zoning and building questions.

Phone: (510) 981-7400
Email: planning@berkeleyca.gov

Soft-story retrofit program

The mandatory retrofit for older apartment buildings over a garage, and the grant for homes with living space above one.

Phone: (510) 981-7451
Email: softstory@berkeleyca.gov

In an emergency

Emergency

Fire, medical, crime in progress.

Phone: 911

Calling 911 from a cell phone anywhere in the Bay Area usually reaches the Highway Patrol's regional dispatch first. (510) 981-5911 goes straight to Berkeley police and fire dispatch — worth saving in your phone if you live in the hills.

Police, non-emergency

Reports, follow-ups and anything that is not happening right now.

Phone: (510) 981-5900
Email: police@berkeleyca.gov

The TDD line is (510) 981-5799.

Fire Department, non-emergency

Fire-zone questions, vegetation inspections and permits.

Phone: (510) 981-3473
Email: fire@berkeleyca.gov

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