California

Tax credit apartments in San Rafael, CA

HUD's database lists 10 properties in San Rafael built or rehabbed with low-income housing tax credits: 536 apartments, 462 of them income-restricted. Rents in those units are capped while each property's affordability agreement runs, and you qualify by income; many properties still keep waiting lists.

Equal housing opportunity. Tax credit properties must follow the Fair Housing Act, which bars discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status or national origin, and they may not refuse an applicant because the applicant holds a Housing Choice (Section 8) voucher (IRC 42(h)(6)(B)(iv)). Properties HUD lists as senior housing may limit who lives there by age only as the Fair Housing Act's housing-for-older-persons exemption allows. To report housing discrimination, call HUD at 1-800-669-9777.

LIHTC Atlas does not own, manage or rent these apartments and does not take applications. Contact each property's management for availability, rents and income rules. Listings come from HUD's database and may be out of date.

Anise Turina Apts

10 Labrea Way, San Rafael, CA 94903

10 1BR, 8 2BR, 10 3BR

Apartments
28
Income-restricted
27
Placed in service
2004

Belvedere Place Apts

162 Belvedere St, San Rafael, CA 94901

HUD lists it as senior housing · 1 1BR, 25 2BR

Apartments
26
Income-restricted
25
Placed in service
2002

Centertown Apts

855 C St, San Rafael, CA 94901

Apartments
60
Income-restricted
60
Placed in service
1992

Lone Palm Court

840 C St, San Rafael, CA 94901

4 studio, 9 1BR, 12 2BR

Apartments
60
Income-restricted
24
Placed in service
1999

Martinelli House

1327 Lincoln Ave, San Rafael, CA 94901

HUD lists it as senior housing · 48 studio, 18 1BR

Apartments
66
Income-restricted
64
Placed in service
2007

Residences At Vivalon Healthy Aging Campus

999 3rd Street San Rafael, San Rafael, CA 94901

HUD lists it as senior housing · 50 studio, 16 1BR, 1 2BR

Apartments
67
Income-restricted
66
Placed in service
2023

Riviera Apts

455 Canal St, San Rafael, CA 94901

1 studio, 4 1BR, 19 2BR, 4 3BR

Apartments
27
Income-restricted
27
Placed in service
2004

Rotary Valley Senior Housing

10 Jeannette Prandi Way, San Rafael, CA 94903

HUD lists it as senior housing

Apartments
80
Income-restricted
80
Placed in service
1997

San Rafael Commons

302 Fourth St, San Rafael, CA 94901

HUD lists it as senior housing · 22 studio, 29 1BR

Apartments
83
Income-restricted
50
Placed in service
2001

Sommerhill Townhomes

30 Novato St, San Rafael, CA 94901

12 1BR, 9 2BR, 18 3BR

Apartments
39
Income-restricted
39
Placed in service
1999

Source: HUD's national LIHTC database (LIHTCPUB, revised May 28, 2026; projects placed in service through 2024). Properties a state agency has flagged as no longer monitored are left out; properties placed in service after 2024 are not in HUD's database yet.

How tax credit apartments work

Each income-restricted unit has a maximum rent set from the area's income limits: gross rent, including a utility allowance for tenant-paid utilities, can't go above 30% of the income limit for the unit's size. The rent doesn't change with your own income, so a household near the bottom of the range pays the same rent as one near the top. That's different from public housing or a voucher, where you pay a share of what you earn.

To qualify, your household's income has to be at or under the limit the unit is set at, usually 50% or 60% of the area median, and up to 80% in some buildings. Management checks income, and assets, when you apply. A household made up entirely of full-time students generally can't qualify, with exceptions in IRC 42(i)(3)(D) such as single parents and married students filing jointly. More on qualifying.

You can apply with a Housing Choice voucher, and the property can't turn you down because you have one.