LA officials call on landlords to accept housing vouchers from veterans under new streamlined process

Los Angeles officials are making a new push to get unhoused veterans off the streets and into housing faster under a new initiative.

The two-pronged approach announced Thursday in South L.A. aims to get more housing vouchers into veterans' hands while boosting the number of units available by partnering with property owners and landlords. But veterans and advocates are skeptical.

What’s changing

There will be additional staff focused on veterans under a new partnership with the L.A. Mayor Karen Bass' office, the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, and city and county housing authorities with the intent of cutting back on processing times.

Officials will also expand the partnership with U.S. VETS, a national nonprofit dedicated to preventing and ending veteran homelessness, to help connect people to housing.

“ We have an opportunity to show the whole United States how Los Angeles doesn't manage veteran homelessness — we end it,” Darryl Vincent, CEO of the organization, said at the news conference Thursday.

The program also aims to make it easier for landlords and property owners to accept housing vouchers and get veterans into their open units. This includes collaboration with property owners and groups, such as the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles and the Greater Los Angeles REALTORS, to boost the number of units available to veterans. The process will be streamlined, and there are enough inspectors and staff to support those who may be interested, according to the mayor’s office.

Anne Russell, president of the Greater Los Angeles Realtors, said many of their 11,500 members want to rent to veterans, but have been frustrated by the slow and complex process.

“ Well, now we're changing that,” she said Thursday.

What officials say

U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough noted that veteran homelessness in L.A. is at its lowest level in nearly a decade, with the latest point in time count showing a nearly 23% drop compared to the year before.

“ For the third year in a row, we've housed more homeless veterans in L.A. than we had in any other city in the country,” he said after the news conference.

But Bass said it needs to be a 100% drop. She added that they know they have thousands of vouchers available, but landlords have struggled with the bureaucratic hurdles.

“ Moving those hurdles away will allow us to virtually end veterans homelessness by getting these several thousand vouchers used,” she said.

There will also be a city and county wide campaign in the coming months calling on property owners to accept vouchers and rent to veterans, Bass said.

What veterans and advocates say

Rob Reynolds, Iraq war veteran and veteran advocate, told LAist that getting more vouchers out is great, but VA is appealing a decision that would’ve gotten hundreds of people into new temporary housing on the West L.A. campus.

“ We need something drastic, and we need temporary shelter to get veterans off the street immediately, so that then we can get them into permanent housing,” he said.

Reynolds has seen veterans getting turned away from emergency shelter at the West L.A. campus, which he said can sever trust and makes it more difficult to reach them in the future. A real solution for getting people off the street is having immediate access to shelter when they do ask for help, he said.

When asked about the decision to appeal after the news conference Thursday, McDonough said an ongoing program that's led to permanent housing placements for veterans across the country would be at risk if they had to make the “kind of wholesale changes that are envisioned by the litigation.” He added that they’re continuing to work that out in court, but they’re not compromising on the commitment to end veteran homelessness

Reynolds finds that argument frustrating.

“ This situation is solvable, it's not as difficult as everyone makes it out to be,” he said. “ And we have 388 acres of land. I mean, there shouldn't be any homeless veterans on the street.”

Robert Canas, an Iraq war veteran who lives on the West L.A. campus, told LAist that he's skeptical officials actually want to address the issue.

“ Honestly, I feel like it's just a deflection from them appealing the decision to house us here,” he said.

.A hearing on the case regarding the West L.A. campus is scheduled before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in April.

Additional resources

Unhoused veterans in need of support and housing assistance are encouraged to call (310) 268-3350.

“ If you need a place to stay tonight, we will bring you to that place tonight,” McDonough said. “Please call us.”

Property owners and landlords who have units available can get more information about renting to veterans by emailing HouseOurVets@lacity.org.

The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles has a dedicated team available and will continue to offer in-person orientations for property owners and landlords who would like to participate in the program, officials said.