Housing & Homelessness

A woman with medium skin tone with short curly light brown hair wearing black-rimmed glasses and a black jacket with the seal of Los Angeles stands behind a podium speaking into a microphone.

Internal audits help protect taxpayer money. LAHSA hasn’t finished any in years

LAHSA also has failed multiple external audits in recent years, which have found the agency has neglected to properly track spending meant to shelter and house people.

Homelessness rises in Long Beach for second year in a row

A woman bends down while holding a cell phone in her hands. She is talking to two men, seated on a stone wall. In between the men is a white garbage bac with red ties.

SoCal cities made landlords pay when rent hikes pushed out tenants. Then courts stepped in

A "for rent" sign hangs near a discarded mattresses outside an apartment building in the city of Los Angeles.

In failing to plan for new housing, Costa Mesa finds itself in state’s legal crosshairs

Listen 0:43

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LA used to jail people for sleeping on the street. A case changed the city’s lens on homelessness

A digital illustration of photos and shapes depicting a blanket on a bench, signage, and an encampment.

More Stories

Newsom signs law clarifying that landlords must clean fire debris

Local officials told renters they couldn’t force landlords to clean ash-covered homes. A new state law, inspired in part by LAist’s reporting, clarifies who’s responsible.
City controller tapped to help monitor LA’s compliance with agreement to create more shelter for unhoused people

A federal judge wrote that Controller Kenneth Mejia is the most knowledgeable about the complex funding in the homelessness system.
LA's official homeless tally increasingly undercounts people on the streets, RAND study finds

L.A. officials and volunteers undercounted in key neighborhoods by 32% this year, the study says. The agency that conducts the count says it welcomes the review but hasn't seen the numbers yet.

Listen 0:44
Measure A gives LA County’s cities dedicated local homelessness funding, but some say it’s not enough

The new sales tax divides $96 million among L.A.’s 88 cities.
Newsom signs law that will allow mid-rise apartment buildings near major transit stops

After weeks of waiting, the governor signed a law overhauling local zoning to build more housing in California's biggest metro areas.
Many CA cities wanted to build more housing by eliminating stair requirements. Only Culver City got it done

What do stairs have to do with California’s housing crisis? More than you might think, says this Culver City councilmember.

Listen 3:56
California quiere oír testimonios de los inquilinos de Mike Nijjar y más como parte de demanda judicial en curso

Este junio, California demanadó al proprietario Mike Nijjar por discriminación y condiciones de viva antihigiénicas e inseguras adentro de sus viviendas. Ahora, el fiscal general de California, Rob Bonta, está pidiendo que los inquilinos de Nijjar compartan sus experiencias con los funcionarios estatales.
California wants to hear from Mike Nijjar’s tenants and more as part of ongoing lawsuit

Attorney General Rob Bonta is asking tenants who have experience with Mike Nijjar, one of the state's biggest landlords, to share their complaints with his office.
No fridge? No more. Newsom signs bill requiring apartment landlords to supply appliances

People moving to Los Angeles are regularly baffled by the region’s refrigerator-less apartments. They’ll soon be a thing of the past.
California braces for ‘devastating’ expected cuts to federal homeless housing funds

Thousands of Californians could return to homelessness as the feds reportedly plan to disinvest from permanent housing.
California is about to have a massive fight over taxes. Here’s why Los Angeles is the frontline

A low-tax advocacy group seems intent on making the Los Angeles “mansion tax” the face of their statewide tax-capping ballot measure campaign.
Some Democrats share Trump's goal of forcing more homeless people into medical care

President Trump says one part of the answer to homelessness is civil commitment and forced medical care. Some Democrats agree.

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Housing & Homelessness