Los Angeles to Lease Apartment Buildings for Homeless

The Los Angeles City Council has approved a Master Leasing Program to lease all or part of apartment buildings so that the city can sublease units to homeless residents.

The program, which is modeled on an approach already in use in Los Angeles County that is being implemented by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), according to a report in the Los Angeles Daily News.

“Master leasing is securing all or part of an apartment building on a long-term lease, then subleasing the units to unhoused individuals or families while providing them with supportive services,” Kary Yaroslavsky, a council member who sponsored the motion, told the newspaper.

Yaroslavsky first proposed using master leasing in 2022. The program will start with a pilot effort in West L.A.’s Fifth District, which she represents. The city’s chief administrative office has been tasked with identifying funding for the program in anticipation of expanding it citywide.

Los Angeles County and the LAHSA launched a master-leasing initiative in November that has thus far been able to lease and fill 105 units, with more than 530 units in the pipeline, the report said.

According to the city’s chief legislative analyst, any units leased and rented through program in Los Angeles beyond June 2027 will count towards a settlement between the city and the LA Alliance for Human rights.

During the pandemic, the LA Alliance for Human Rights sued the city and county to compel them to address the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles, demanding the immediate creation of shelter and housing to get people off the streets.

In March 2022, the city settled with the Alliance, establishing goals for Los Angeles to house a minimum of 60% of the people living on the streets in each of city’s 15 council district. In the settlement, the city agreed to reduce homeless encampments, establish goals and deadlines to document its progress.

Last month, the Alliance filed a legal motion demanding Los Angeles face a fine of more than $6M for an alleged lack of transparency and failure to reduce homeless encampments.

In its motion, Alliance contended that the city had agreed to a milestone of 5,190 new beds for the unhoused in 2023 but had only created 2,810.

City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto responded to the motion, stating that the city “was in full compliance with its obligations under the Settlement Agreement and that the LA Alliance has suffered no actual damages as a result of any delay.”

More than 75,000 residents of Los Angeles County are homeless, including more than 46,000 who live in the city of Los Angeles, according to the LAHSA.

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