Mayor Karen Bass is trying to knock down one of the more maddening barriers veterans face in Los Angeles: getting turned away from federal housing help because of their own earned benefits.
Speaking Tuesday at Bob Hope Patriotic Hall, Bass announced that the city will stop counting VA disability and other veteran benefits as household income when deciding who qualifies for federal housing vouchers. City officials say the shift is designed to unlock a pool of unused vouchers and move more veterans into permanent homes sooner rather than later.
At the downtown gathering, Bass pressed local landlords to start taking Section 8 and HUD‑VASH vouchers and urged veterans to contact the VA directly to get their housing assistance fast‑tracked, according to KTLA. Organizers said more than 50 property owners showed up and that 65 apartment viewings were booked as part of the initial outreach push. The announcement came alongside a broader effort to match existing vouchers with available units more quickly.
Federal change that paved the way
The city’s move builds on federal policy changes that took effect in 2024, when HUD told public housing agencies to stop counting service‑connected VA disability payments in HUD‑VASH income calculations. HUD said the revised rules, announced in August 2024, also give local agencies more leeway on income thresholds and provide extra administrative funding to recruit landlords. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said the goal is to keep veterans from having to choose between their benefits and a stable place to live, according to HUD.
Where the need still is
Even with those changes, the need in Los Angeles remains steep. Tens of thousands of renters are under serious housing stress, and the 2024 point‑in‑time count estimated about 2,991 veterans experiencing homelessness across the Los Angeles Continuum of Care, a decrease from the prior year, according to the County of Los Angeles. The VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System and local partners have touted record‑low veteran homelessness in recent years while warning that the remaining cases hinge on faster lease‑ups and more landlord buy‑in. Advocates add that cleaning up the rule book is only half the battle without stronger incentives in a tight and expensive rental market.
How the city plans to move vouchers
HACLA says it has overhauled how it issues vouchers and connects veterans to units in order to cut down processing times, including running inspections in parallel and assigning dedicated staff to guide veterans through the HUD‑VASH process, according to HACLA. The mayor’s office has also laid out a public outreach campaign, with information slated to appear on Metro buses, trains and station platforms to steer veterans and landlords toward the new resources, as reported by KTLA. City officials say they plan to track voucher use closely and keep courting property owners willing to rent to voucher holders.
For veterans looking for help, the mayor’s office points to a HACLA hotline at (213) 252‑4231 and an email address, [email protected], for referrals and questions. Landlords interested in signing on can find details about the programs on the city’s information pages, according to the mayor's office. “We have enough housing vouchers in Los Angeles to bring every homeless Vet into permanent housing,” Bass said in a statement posted by the mayor’s office.
Advocates note that the real test is whether these vouchers actually get used in the field. Local reporting has documented thousands of HUD‑VASH and Section 8 vouchers sitting on the sidelines in recent years because of eligibility rules and brutal market conditions. Politico reported that more than 2,000 vouchers in Los Angeles were not being used before the federal rule change, and city officials say they hope the new approach will finally turn those idle subsidies into actual roofs over veterans’ heads. For veterans who have been waiting the longest, the policy shift is a concrete step forward, but the pressure now lands squarely on landlords and housing authorities to deliver results quickly.
