Twelve women who once served in the U.S. military are suing the nonprofit that manages their San Pedro housing complex, alleging years of neglected repairs, disappearing security measures and a burned-out townhome that sat untouched for about nine months. The tenants of Blue Butterfly Village, a 74-unit complex built specifically for formerly unhoused female veterans, filed the lawsuit against Volunteers of America in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
The complaint describes a property overrun with problems: sewage overflowing from defective septic systems, trash piling up after collections stopped, broken street lamps, and coyotes crawling under poorly maintained fences, according to LAist. Tenants also allege black widow spiders on patios and snake, insect and other wildlife infestations throughout the grounds. One unit, the lawsuit claims, was allowed to operate as a drug den for years because of lax security.
Anesha Aird, a U.S. Navy veteran who spent about two years without stable housing after retiring from the military, told LAist that security measures which once checked visitors' names against a ban list were later removed. Her attached neighboring townhome burned down in February 2024 and remained a burned-out husk for roughly nine months, she said. Aird requested relocation before repairs began, but property management denied the request, and she later received a three-day notice warning of potential eviction. She now plans to move out once she finds another building where she can use her housing voucher.
Mice, Broken Locks and a Break-In
Jade Easley, who served in the U.S. Army for nearly a decade, said she heard mice crawling in her walls and paid out of pocket to repair a broken door lock seven months after first reporting it. She told LAist that a broken lock preceded a break-in the following month. Easley said a 2024 city inspection of her unit found faulty smoke detectors, defective stairs and bad plumbing. She has since left Blue Butterfly Village and now lives with her two children in Tucson, Arizona, where she said rent was affordable using her VA disability benefits.
Alisa Randell, a Public Counsel attorney representing the tenants, said the property issues affected residents' mental health. Public Counsel previously co-led major federal class-action litigation against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to compel development of supportive veteran housing on the West Los Angeles VA campus, according to the UCLA Law Veterans Legal Clinic. Rob Reynolds, cited in the same LAist report, said veterans in other Los Angeles housing have reported similar problems, including security lapses, staff turnover, pests and broken plumbing.
Subsidies Withheld, Repairs Still Pending
The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles withheld rental subsidies from a Volunteers of America subsidiary in 2024 until specified repairs were completed, including fixes to a faulty toilet, a broken bedroom door handle, a damaged refrigerator and dishwasher, non-functioning smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and a mouse infestation. Under this abatement process, subsidy payments are withheld from the property manager until repairs pass re-inspection, according to Volunteers of America Los Angeles. The housing authority has placed at least three Blue Butterfly Village units under abatement in recent years.
The Los Angeles Housing Department said it had no records of open complaints or violations at the property, the report notes. Volunteers of America said it could not comment on active litigation but said it regularly inspects its properties and responds promptly to maintenance and safety requests. The nonprofit added that it remains committed to making Blue Butterfly Village supportive for female veterans and their families.
A Legal Tool With Teeth
The tenants' lawsuit alleges Volunteers of America violated the Los Angeles Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance, claiming the nonprofit harassed residents who complained about worsening conditions and neglected the property, failing to provide safe and habitable housing. Under the ordinance, amended by the City Council in December 2024, landlords acting in bad faith by failing to make timely repairs or withholding housing services face civil penalties up to $10,000 per violation, mandatory triple actual damages, and up to $5,000 in additional statutory penalties for elderly or disabled tenants, according to the City of Los Angeles Housing Department. The lawsuit asks the court to require repairs, restore services, end the alleged retaliation and award damages, including compensation for alleged overpaid rent and emotional distress. Blue Butterfly Village tenants typically pay up to 30% of their income toward rent, with government-funded housing vouchers, including HUD-VASH, a program specifically targeted to veterans, covering the remainder.
Built on Former Navy Land as a National Model
The nine-acre property off Palos Verdes Drive North previously served as U.S. Navy family housing until it closed in 1997, when Volunteers of America Los Angeles acquired the site following the closure of the Long Beach Naval Shipyard. When Blue Butterfly Village opened in 2015, federal and city officials celebrated it as one of the nation's first permanent supportive housing communities dedicated specifically to unhoused female military veterans and their children, according to the Los Angeles Times. The complex was redeveloped with about $12 million in state and local funding, loans, waived development fees and donated land. It was named after the endangered Palos Verdes Blue butterfly, which has a federally protected sanctuary managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service located directly on the property grounds.
Move-in priority across the complex's townhomes is given to households with a history of domestic violence or military sexual trauma, according to Access Housing LA. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs clinical screening data indicate that approximately 1 in 3 female veterans receiving VA healthcare report experiencing military sexual trauma during their service, underscoring why habitability and security failures at a complex like this carry outsized weight for its residents.
Veteran Homelessness Trends Amid the Complaints
The lawsuit lands as Los Angeles County reports broad progress on veteran homelessness. The 2026 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count estimated about 2,250 veterans experiencing homelessness on any given night, a 26 percent single-year decrease from 3,050 in 2025, aided by the county's unified By-Name List tracking system, according to the County of Los Angeles. Veteran homelessness countywide has decreased about 42% from 2020 levels. Female veterans seeking VA homeless services tend to be younger, experience shorter periods of homelessness and use HUD-VASH vouchers at higher rates than male veterans, per federal demographic assessments.
Those countywide gains sit uneasily against the allegations at Blue Butterfly Village, where tenants say the promise of safe, trauma-informed housing has not matched daily reality. The case raises open questions about who is watching taxpayer-subsidized HUD-VASH housing once the ribbon-cutting ends, and whether nonprofit operators face real consequences when city inspectors flag violations serious enough to trigger abatement.
