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"To qualify as a 100% affordable housing project under the city of Los Angeles’ streamlined treatment, a studio can go for roughly $1,800.
Compare that to a traditional publicly subsidized project which could charge as little at $650 for the same unit." - Cal Matters, Los Angeles' One Weird Trick to Build Affordable Housing at No Public Cost
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June 22, 2024
no GUARANTEED sECTION 8 VOUCHERS
The federal government (HUD) gives money to states for affordable housing in a few ways, two of which are:
- creating public housing facilities
- Section 8 vouchers
We thought the "100% Affordable" housing was government-subsidized public housing or housing where rent would be paid with Section 8 vouchers.
Rent for ED1 "100% affordable" housing isn't subsidized public housing. And the voucher program is not required to be used in the "100% Affordable" housing at all.
The studios in ED1 100% affordable housing can range from around $1800 to $2600 for 136 square feet. Many people think the higher prices are okay because they assume:
Unhoused people will just use vouchers for ED1 units.
But in reality...
LESS THAN 1/2 OF VOUCHERS GET ACCEPTED
ABC News 7 shared that, in Los Angeles, a study found:
...Less than half of those who got vouchers were able to find a lease before the vouchers expired.
A) We didn't know vouchers have an expiration date! B) How could they reach their expiration date without being used? Because many landlords won’t take them.
Landlords, legally, can’t turn someone away because of the voucher, but they often just say it’s for other reasons.
In LA in 2022, about 9,000 vouchers went unused, while about 42,000 people went unhoused. (ABC News 7)
ABC News 7 reports:
MANY LANDLORDS WON'T TAKE VOUCHERS
The number of HUD-funded Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles VACANCIES by Program Type: 8.8K Housing Choice Vouchers (Section 8) vs 255 Public Housing
Low income housing experts will tell you- it is illegal in the state of California for a landlord to turn down potential tenants because they want to use Section 8 vouchers. But those same experts will tell you- it happens a lot.
While learning about housing because of potentially losing our home to ED1 housing, we made friends with a disabled veteran on Section 8. They shared that when they were looking for a home where they could use their voucher, a landlord on the phone blatantly told them, "We don't take vouchers."
It wasn't until our friend read this web page that they learned it is illegal for a landlord to say that. No one had ever told them this before. They made it through the process of receiving a voucher, but were not informed that it is illegal for landlords to reject vouchers outright. Manuel Villagomez, an attorney for the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, says:
There's just not enough protections that are out there, so many landlords continue to just say, 'No Section 8' blatantly.
"Villagomez says even though California and Los Angeles laws prohibit landlords from turning away potential tenants because they have Section 8 funding, they still find other ways of doing it." -ABC News 7 Villagomez continues:
Credit checks, deposits, application fees, holding deposits that are being collected now... There are these issues that people in the Section 8 program aren't able to meet.
A voluntary Program for landlords
It’s voluntary for landlords to participate in the Section 8 voucher program. Professor Michael Lens, from UCLA's School of Urban Planning and Public Policy states:
The landlord, very importantly, has to, you know, agree to participate in the program, which means that they don’t have biases against people that are using government money… So there are these things that get in the way."
Carlos Van Natter, the director of Section 8 at HACLA says:
It is very challenging and tough for our tenants to connect with a landlord and find a unit. The landlord is not required to accept a Section 8 voucher holder.
MAYOR BASS
We thought there was a chance that the city didn't know so many vouchers are being rejected by landlords and that's why the problem continues to happen. But Mayor Karen Bass does know. She said in 2023:
We have a couple of thousand vouchers that people could use, but we need landlords to be willing to take those vouchers.
In response to the Mayor's quote, ABC News 7 said:
...It’s not just a couple thousand. According to the latest federal data, Los Angeles had roughly 9,000 Section 8 vouchers that went unused last year.
The irony of the mayor saying landlords need to step up is that she has the power to make landlords take vouchers in the new "100% Affordable" Housing, but she hasn't done it. She created the "100% Affordable" Housing via executive order in 2022, but since that type of housing has existed, the percentage of units required to take Section 8 vouchers is 0%.
Compounding the situation, even though she won't use her power to require vouchers be accepted, some say the fact that she even has the executive power is illegal:
The irony of the mayor saying landlords need to step up is that she has the power to make landlords take vouchers in the new "100% Affordable" Housing, but she hasn't done it. She created the "100% Affordable" Housing via executive order in 2022, but since that type of housing has existed, the percentage of units required to take Section 8 vouchers is 0%.
Compounding the situation, even though she won't use her power to require vouchers be accepted, some say the fact that she even has the executive power is illegal:
- According to a law suit by Fix the City, Mayor Bass has allegedly broken state law by declaring a State of Emergency about housing because States of Emergency can only legally be invoked about natural disasters.
- The state law requires emergencies to only be invoked for natural disasters, it seems, because when the mayor declares a State of Emergency, she gets extra executive power that lets her break established laws to rush to aid the disaster, a privilege that is only intended to be used for a limited amount of time.
- The state law also says City Council must check every 60 days to see if the state of emergency is still needed, and if it is, they extend it. But they have not checked in as they are supposed to. So Mayor Bass has allegedly illegal unchecked executive power.
- Mayor Bass could use that power to require "100% Affordable" Housing take vouchers, but she is instead using it to break local zoning laws to benefit private developers.
- Here, after she has created the State of Emergency in 2022, she openly shares that there is a problem, but leaves out that she currently has the power to change it:
SECTION 8 IS A CATCH 22
Section 8 can be more of a Catch 22. To get a Section 8 voucher, you literally have to win a lottery just to move forward in the program. The last time the city opened up a Section 8 voucher list, more than 200,000 people applied. Now, if you’re one of the lucky thirty-or-so-thousand (30,000) picked, you get moved to a waiting list. And after potentially years of waiting, you can end up with a section 8 voucher to finally get you into a home. But, here in Los Angeles, a study found that less than half of those who got vouchers were able to find a lease before the vouchers expired.
- “Section 8 can be more of a Catch 22. To get a Section 8 voucher, you literally have to win a lottery just to move forward in the program. The last time the city opened up a Section 8 voucher list, more than 200,000 people applied. Now, if you’re one of the lucky thirty-or-so-thousand (30,000) picked, you get moved to a waiting list. And after potentially years of waiting, you can end up with a section 8 voucher to finally get you into a home. But, here in Los Angeles, a study found that less than half of those who got vouchers were able to find a lease before the vouchers expired.” -ABC News 7
- Vouchers are only for units that are at Fair Market rents or lower.
WHAT IS AFFORDABLE?
- What is Affordable? According to state and federal guidelines, generally, rent must be less than 30% of income to be "affordable".
- The words "100%" are redefined. ED1 housing is supposed to be "100% Affordable" housing, which sounds like it means all units are affordable. But in 2019, the Governor signed an Assembly Bill 1763, written by Chiu, which essentially redefined the word "100%" to mean 80% of an "100% affordable" building needs to be Low Income and 20% of an "100% affordable" building can be Moderate Income. The option of having 100% Low Income still stands, but the new option of having some moderate units was added. (BBK Law) Moderate Income is higher than Low Income. Also, in this definition, there is no requirement for Very Low Income or Extremely Low Income units. So it is misleading to say "100% affordable" when it's really 80% Low Income housing. One might think that it's "80% affordable," but...
- The word "affordable" is also redefined. To simplify it: the average annual income for a single person in Los Angeles is around $98,000. It's high because wealthier neighborhoods like Bel Air, Brentwood, and Pacific Palisades are included in the average. The average income for Council District 13 is $36,000. Our city council person, Hugo Soto-Martinez, shared in a June 24th newsletter that the average laborer in the LA Metro area earns $17,000 yearly. Since the average income for the whole city is $98,000, a person is "low income" if they make 80% of the average annual income. This means a person who makes around $70,000 is "Low Income" (see 2023 LAHD chart below). 2024 Update: $77,000 for a single person
- So when it is said that ED1 buildings are "100% affordable," it means 80% of the units are for people who make up to $70,650 (as a single person). 2024 Update: $77,000 for a single person
- Because of the Assembly Bill (above), the other 20% of the units are "Moderate Income" households, which make around $105,000 per year (as a single person). 2024 Update: $116,000 for a single person
- 94% of units being built under ED1 are "Low Income" or "Moderate Income" according to data from ATC Research from June 18, 2024, meaning for people who earn up to about $70,000 or $105,000 annually.
- There may also be units that are "Very Low Income" ($48,000) or "Extremely Low Income" ($28,000), but ED1 doesn't require landlords to include them.
- ATC Research shows that in ED1 buildings, 4.8% of units are "Very Low Income" and 1.7% are "Extremely Low."
- Again, the average income for Council District 13 is $36,000. Also, eight of the fifteen council districts in LA have area median incomes that are less than $70,000 according to the 2020 LA Census.
- Affordable for the Unhoused? The first sentence of ED1 says it's to "aid in swiftly sheltering people who are unhoused."¹ The state of emergency that is giving the mayor extra power to make ED1 is based on the unhoused. The public support for the mayor calling a state of emergency revolves around the unhoused. But most unhoused people don't earn the annual incomes labeled "Low- $70,650," "Very Low- $48,000" or "Extremely Low- $28,000." According to a University of California San Francisco study of nearly 3,200 unhoused people in California, they were making between $11,000 and $16,000 when they became homeless. (AP News Breakdown) ED1 puts the unhoused in competition with people who make higher incomes and without a requirement for landlords to take vouchers, it seems like ED1 "100% affordable" housing will not "aid in swiftly sheltering people who are unhoused."
WHO IS LOW INCOME IN LA?
"If your household earns less than the amount shown for a household of your size, you qualify as Lower Income"
-Los Angeles Housing Department
LAHD
The following are the amounts of each type of unit being built under ED1.
Extremely Low: about $28,000 / year or less (not required)
Very Low: about $48,000 / year or less (not required)
Low: about $70,000 / year or less
Moderate: about $80,000 / year or less
Extremely Low: about $28,000 / year or less (not required)
Very Low: about $48,000 / year or less (not required)
Low: about $70,000 / year or less
Moderate: about $80,000 / year or less
Image from ATC Research
Under ED1, 100% affordable is defined as a project with 5+ units where: all units are at 80% of Area Median Income (AMI) or lower (HUD rent levels); OR units are mixed-income, with up to 20% of units at 120% AMI (HCD rent levels), but a balance at 80% or lower. The 2023 AMI for LA County is $98,200.*
(ATC Research)
FAIR MARKET RENT
This term may be useful when learning about ED1 and vouchers.
CALIFORNIA
National Low Income Housing Coalition, California 2024, https://nlihc.org/oor/state/ca
- What is Fair Market Rent? The federal government gives Fair-Market Rent numbers for LA. "Fair market rents, or FMRs, are statistics developed by HUD to determine payments for housing assistance programs like the Section 8 housing choice voucher program... FMRs differ by local area, and are updated on an annual basis... The HUD Section 8 program [vouchers] pays rents for low-income households directly to private landlords. In most cases, the local housing authority, funded by HUD, will pay about 70% of a tenant’s rent, while the tenant will pay the other 30%. Fair Market Rents generally determine the maximum rent that a Section 8 landlord will be allowed to charge its residents. However, it is only a ballpark estimate, as landlords are given some flexibility to charge more or less based on the number of bedrooms and bathrooms in a unit, as well as based on a unit's overall square footage." (Janover HUD Loans)
- Our Council District 13 Councilmember's website shares that the federal Fair-Market price for a one-bedroom in Los Angeles is $1747. Please note that Market-Rate one-bedrooms are much higher. The average for a Market-Rate one-bedroom is $2700 per month.
Updates: June 24th statistic, AP News Breakdown
THESE ARE THE PEOPLE IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD
#SAVEOURHOMES