The Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles announced the implementation of the Landlord Veteran Incentive Program on Wednesday.
This program, the first of its kind, incentivizes renting units to homeless Veterans by offering landlords up to one month’s free rent to hold available units while a homeless veteran is referred and paperwork to contract the unit is completed.
The Landlord VIP comes as a result of a $1.1 million award from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to implement a ground breaking program aimed at ending Veteran homelessness.
In a tight rental market such as Los Angeles County, homeless veterans struggle to utilize vouchers and secure housing.
In fact, over 400 homeless veterans currently have a County Veteran’s Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) voucher in hand and are searching for housing.
This is proof that there is a gap in access to housing, and the Landlord VIP is HACoLA’s solution.
The 18-month Landlord VIP is the latest in a series of strategies that HACoLA has implemented to eliminate the barriers veterans face in getting off the streets and into housing.
How does the Landlord VIP work? Landlords with vacant units complete a pre- Request for Tenancy Approval form and, upon submittal, an expedited housing quality standard inspection is scheduled.
The owner and HACoLA enter a signed agreement to hold the unit for a homeless veteran while the contract is processed.
The owner receives a monetary incentive in an amount up to one month’s rent while a homeless veteran with an active HACoLA voucher is quickly referred to the vacant unit.
Additionally, HACoLA has entered into interagency agreements with four other local housing authorities within Los Angeles County and is in talks with a total of 16 cities in an effort to eliminate jurisdictional barriers.
This effort will help veterans navigate a complex administrative system and reduce the amount of time it takes to utilize HACoLA vouchers.
Owners interested in participating in the Landlord VIP can visit www.hacola.org, e-mail LandlordVIP@hacola.org, or call (626) 586-1572.
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1 Comment
Thank you for this program and supporting our Veterans and I hope we see more programs as such!