Friday, July 10, 2026

4,000 LA County Households to Avoid Losing Housing Assistance

CITY NEWS SERVICE

More than 4,000 Los Angeles County households receiving emergency housing vouchers will remain housed after local housing agencies announced plans Thursday to transition participants into another rental assistance program before federal funding expires later this year.

The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles County Development Authority said they have sufficient resources to move all eligible participants in the Emergency Housing Voucher program into the Housing Choice Voucher program.

The transition will affect approximately 2,700 households assisted through HACLA and another 1,500 families served by LACDA, according to the agencies.

The Emergency Housing Voucher program was created under the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act to provide housing assistance to people experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless. The program was originally expected to continue through 2030, but the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced plans to end the funding earlier than anticipated because of rising program costs nationwide.

“Thanks to the united advocacy of our federal, state, and local partners — and HUD’s flexibility — we are able to protect housing for thousands of families across Los Angeles,” HACLA President and CEO Lourdes Castro Ramírez said in a statement. “Our top priority since receiving notice of the program sunset has been to safeguard every household and ensure we do not lose the hard-won progress we have made to reduce homelessness.”

LACDA Executive Director Emilio Salas said agency staff have begun the administrative process needed to complete the transitions by September.

LACDA mailed notices to participating households earlier this month, while HACLA began notifying participants this week. Officials said outreach efforts will continue with tenants, landlords and service providers throughout the transition process.

Separately, HACLA announced it has exited federal shortfall funding status under the Housing Choice Voucher program, allowing the agency to resume processing approximately 3,000 Section 8 applications that had been paused because of funding limitations.