Brief

Councilmembers Nithya Raman and Katy Yaroslavsky introduced this motion to establish uniform marketing and tenant selection procedures for new affordable housing units in mixed-income, density bonus, and transit-oriented community projects. Council adopted it 12-0-3 in April 2024. The Los Angeles Housing Department has since submitted implementation documents, and the matter is scheduled for Housing and Homelessness Committee review to finalize procedures and develop a comprehensive online affordable housing search system.

Full summary

This motion, introduced by Councilmembers Nithya Raman and Katy Yaroslavsky and seconded by Marqueece Harris-Dawson, addresses the opaque process by which affordable units in mixed-income buildings get marketed and filled. As programs like Transit Oriented Communities and Density Bonus produce more covenanted affordable units in privately developed buildings, the motion argued the City had little visibility into how those units were being advertised or how tenants were being selected. The motion directed the Housing Department and City Administrative Officer to report on current procedures, City oversight authority, feasibility of prioritizing low-acuity unhoused residents for these units through LAHSA partnerships or master leasing, and feasibility of giving preference to City employees and local workers. Council adopted it 12-0-3 in April 2024. The Housing Department's October 2025 report reveals the current state of oversight in significant detail. Property owners in Land Use projects retain broad discretion over tenant selection — the covenant template explicitly assigns them responsibility for lease-up, rent collection, and evictions — while LAHD's role is limited to verifying income eligibility before a tenant moves in. Since October 2021, new covenants have required owners to submit a Land Use Affirmative Marketing Plan (LUAMP) obligating them to list available units on the City's Affordable and Accessible Housing Registry (AAHR) at least 120 days before receiving a certificate of occupancy. However, as of late 2025, only 15 of roughly 38 projects that have received certificates of occupancy with LUAMP requirements had successfully published listings to the AAHR — a bottleneck LAHD attributes largely to the complexity of the listing process and severe understaffing, with a single part-time analyst handling most LUAMP-related work. The report flags several structural problems. Income certification requests grew 115 percent between 2022 and 2024, reaching 1,514 reviews in 2024 alone, while staffing has not kept pace. Forty-three percent of LAHD-monitored projects are out of compliance with tenant occupancy monitoring requirements. Current covenant penalties cover only tenant income violations, with no enforcement mechanism for failures to list units online. LAHD projects roughly 1,000 new Land Use projects with LUAMP and income certification requirements will reach occupancy by 2030 — driven in part by Mayor Bass's Executive Directive 1 incentives — and estimates it will need at least ten additional occupancy monitoring staff to manage the workload. LAHD also notes it has recently completed a monitoring fee study recommending an increase that could fund additional positions if approved. On the question of the Comprehensive Online Affordable Housing Search System directed by the related Council File 23-0426, LAHD confirmed it is planning upgrades to the existing AAHR platform — including a multilingual interface and improved user experience for both housing seekers and property managers — but that meaningful improvements depend on completing a pending system development contract and fully onboarding new staff. The LAHD report recommends the Council receive and file the information, and the file remains pending in the Housing and Homelessness Committee, which scheduled it for further review in May 2026.

Activity (13)

• 2026-05-15 Housing and Homelessness Committee scheduled item for committee meeting on .
• 2025-11-26 Community Impact Statement submitted by Los Feliz Neighborhood Council.
• 2025-10-29 Los Angeles Housing Department document(s) referred to Housing and Homelessness Committee.
• 2025-10-29 Document submitted by Los Angeles Housing Department, dated October 29, 2025.
• 2025-05-18 Community Impact Statement submitted by Rampart Village Neighborhood Council.
• 2025-05-14 Community Impact Statement submitted by Rampart Village Neighborhood Council.
• 2024-06-09 Community Impact Statement submitted by Studio City Neighborhood Council.
• 2024-04-05 Council action final.
• 2024-04-03 Council adopted item, subject to reconsideration, pursuant to Council Rule 51.
• 2024-03-29 City Clerk scheduled item for Council on April 3, 2024.
• 2024-03-20 Housing and Homelessness Committee approved item(s) .
• 2024-03-19 Housing and Homelessness Committee scheduled item for committee meeting on March 20, 2024.
• 2024-02-06 Motion referred to Housing and Homelessness Committee.

Documents (13)

• 2025-11-26 Community Impact Statement submitted by Los Feliz Neighborhood Council · cis
• 2025-10-29 Report from Los Angeles Housing Department · report
• 2025-05-18 Community Impact Statement submitted by Rampart Village Neighborhood Council · cis
• 2025-05-14 Community Impact Statement submitted by Rampart Village Neighborhood Council · cis
• 2024-06-09 Community Impact Statement submitted by Studio City Neighborhood Council · cis
• 2024-04-05 Council Action · council_action
• 2024-04-03 Speaker Card(s) · speaker_card
• 2024-04-01 Communication(s) from Public · communication
• 2024-03-20 Report from Housing and Homelessness Committee · report
• 2024-03-20 Speaker Card(s) · speaker_card
• 2024-03-19 Communication(s) from Public · communication
• 2024-02-20 Communication(s) from Public · communication
• 2024-02-06 Motion · motion