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Housing

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Current Housing Event(s)/Announcement(s): 

Down Payment Assistance Program for First-time Homebuyers 

Visit the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) website, https://www.calhfa.ca.gov/dream/index.htm to learn about Eligibility, How to Apply, and More. The first generation definition includes former foster children. The downpayment assistance can be the full 20%. The Registration Portal will open April 3, 2024, at 8:00 am PDT and close April 29, 2024, at 5:00 pm PDT.

View this short 6-minture video for a walkthrough on how to apply for a California Dream For All Shared Appreciation Loan Voucher.

 

Please see a list of housing / community resource with the following information:Housing image
  • Government Services
  • Housing Advocacy
  • Housing Rights and Legal services
  • Internet Apartment Finder Sites
  • Links to Help You with Your Move
  • Newspaper Resources
  • Roommate Resources
  • Sober Living Resources
  • Transportation

Affordable Rental Listings: 

Housing Rights Center

 

Visit the Housing Rights Center Website to view affordable rental listings (Updated monthly)  

Join their workshops or contact them for free counseling. 

 

 

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The Housing Authority has developed a list of resources with possible helpful sources and assistance.

The document is dated 05/16/2023. These resources are not endorsed by the Housing Authority or by the Eastern Los Angles Regional Center. Follow this link to see the RESOURCE LIST. 

The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) is currently accepting Public Housing waiting list applications for families and senior/disabled individuals.

For more information, please visit http://www.hacla.org/aboutpublichousing. This housing authority has more than 6,500 apartment units in 14 communities located throughout Los Angeles, CA. The HACLA has identified the following preferences: 1. Working at least 20 hours per week at the State's minimum wage; or 2. Is attending an accredited institution of higher learning (college, trade school, vocational school) full-time, and the course of study is expected to lead to employment; or 3. Is working and attending an institution of higher learning, and the combined total is at least 20 hours per week; or 4. Otherwise equally income self-sufficient; or 5. Families whose family head and cohead, or whose sole member, are disabled or age 62 years of age and older will also receive this preference. For more information, visit the HACLA website, or call the HACLA at (213) 252-1020. 

Los Angeles Housing Department: 

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The Community Services connect the Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD) to social service programs offered by LAHD or other government agencies related to LAHD services, including:

  • the Family Source System,
  • Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking Shelter Operations,
  • Housing Opportunities for Persons with HIV/AIDS (HOPWA),
  • Supportive Housing Services for homeless individuals and families,
  • and administrative oversight of LAHD managed commissions such as:
    • the Affordable Housing Commission,
    • Rent Adjustment Commission,
    • Mobile Home Park Taskforce,
    • and LA Countywide HOPWA Advisory Committee.

Visit their website to see their resources, https://housing2.lacity.org/community-resources

ELARC's HOUSING VISION STATEMENT

ELARC will promote and participate in partnerships to create and maintain affordable housing options and an array of support services that result in people having opportunities to live in a home of their choice. We envision a future where individuals will have benefited from our partnerships in dealing with housing as a community issue and not as a disability issue. Click here to view our 2016 Special Report on Housing.

ELARC is committed to meaningful outcomes in housing, including but not limited to:

  • Homeownership
  • Rental affordability
  • Accessibility

HOUSING ADVOCACY:

Individuals served by ELARC and the people who support them are encouraged to actively participate in housing advocacy through understanding and participating in the housing planning and policy making processes in their community.  

  • View a fact sheet on understanding the Federal Consolidated Plan process in your community.  
  • How does your city plan to meet the housing needs of everyone in the community? California requires that all local governments (cities and counties) adequately plan to meet the housing needs of everyone in the community. California’s local governments meet this requirement by adopting housing plans as part of their “general plan” (also required by the state). General plans serve as the local government’s "blueprint" for how the city and/or county will grow and develop and include seven elements: land use, transportation, conservation, noise, open space, safety, and housing. The law mandating that housing be included as an element of each jurisdiction’s general plan is known as “housing-element law.” Learn more on the California Housing and Community Development website. Housing policy in California rests largely on the effective implementation of local general plans and, in particular, local housing elements. See your city's plan there under "Status and Copies of All Housing Elements." 
  • View the "Contact your Legislator" page of the ELARC website for details on communicating with your representatives.

  • More and more people in California find themselves priced out of the current housing market. Foreclosures have forced more people into the rental market, pushing up rents across the state. Find your representative and their district's Priced Out Report.

ELARC'S ROLE IN HOUSING

  • Promote opportunities for individuals with developmental disabilities to be integrated into the mainstream of life in their home environments, including supported living and other appropriate community living arrangements.
  • Support efforts to educate and inform Individuals served by ELARC, as well as the entire ELARC community, regarding their responsibility to take an active role in ensuring that their city, county, state and federal representatives are planning and supporting the development of affordable, accessible housing in their communities.
  • Participate in the development of resources that result in increasing affordable housing in all communities served by ELARC.
  • Housing expertise to support and assist our staff and community in accessing affordable housing.
  • View the ELARC Performance Contract for agency activities related to supporting individuals in their own homes. 
  • View our Living Options Fact Sheet in Engish and Spanish for additional information about housing. Click here to view the English/Chinese Living Options Fact Sheet.

HOUSING RESOURCES: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Emergency Shelter 

211 is a one-stop center for resources.  If you are in need of immediate shelter, call 211. Telephones are manned 24 hours a day, every day of the week.  Shelters are places that provide a temporary place to stay for people who have no permanent housing. These are considered “emergency shelters” because you have fairly quick access to a place to stay (there is no complex application process). Types of shelters include homeless, domestic violence, and runaway shelters. 

Finding A Place to Live

The Lanterman Housing Alliance (LHA) is a group of Non-Profit Housing Organizations throughout California whose primary focus is to serve the housing needs of clients of Regional Centers. Since they are a collective of different organizations the services that each of us offer are different and unique to the needs of our service areas, though we all have the basic mission of serving the housing needs of people with developmental disabilities. Current ELARC partners include Key Community Housing, Inc., Brilliant Corners, and W.O.R.K.S. 

Los Angeles County Housing Resource Center. Locate housing resources for affordable, special needs or emergency housing. The State of California housing website provides a range of information including obtaining homeownership and how to locate affordable housing.

National Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program: There are more than 2300 housing authorities in America that administer the National Section 8 housing choice voucher program. The program provides housing assistance in the form of a monthly rent subsidy based on the renter’s income. Section 8 waiting lists are opened each week across the country and sometimes for a brief window of opportunity and without much notice given when they do open. Affordable Housing Online is a resource managed by affordable housing experts who monitor the web, including housing authority websites, social media, and their users for Section 8 waiting list openings. 

Reputable advice on buying, renting, defaults, foreclosures and credit issues: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has home purchase counselors who can help individuals qualify for matched savings, grants and low interest mortgages. The application process allows for improving credit and, within 10 months, clients may be in their own home. To learn more select your state for process of application. You may search more specifically for a reverse mortgage counselor or if you are facing foreclosure, search for a foreclosure avoidance counselor. (PACER Newsletter, Reference Points, March 12, 2015. PACER is the Minnesota Parent Training and Information Center, funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs.)

More Helpful Information

  • LA County Department of Consumer Affairs offers a range of information for renters, landlords, those considering home ownership, and home owners. For renters, there is detailed information about: renters in foreclosure, security deposits, written landlord notices, eviction, rent control, rent increases, repairs, rental agreements and leases, landlord entering your unit, discrimination, utility shutoffs and illegal lockouts, late fees, and holding deposits.
  • The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) released its 2017 Fair Housing Trends Report: The Case for Fair Housing. Every year, NFHA collects data on housing discrimination complaints and reports on key housing issues across the U.S. in the prior year. People of color, persons with disabilities and other marginalized groups continue to be unlawfully shut out of many neighborhoods that provide quality schools and health care, fresh food, employment opportunities, quality and affordable credit, small business investment, and other opportunities that affect life outcomes. The 2017 Trends Report includes 2016 discrimination complaint data compiled from private, nonprofit fair housing organizations, as well as federal and state governmental entities responsible for enforcing the Fair Housing Act. Discrimination based on disability accounted for 55 percent of all complaints. For more information and to view the report, visit their website here.
  • Housing Rights Center (HRC): The HRC actively supports and promotes fair housing through education, advocacy and litigation, to the end that all persons have the opportunity to secure the housing they desire and can afford, without discrimination based on their race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, familial status, marital status, disability, ancestry, age, source of income, or other characteristics protected by law. The Housing Rights Center also complies rental listings in Los Angeles County and Ventura County.
  • National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) is dedicated solely to achieving socially just public policy that assures people with the lowest incomes in the United States have affordable and decent homes.
  • Check out the section on Consolidated Planning to see how you can use local tools to influence how federal funding is prioritized in your city or neighborhood.
  • Housing California works directly with policy decision makers on housing and homeless policy and legislation. Housing California supports laws that make it easier for affordable homes to be built.
  • To locate contact information for government offices in your county, visit www.countyoffice.org.
  • https://www.mhas-la.org/publications/housing: Mental Health Advocacy Services is proud to present the revised 2023 edition of Fair Housing for People with Disabilities: A Guidance Manual for Emergency Shelter, Transitional Housing, and Permanent Supportive Housing Providers. This manual was created to help emergency shelter, transitional housing, and permanent supportive housing providers understand their obligations under fair housing, disability rights, and other applicable laws; to implement policies to receive and respond appropriately to reasonable accommodation requests; and to advance fair housing by helping residents with disabilities obtain, maintain, and enjoy accessible housing.

  • https://nhslacounty.org/: Neighborhood Housing Services of Los Angeles County (NHS) serves as a catalyst for local residents, business and government representatives to work together to build stronger neighborhoods, improve the quality of life for low to moderate income families and revitalize communities into neighborhoods of choice.