Homeless encampments line Church Street near Interstate 5 in south Stockton on Nov. 7, 2024.
Los Angeles, California – A federal judge is demanding that the city of Los Angeles provide concrete proof it has delivered over 2,600 rental subsidies to unhoused residents, raising questions about whether the city has met its legal obligations in a years-long battle over homelessness.
At the heart of the case is the 2020 “Roadmap” agreement between L.A. and the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights, a coalition of downtown business owners and residents who sued the city over its handling of the homelessness crisis. The deal required L.A. to create 6,000 new shelter beds, and the city has counted time-limited rental subsidies—vouchers meant to help unhoused people move into private market housing—as part of that effort.
But in an amended order issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter expressed “serious concerns” about the city’s accounting. He cited testimony from court-appointed monitors who said they were unable to verify 2,679 of those subsidies, largely due to missing addresses or other key data.
The judge ordered the city to submit specific documentation by next Wednesday, including the location of each subsidized unit and whether someone is currently living there. That information will be filed under seal, shielding it from public release. Depending on the outcome, Carter could take the extraordinary step of transferring control of the city’s homelessness funding to a third party—a rare move that would signal deep judicial skepticism of L.A.’s ability to manage the crisis.
During more than a week of testimony in a downtown L.A. courtroom, witnesses included city officials and residents of Skid Row, the epicenter of the city’s homelessness emergency. Their voices painted a portrait of bureaucratic inertia amid human suffering.
“They didn’t have to die,” said Don Garza, a 26-year Skid Row resident who broke down as he addressed the court. “Why are these people dying on our streets? Where did the money go?”
Suzette Shaw, a Skid Row resident and longtime advocate, sat through nearly every day of testimony. She said the court proceedings underscored how disconnected city officials remain from the communities they serve. When Judge Carter praised city attorneys for visiting Skid Row, Shaw bristled.
“It should be mandated,” she said, “that any city or county employee working on homelessness has to come to Skid Row—and work side by side with us.”
The judge is expected to issue a decision by the end of June, one that could reshape the city’s already fragile strategy for addressing one of the nation’s most visible humanitarian failures.
