Long Beach offers landlord incentives to help house homeless

One week after the city of Long Beach declared a state of emergency on homelessness, it's moving forward with a plan to incentivize landlords to help the housing situation.

The city wants landlords to accept more renters who rely heavily on federally subsidized Emergency Housing Vouchers to pay the bulk of their rent.

"Emergency Housing Vouchers are a critical resource in meeting the city's housing needs," said Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson. "We need property owners to be 'all in' when it comes to solving the homelessness crisis, and the city is willing to help landlords make the leap and open their rentals to voucher holders."

The financial incentives coming from the city's Housing Authority directly to landlords include: direct payments by way of leasing bonuses, security deposits, utility deposits, application fees, and damage repairs.

The city is also looking to boost housing inventory now while it waits for more lower income housing to be built.  "Whether it's an ADU that hasn't been constructed or whether it's a home with a shared room opportunity, we are looking for innovative ways to create affordable housing." said Alison King, deputy executive director, Long Beach Housing Authority. 

The city reported that hundreds of people have been issued the housing vouchers but are still in need of a home. They are ready to match with a landlord, and the goal with this incentive program is for more landlords to get on board.