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Section 8 housing in Los Angeles County — the agencies, the wait lists, and which one actually covers where you live

Los Angeles County has twenty housing authorities, not one. Knowing which one serves your address is the first step — applying to the wrong agency puts you on a list that will not help you. This page will help guide you on Section 8 in Los Angeles County, including which agency to contact, where to apply, and how the program works.

• TIP - KNOW WHO TO CONTACT: If you live within the city limits of Los Angeles, that is HACLA. If you live in unincorporated LA County or a smaller city without its own housing authority, that is LACDA in Alhambra. If you live in Long Beach, Pasadena, Glendale, Burbank, Santa Monica, Inglewood, Torrance, Compton, Norwalk, Pomona, or South Gate, that city has its own agency. You can apply to your city's agency and to LACDA at the same time — there is no rule against being on multiple lists. All this is below.

The Housing Choice Voucher program they administer is federally funded — every voucher is a HUD voucher — but what happens when you apply, how long you wait, and what landlord rules apply to you depend heavily on two things specific to Los Angeles County: which of the twenty agencies covers your city or neighborhood, and whether the city you live in requires landlords to accept vouchers.

If you qualify for and receive a voucher, you pay roughly 30% of your adjusted monthly income toward rent and the housing authority pays the rest directly to your landlord, up to local payment limits. That part is the same everywhere. Everything else about applying for Section 8 in LA County is shaped by where you live. This is not a crisis program, and if you need immediate rental assistance see the page about programs in Los Angeles County that help pay rent.

Landlords in most of Los Angeles County cannot legally refuse your voucher

In the City of Los Angeles and in many other cities throughout the county, a landlord cannot refuse to rent to you solely because you have a Section 8 voucher. Cities including Los Angeles, Long Beach, Pasadena, and Santa Monica have local rules that prohibit landlords from turning away applicants based on their payment source. This makes Los Angeles County different from states where landlords can turn down voucher holders everywhere.

What this means in practice: a landlord who says "we don't take Section 8" in a city with these protections may be violating local rules. You can ask your housing authority how to report that. It does not mean all screening stops — income requirements, credit history, and rental history still apply. But the flat refusal based on the voucher alone is not lawful in much of the county.

Protections vary by city, and not every city in the county has them. Smaller cities and unincorporated areas may not. Before you start looking for housing, ask your housing authority specifically whether landlords in the area where you want to live are required to accept your voucher.

Watch out for income requirements. Some landlords set income thresholds — asking you to earn two or three times the full monthly rent — that most voucher holders cannot reach. This can be legal even in cities with source-of-income protections. If you run into it, ask your housing authority for a list of landlords who have rented to voucher holders before. Start your search there.

HACLA's wait list — the first thing to understand

HACLA is one of the largest housing authorities in the country. Its Housing Choice Voucher wait list has been closed to new applicants for extended periods and opens only briefly when the agency has capacity to take new names. When the list opens, it fills quickly — sometimes within days. Openings are announced on HACLA's website, with details at https://www.hacla.org/en/about-public-housing/public-housing-applicants. If you are not watching for it, you will miss it.

What to do while the list is closed: HACLA operates separate wait lists for project-based units — specific apartment buildings where the subsidy is attached to the unit rather than going with you as a tenant. These lists can open more frequently than the main voucher list and are worth asking about specifically every time you contact the agency. HACLA also runs programs for veterans, seniors, and people referred by homeless services agencies — if you fall into one of those groups, ask about those pathways directly.

Two types of vouchers, two different paths

The standard Housing Choice Voucher goes to you as the tenant, and you take it to any landlord in the housing authority's area who is willing to accept it. You can move with it within the service area, and after twelve months you can transfer it to another housing authority anywhere in the country.

A Project-Based Voucher is attached to a specific apartment you lease in LA. You apply to that building's wait list rather than searching for your own unit. If you leave before twelve months, the subsidy stays with the apartment. After twelve months in a project-based unit, you can typically request a regular tenant-based voucher from the agency — which gives you the flexibility to move later.

Given how long the main voucher lists are in LA County, project-based units are often the more realistic path to housing in the near term. Ask every agency you contact about project-based availability and whether any of those lists are currently open.

The housing authorities in Los Angeles County

Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) — City of Los Angeles. 2600 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90057. (833) 422-5248. Website: https://www.hacla.org. HACLA serves residents of the City of Los Angeles and manages one of the country's largest voucher programs. The Housing Choice Voucher wait list has been closed for years at a time. Monitor HACLA's website closely and apply as soon as the list opens — the window is short. City of Los Angeles source-of-income protections apply to landlords throughout the city.

Los Angeles County Development Authority (LACDA) — unincorporated LA County and many cities. 700 W Main Street, Alhambra, CA 91801. (626) 586-1500. Website: https://www.lacda.org/ LACDA serves residents of unincorporated Los Angeles County and cities that do not operate their own housing authority. If you live in Palmdale, Lancaster, Azusa, Covina, or elsewhere in the county without a city agency, LACDA is your agency. You can apply to LACDA and to a city agency at the same time.

City of Long Beach Housing Authority — Long Beach. 1500 Hughes Way, A-150, Long Beach, CA 90810. (562) 570-6985. Website: https://www.lacda.org/. Long Beach operates its own housing authority entirely separate from HACLA and LACDA. Long Beach has source-of-income protections. If you live within Long Beach city limits, apply here and also with LACDA.

City of Pasadena Housing Department — Pasadena. 649 N. Fair Oaks Ave, Pasadena, CA 91103. (626) 744-6701. Pasadena runs its own program. Pasadena has source-of-income protections. Contact the office to ask about current wait list status.

Housing Authority of the City of Glendale — Glendale. 141 North Glendale Avenue, Glendale, CA 91206. (818) 548-3936. Section 8-only program for Glendale residents. Wait lists are often closed. Apply as soon as a list opens and also apply with LACDA.

Housing Authority of the City of Burbank — Burbank. 150 N. Third Street, Burbank, CA 91502. (818) 238-5160. Voucher-only program for Burbank residents. Apply here and also with LACDA.

Housing Authority of the City of Santa Monica — Santa Monica. 1685 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 458-2201. Santa Monica has source-of-income protections. Apply here if you live within Santa Monica city limits and also apply with LACDA.

Housing Authority of the City of Inglewood — Inglewood. One Manchester Boulevard, Suite 750, Inglewood, CA 90301. (310) 412-5221. Section 8 program for Inglewood residents. Apply here and also with LACDA.

City of Compton Housing Authority — Compton. 700 N. Bullis Road, Compton, CA 90221. (310) 605-3080. Section 8 program for Compton residents. Call to check current wait list status.

Housing Authority of the City of Torrance — Torrance. 3031 Torrance Boulevard, Torrance, CA 90503. (310) 618-5840. Section 8 program for Torrance residents. Call to check wait list status.

Housing Authority of the City of Norwalk — Norwalk. 12700 Norwalk Blvd., Room 12, Norwalk, CA 90650. (562) 929-5588. Section 8 program for Norwalk residents. Residents of nearby unincorporated areas should contact LACDA.

Housing Authority of the City of Pomona — Pomona. 505 S. Garey Ave., Pomona, CA 91766. (909) 620-2368. Section 8 program for Pomona residents at the eastern edge of LA County. Apply here and also with LACDA.

Housing Authority of the City of South Gate — South Gate. 8650 California Avenue, South Gate, CA 90280. (323) 563-9566. Section 8 program for South Gate residents. Call to check wait list status.

The following city agencies also serve residents of their respective cities. Contact each directly for wait list status and application details.

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