An LA nonprofit helped house hundreds of homeless people. Then many were forced out. What went wrong? 

For the record: We have updated the headline of a Dec. 12, 2023 article and newsletter on a Los Angeles homeless housing program to better reflect what happened to displaced participants in the HOPICS rapid rehousing program. We use the terms “eviction” and “evicted” in the article and newsletter based on the common understanding of the word. However, HOPICS’ middlemen were those legally evicted. The clients were displaced from their homes as a result of the evictions. We regret if that was not clear to readers. 

HOPICS used middlemen to help facilitate the program. The middlemen rented from property owners, becoming the property owners’ tenants. The middlemen then subleased to HOPICS participants. HOPICS subsidized participants’ rent through payment to the middlemen, who were then to pay property owners. As the article describes, when rent was not paid on a timely basis, property owners began eviction proceedings against middlemen. Participants then faced imminent displacement, which we refer to as “eviction.” Legal eviction proceedings were against the middlemen, not the HOPICS clients. As the article also describes, HOPICS arranged for new permanent housing or shelters for most of the tenants facing imminent displacement, however HOPICS could not account for dozens more. 

As California continues to pour billions of dollars into addressing its vexing homelessness crisis, one oft-repeated concern from lawmakers is holding programs and resources accountable: Are these programs doing the work they claim? And just how effective are they at keeping people off the streets?

Over the last three years, taxpayers have given HOPICS, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit, about $140 million to house homeless people through its subsidy program called rapid rehousing. An exclusive investigation by CalMatters’ reporters Byrhonda Lyons and Jeanne Kuang found that the nonprofit failed to pay tenants’ rent on time, leading to hundreds of evictions.

The fallout left some scrambling to find a new place to live, others back on the streets of Los Angeles and landlords saying they’re now facing severe debt.

Jesus Mares, a resident who was evicted, packed his things and went back to living in his car: “Right now, I’m at my family’s house trying to get it together, trying to find a new spot,” he said. 

Norris Jones, a former landlord, told CalMatters that he’s more than $200,000 in debt from renting houses to sublease to HOPICS clients. Jones said he doesn’t understand how a company getting paid by the government “got us in a position where we can’t pay the rent for the people they house in our homes.”

HOPICS did not deny making late payments. Instead, leaders say most of the late rental payments were because they need to do due diligence before paying landlords.

• Veronica Lewis, HOPICS director: “The notion that we just don’t pay, it’s just absurd… We want to be good stewards of public funds.”
  
• Katie Hill, HOPICS deputy director and former member of Congress: “We didn’t have the habit of Google searching everybody’s names, and probably that’s a simple fix. This is a lot of money that has gone towards a program that has shown that it can house a lot of people. It’s not perfect in any way, shape, or form, and it’s evolving, and we’re learning as we go.”

A CalMatters review of the program, based on hundreds of pages of documents and dozens of interviews, shows that the prominent Los Angeles nonprofit repeatedly ignored explicit eviction warnings from some landlords, did little to vet the middlemen it entrusted to execute the program and took on far more clients than its case managers could serve. 

Neal Glasgow, a former caseworker for HOPICS, said he left in 2022 after about a year.  “When I signed my acceptance letter, it was for 20 clients, and within 30 days, I had 60,” he said. “I was playing catch-up every month.” 

In total, 306 people lost homes in South Los Angeles as a result of HOPICS’ failure to pay rent on time, the nonprofit said. While more than half were then placed in permanent housing or sent to temporary sites, HOPICS and Los Angeles housing authorities did not say what happened to 119 people. 

For more on the evictions, read the story by Byrhonda and Jeanne. 

The investigation underscores the struggles of many  other Californians, some teetering on the edge of homelessness, who also cannot secure housing. Due to state and local moratoriums winding down, eviction rates have soared since the height of the pandemic, and low-income households face increasing rent hikes — further highlighting that the most common cause of homelessness in California is the lack of affordable housing.

The grinding Israel-Hamas war and worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues to concern and divide the state Capitol community.

On Monday, the 19-member Legislative Jewish Caucus issued a letter focusing on the plight of hostages held by Hamas. The letter, addressed to President Joe Biden, calls on him to continue pushing for their release and also to work with the International Committee of the Red Cross to gain access to the hostages, especially given “reports — as well as direct testimony from hostages freed from captivity — suggest that Hamas has subjected many captives to severe physical, psychological, and sexual abuse and torture.”

• The letter to Biden: “Again, thank you for your commitment to addressing this crisis swiftly and with the safety of civilians — both Israelis and Palestinians — as a top priority. We applaud your leadership and stand ready to support you in any way possible.” 

Meanwhile, a group of Capitol staffers is circulating a letter that calls on Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders to push for an immediate and permanent ceasefire.

The letter, first reported by Politico, expresses dismay at an “abdication of leadership” by not adopting a formal position supporting a ceasefire to protect Palestinian civilians. It also urges the state leaders to support a resolution at the United Nations for a war crimes tribunal to investigate atrocities in both Israel and Gaza.

• The staff letter: “For weeks, we have sat quietly, trying to carry out business on behalf of Californians, hoping that state leadership would speak out against the atrocities the Israeli government is committing in Gaza and the West Bank…. This is a powerful state, full of powerful people. You have the power to demand a ceasefire, to help our nation play an active role in facilitating peace, rather than collective punishment, and to help California communities heal from increasing hate-fueled violence across the board. But to do that, we must — you must — take a stand.”  

The campaign to replace former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is already taking all sorts of twists and turns.

Last week, Assemblymember Vince Fong, McCarthy’s former district director, announced that he wouldn’t seek the seat representing Bakersfield in Congress. But Monday, the Republican declared he had changed his mind and will run after all. 

• Fong, in a statement: “It is my strong belief that the Central Valley must continue to be represented by proven, conservative leaders in Congress. In light of recent developments and in an attempt to unite our community in this critical moment in our nation’s history, I have decided to run for Congress in 2024.”

On Tuesday, McCarthy endorsed Fong. But he may have to win a legal battle: He already filed to seek reelection to the Assembly and it won’t be easy to remove his name from the ballot. You can’t run for two offices simultaneously.  

Meanwhile, GOP Sen. Shannon Grove of Bakersfield announced Sunday that she’s not running.

• Grove, in a statement: “Although it would be a tremendous honor, after prayerful consideration and thoughtful discussions with my family, I have decided I will not seek election to Congress in 2024. I will honor my commitment to those who elected me to the California State Senate, and I will continue to fight for the needs of Central Valley residents.”

Another last-minute switch: Rhodesia Ransom, a former Tracy city council member, had the endorsement of the state Democratic Party and the California Labor Federation in state Senate District 5 to succeed Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman, who terms out after next year. 

But when both Assemblymember Carlos Villapudua, a Stockton Democrat, and U.S. Rep. Jerry McNerney jumped into the Senate race, Ransom pulled a switch and decided to run in Assembly District 13 instead.

There, she’ll go up against another Villapudua, Edith, partner of Carlos, who also switched from that Senate race to run for her husband’s Assembly seat. 

For failing to return the deposits for nearly 33,500 of its California members, the owner and operator of at least 16 golf and country clubs in California — and more than 200 in the U.S. — is expected to hand over $43 million in deposits, as well as over $31 million in damages and penalties, to California’s controller and attorney general.

In an announcement Monday, the state Department of Justice said that ClubCorp — headquartered in Dallas and now rebranded as Invited — did not return more than $43 million in membership deposits. Under the company’s contract, deposits had to be returned after 30 years, but ClubCorp only forked over the money “upon demand.”

Under the settlement, the company must pay restitution, plus 10% per year interest, to its members — most of whom are now senior citizens. If members can’t be found, ClubCorp will give a portion of the unreturned deposits to the state controller.

The settlement concludes two 2019 lawsuits against ClubCorp, one from the controller and the other from the attorney general. Going forward, ClubCorp will also be required to notify members when their deposits are ready to be returned.

• Malia Cohen, state controller: “As administrator of California’s Unclaimed Property Law, my office ensures businesses rightfully return funds owed to their customers. Transparency is a core principle in everything we do, and this type of shady activity will not be tolerated.”