On account of incentive programs such as the state density bonus law and the one-year-old Transit-Oriented Communities Guidelines, the City of Los Angeles has suddenly found itself with an abundance of mandated rental affordable units in the development pipeline. However, a lack of any standardized listing and application process means that these apartments are often leased before the broader public becomes aware of their existence. The Housing and Community Investment Department is now looking to change that.

Currently, HCID partners with Los Angeles County to operate an affordable rental unit listing at housing.lacity.org. But these listings are based on crowdsourced information, where building owners and managers voluntarily post available units.

HCID proposes to work in concert with the Department of City Planning and the Department of Building and Safety to ensure that all new affordable units are listed on the housing website prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy to any new development. The ultimate goal of this endeavor is for HCID to be able to create and maintain a master notification list for the city's qualified tenants, in order for them to be automatically informed of the pending availability of suitable housing.

A motion introduced by Councilmember Paul Koretz calls for the three departments to develop a methodology to ensure that new units are publicly listed on housing.lacity.org, and for the creation of a master notification list for qualified tenants at the extremely low, very low, low, and moderate income levels. A report back to the City Council is requested within 90 days time.

The item has been referred to the City Council's Housing Committee for consideration.