One of the biggest landlords in Los Angeles has been turning away people seeking apartments under the Section 8 housing assistance program in many of its buildings, in apparent violation of state law, a Capital & Main investigation found.<\/p>\n
Jamison, a group of family-run real estate companies, has been lauded for its civically active CEO and its efforts to turn underused office space into housing. But Jamison stands out among other large L.A.-area landlords Capital & Main investigated for its near nonparticipation in the Section 8 program, the largest housing assistance program in the country, the investigation found.<\/p>\n
In a statement, a Jamison company spokesperson said \u201cthe management companies overseeing Jamison\u2019s portfolio accept and welcome tenants utilizing Section 8 vouchers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Section 8 is a powerful tool for fighting homelessness and the housing crisis across the nation. But it is especially needed in L.A. County, where wages haven\u2019t kept pace with rising rents.\u00a0Housing Choice Vouchers, as they\u2019re officially known, subsidize rent for about 85,000 households in L.A. County that don\u2019t earn enough to afford a market-rate rental.<\/p>\n
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At its best, Section 8 and its federally funded assistance vouchers offer a way out of poverty for low-income residents \u2014 affordable rent in a community of their choice.<\/p>\n
But too often the program fails to deliver on its promises. Four in 10<\/a> voucher holders in the U.S. never find housing at all, even after years on Section 8 waiting lists, according to a 2021 study by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.<\/p>\n * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n Terri Reynolds, who oversees programs at the nonprofit Asian American Drug Abuse Program to help clients in the L.A. area find housing, said they\u2019re \u201cso happy\u201d to obtain rental assistance. But they are often disappointed, she said, \u201cbecause landlords don\u2019t want to mess with Section 8.\u201d<\/p>\n The reluctance of landlords to participate is one of the Section 8 program\u2019s biggest problems, even though a state law bars them from rejecting tenants because they use vouchers.<\/p>\n Dan Yukelson, executive director of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, said red tape and hard-to-understand rules make Section 8 \u201can administrative nightmare\u201d for some of his members, who are mostly mom-and-pop landlords.<\/p>\n Capital & Main investigated seven of L.A. County\u2019s largest landlords to determine whether they open their doors to Section 8 tenants. Unlike smaller landlords who might be unfamiliar with the rules, these multifamily real estate giants have abundant administrative resources to interpret and comply with state law.<\/p>\n Capital & Main\u2019s findings are based on data collected by testers hired by the news organization to pose as Section 8 voucher holders. From late 2024 to early 2025 the testers contacted leasing agents to ask about available apartments in 65 buildings owned or operated by Jamison, Equity Residential, Essex Property Trust, AvalonBay Communities, G.H. Palmer Associates, Prime Residential and Greystar. The tests were limited to buildings where advertised rents were low enough for Section 8 recipients to be able to move in. Testers asked leasing staff at each building if they accepted Section 8 vouchers, and if so, what income and creditworthiness criteria each used to qualify applicants.<\/p>\n Jamison buildings were the only ones where leasing agents said they could not rent to Section 8 tenants. Of 21 properties that testers contacted, agents at 15 said they could not accept vouchers. At one property, an agent described income requirements that would automatically exclude voucher holders. Agents initially said they would accept Section 8 at five of the properties, but either described minimum credit scores that would exclude many voucher holders, or did not respond to follow-up inquiries.<\/p>\n Capital & Main contacted Jamison with its key findings and a list of questions. In its statement earlier this month, the company spokesperson said many of the issues raised were \u201ccompletely wrong and\/or misleading\u201d but did not comment on many of the specific problems the reporting found.<\/p>\n Last fall, a tester called to inquire about an apartment at Jamison\u2019s Atlas House in L.A.\u2019s Koreatown with some attractive amenities, including state-of-the-art appliances, a swimming pool and hot tub. But they were told the building was not accepting Section 8 vouchers. \u201cWe are actively seeking approval to begin accepting Section 8 vouchers, and when that approval goes through, we will publicly make an announcement,\u201d the representative said.<\/p>\n But the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles has no such approval or inspection process, said its Section 8 director, Carlos Van Natter. \u201cWe would not inspect the whole building,\u201d Van Natter said, adding that the agency only inspects individual apartments to ensure habitability after a landlord has accepted a tenant\u2019s rental application.<\/p>\n At the Sienna on Serrano and the Roya, both relatively new Koreatown buildings that offer features like modern kitchens, gyms, pool decks and even a karaoke room, leasing agents also said they were awaiting city approvals for their Section 8 participation, which they said they expected within a few months.<\/p>\n Support LAist today<\/p>\n \n LAist provides trustworthy local information that helps our community stay safe, engaged, and connected. Your support keeps this fact\u2011based reporting free and accessible for everyone.\n <\/p>\n * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n The cold shoulder for Section 8 voucher holders clashes with company CEO Jaime Lee\u2019s community-spirited reputation. Last year the Los Angeles Times featured Lee on its L.A. Influential list<\/a> and named her<\/a> one of the \u201cbosses, elected officials and A-list names calling the shots from the seats of power\u201d alongside Gov. Gavin Newsom and Archbishop Jos\u00e9 Gomez.<\/p>\n And in public comments, Lee has bemoaned the city\u2019s housing shortage<\/a> and positioned her family\u2019s company as part of the solution. Lee, who is a member of the LA28 Olympic organizing committee and was appointed to the powerful California Coastal Commission<\/a> by Gov. Newsom in September, has said the company offers apartments for people at a wide range of income levels.<\/p>\n What Jamison appears to lack is Section 8 tenants, who are among the lowest earners and the hardest to house; in Los Angeles, for example, most make less than $53,000 per year for a single person. Section 8 tenants pay about 30% of their incomes in rent and the government covers the rest.<\/p>\n Between 2021 and 2024, only one Section 8 tenant moved into a Jamison property, according to records Capital & Main obtained from the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles under the California Public Records Act.<\/p>\n The Jamison spokesperson\u2019s statement did not address the lack of Section 8 tenants in its properties, but said that the management companies overseeing its portfolio \u201ctake proactive steps, including engaging a broker and non-profits, to help identify individuals and families who hold vouchers or qualify for income-restricted Affordable Housing units.\u201d.<\/p>\n But the findings raised concerns for L.A. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell, who, as a state senator, authored the 2020 state law that makes it illegal to reject tenants because they pay rent with government assistance.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s disappointing because the law is the law,\u201d Mitchell said.<\/p>\n Jamison\u2019s three dozen or so residential buildings in the L.A. area were built since 2013, and thus too new to be covered by local rent control laws or the state\u2019s maximum 10% per year limit on rent increases. Under the Section 8 program, however, the company would be required to get housing authority approval for annual rent hikes.<\/p>\n Jay Lybik, a real estate expert who until recently was the CoStar Group\u2019s National Director of Multifamily Analytics, said that given state and local rent caps, Jamison may exclude voucher holders so that it can freely raise rents on its units.<\/p>\n Lybik, who now directs market research for Continental Properties, said Jamison \u201cmost likely needs to hit certain return hurdles for their investors and will need to be squeezing every percentage of rent growth. Thus, they don\u2019t want to be hampered by the lower yearly increases allowed.\u201d<\/p>\n * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n Jamison is one of the fastest-growing multifamily developers in Los Angeles. In just 12 years, the company has accumulated a residential portfolio that includes more than 6,000 units \u2014 including both ground-up construction and office-to-residential conversions. At least 2,500 additional units are either planned or under construction.<\/p>\n The company has benefited from L.A.\u2019s lucrative apartment market with its low vacancy rate and through-the-roof home purchase prices that send highly paid workers into the rental market. Jamison has also been able to maximize profits by participating in the city of L.A.\u2019s builder incentives. Under these programs, developers can include more apartments in a building than the zoning code allows or get waivers from parking or open space requirements. In exchange, developers set aside a small percentage of apartments for lower-income renters. The company has built some 250 affordable units<\/a>.<\/p>\n Another reason for the company\u2019s rapid-fire growth in residential real estate: a stockpile of aging Koreatown office buildings Lee\u2019s father, David Lee, amassed beginning in the 1990s \u2014 before the area became a destination for nightlife, dining and traditional Korean spas.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were lucky,\u201d said Johnny Choi, a first vice president at commercial real estate firm CBRE and an expert in the Koreatown market. \u201cThey were able to purchase property at a time when prices were a lot lower.\u201d<\/p>\n Among David Lee\u2019s acquisitions were the former headquarters of iconic U.S. corporations that pulled up stakes after once-prestigious Wilshire Boulevard lost its luster in the 1990s. The former Texaco Oil and U.S. Borax buildings are now the Crosby Apartments and the Westmore, respectively. Jaime Lee has said these conversions and the company\u2019s other residential developments help address L.A.\u2019s housing shortage.<\/p>\n