Low-income families and seniors have until 5 p.m. Sept. 16 to apply for rent-capped public housing at 16 Los Angeles County properties, the first time the waitlist has opened in more than two years.

The Los Angeles County Development Authority began accepting applications Monday, Aug. 17, for site-based waiting lists at 10 senior-designated and six family properties it owns and manages across the county. LACDA Chief of Programs Tracie Mann said the waitlist was last open in April 2024.

"We need to refresh the list, get new families who are interested in applying, not only to our family sites, but also to our senior sites," Mann told The LA Local.

Rent in these units is capped at 30% of a household's gross income. To qualify, individuals must earn no more than $58,300 per year, and families of four no more than $83,300, at the 50% area median income threshold. A stricter 30% AMI tier with lower income caps also applies.

LACDA oversees 68 properties housing more than 6,600 residents countywide, but only 16 are accepting new applicants in this window. The agency averages about 300 vacancies per year, and wait times range from months to longer depending on the property.

Who qualifies

Family properties require no age minimum. Elderly-designated properties require the head of household to be 62 or older; the household may include up to two people who are 62-plus or one live-in aide.

Applicants can register for more than one site.

But anyone offered a unit who declines it will be removed from the waitlist until it reopens.

Where the units are

Senior properties (10): Carmelitos Senior (155 units, Long Beach), Rosas/Herbert Senior (150 units, East Los Angeles), Palm Senior (127 units, West Hollywood), West Knoll Senior (136 units, West Hollywood), Marina Manor Senior (183 units, Marina del Rey), Foothill Villa Senior (62 units, La Crescenta), Orchard Arms Senior (183 units, Valencia), Francisquito Villa Senior (89 units, La Puente), Whittier Manor Senior (49 units, Whittier) and South Bay Gardens Senior (100 units, South Los Angeles).

Family properties (6): Carmelitos Family (558 units, Long Beach), Harbor Hills Family (301 units, Lomita), East County Family (433 units, East Los Angeles), Santa Monica Family (41 units, Santa Monica), Quartz Hill Family (40 units, Quartz Hill) and South Scattered Sites (309 units, South Los Angeles).

Waitlists for smaller properties will close early once 1,000 applications are received, even before the Sept. 16 deadline.

How to apply

Applications are accepted online at harp.lacda.org, by phone at (626) 586-1522 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, or in person at LACDA's Alhambra office, 700 W. Main St. More details are available on LACDA's waitlist page.

Mann said she expects more applicants this cycle because of the sharp rise in the cost of living. Justin Fitzsimmons, a lawyer with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, said the rent cap helps low-income families build savings and weather unexpected events like accidents or major illness.

The county's separate Section 8 housing voucher waitlist remains closed. Its last brief opening was a two-week window in October 2022, and there is no announced timeline for when it will reopen.