LAHSA Commission Votes to Terminate Contracts with Provider After Refusal to Fulfill Services

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LOS ANGELES - Yesterday, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) Commission voted unanimously to terminate, for cause, all interim housing contracts for two locations operated by the service provider Home At Last Community Development Corporation (HAL). Today, LAHSA provided HAL with an 30-day termination notice. The termination will be effective July 22, 2026.

This decisive action follows HAL's notification to LAHSA on May 21, 2026, of its abrupt decision to cease operations at two interim housing sites within four weeks of notification. Under the terms of LAHSA's regional agreements, a provider's failure to perform contracted services constitutes a default and is grounds for immediate termination for cause. As a result of this termination, HAL will be ineligible for LAHSA funding opportunities for five years.

While LAHSA rejected HAL's notification to cease operations and maintained that HAL's action was executed without proper authorization, LAHSA mobilized its Interim Housing Matching Team to rapidly match affected participants into alternative interim housing.

Within a matter of weeks, LAHSA offered all affected participants a new interim housing placement or a different housing solution, such as family reunification. Most of the 181 participants received another form of housing.

"Our absolute priority throughout this transition was the safety, stability, and well-being of the unhoused residents living at these sites," said Gita O'Neill, Interim CEO of LAHSA. "I thank and am extremely proud of our matching team for moving with urgency to ensure everyone could stay inside and continue on their path to permanent housing."

HAL's Fiscal Landscape
The notification HAL sent LAHSA to end operations cited late reimbursements as the reason for the cessation. However, a review of HAL's financial reality highlighted that the provider received sufficient advance funding to cover the short period required for the reimbursement process:

• Substantial Advances Provided: LAHSA issued nearly $2.8 million ($2,790,732) in contract advances to Home at Last for the current fiscal year alone.

• Outstanding Balances: According to fiscal tracking as of May 15, Home at Last still held over $600,000 ($602,507) in outstanding contract advances for the current fiscal year. Of that amount, $533,082 is tied directly to the contracts supporting the two sites HAL refused to support.

• Aged Invoices: Conversely, of Home at Last's outstanding accounts payable as of May 15, only $795,695 was aged beyond 31 days.

This fiscal review demonstrates that the provider received ample funding advances to continue operations until pending invoices were fully reimbursed.

LAHSA is withholding payment from HAL until the provider fully complies with LAHSA's request for documents related to its expenditures.

"LAHSA is committed to supporting providers offering safe places for people experiencing homelessness to sleep while helping them on their permanent housing journey and expects the provider to honor the commitment it made to Los Angeles's unhoused community," continued O'Neill. "We provided the necessary funds to support HAL's efforts to keep these participants safely inside. At the same time, we took efforts to ensure public funds were being spent appropriately. HAL chose not to live up to those expectations."

Additionally, in May 2026, LAHSA received a letter from the IRS, stating that it had seized cash from an address linked to Michael Young, a Founder of Home at Last. The letter informed LAHSA that it might be entitled to claim the cash, which was subject to criminal forfeiture. In light of this development. LAHSA will continue to meticulously review HAL's supporting documentation of invoices, as well as its contract compliance based on fiscal and programmatic performance data.

To protect public funds, LAHSA will exercise its contractual right to question and disallow invoices after the termination until a final determination of system compliance and any potential damages is reached.

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