Politics & Government
LA Lawsuit Seeking Housing for Homeless Veterans Nears Trial
A lawsuit brought by a group of veterans against the Dept of Veterans Affairs seeking housing on the VA's West LA campus could go to trial.
LOS ANGELES -- A lawsuit brought by a group of veterans against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, challenging land lease agreements and seeking permanent housing for thousands of homeless veterans on and around the VA's West Los Angeles campus may be heading to trial, according to court documents obtained today.
The 14 plaintiffs allege the VA has failed in its duty to provide housing and health care to veterans with disabilities, leaving nearly 3,500 veterans sleeping nightly on the streets of Los Angeles, according to the November 2022 complaint.
In a tentative ruling this week, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter denied motions to dismiss portions of the class-action lawsuit dealing with leases for a private school's athletic facilities and a parking lot for the general public at the West Los Angeles campus.
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Such land uses ``are not designed to `principally benefit veterans and their families,' even if veterans marginally benefit from these agreements,'' Carter wrote.
A message to the VA for comment was not immediately answered.
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The plaintiffs say they suffer serious disabilities such as PTSD and traumatic brain injury. They seek to secure coordinated housing and health care services, including permanent supportive housing, for all unhoused veterans with disabilities in the region.
Without such housing, ``veterans with serious disabilities cannot access desperately needed mental and physical treatment services to which they are entitled,'' according to the complaint lodged in L.A. federal court.
The suit, filed by Los Angeles-based law firms Public Counsel, the Inner City Law Center and others, also seeks a court order prohibiting the VA from using its 388-acre West Los Angeles property for any venture that does not primarily benefit veterans.
A 2011 lawsuit also addressed the land-use issue. Although the VA committed to construct 1,200 units of new permanent supportive housing -- 770 of which should have been completed by now -- virtually no such housing has been built as of 2022, according to Public Counsel.
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