To tackle homelessness faster, LA has a kind of real estate agency for the unhoused
LOS ANGELES — Dan Valdez's mission can seem impossible. Every day, he's on the hunt for vacant units — lobbying landlords to take in some of the tens of thousands of unhoused people in one of the tightest and most expensive real estate markets in the U.S.
"There's cold-calling involved. There's knocking on doors. There's ... canvassing throughout L.A. County, which is a quite wide area," he says.
Valdez is with the nonprofit Brilliant Corners, which partners with L.A. County's Department of Health Services to act like a kind of real estate agency for the unhoused.
He heads a team of 12, and they also scout recent property transactions for potential vacant units. Their strategy is to have a stock of rent-ready apartments so that as soon as clients get
