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Gita O’Neill, interim CEO of LAHSA , speaks ahead of the annual homeless count on Jan. 20, 2026. The agency's chair, Amber Sheikh , is at left. L.A.’s main homeless services agency is at risk of blowing a federal deadline to turn in a required audit of its financial records after executives were far behind schedule in providing necessary documents, according to the lead outside auditor.
The federally-required review — known as a single audit — is one of the most important oversight checks of the L.A. Homeless Services Authority. Every year, LAHSA must hire an outside firm to determine whether the agency is accurately tracking and reporting what happens with taxpayer funds it manages. Turning it in late, or having significant negative findings, can jeopardize an organization’s federal funding.While government clients on that fiscal calendar would typically turn over their records to auditors by last December, LAHSA staff had failed to do so until March, lead auditor Justin Measley told LAHSA’s audit committee last Wednesday.Sign up for Building Your Block, a seven-issue newsletter course from LAist that explains the obstacles around housing development in L.A. and what you can do to make things better.He said the timeline for reviewing the documents was now unusually compressed, and that the firm was doing everything it can to try to meet the deadline. “It is possible that will not meet the March 31st deadline,” Measley told the audit committee. “ It's been a few years of this sort of delay with LAHSA."“We have submitted all required documentation” to the auditors and “the field work has been completed,” Janine Lim, LAHSA’s deputy CFO, told the commission’s finance committee. “At this time, we do not anticipate any issues with meeting that timeline or allowing sufficient time for review." Lim has been stepping into her boss’ role as the top finance official for the last several weeks, while CFO Janine Trejo has been on an extended leave. The reasons for her leave have not been made public, nor has the timing of how long she’s been out. Even after Lim’s presentation, LAHSA Commissioner Amy Perkins said she doubts the audit will be done by the deadline.provided a statement “LAHSA has provided financial and organizational documentation to our external auditors, despite a key mid-level leadership transition that required adjustments to the document-gathering timeline,”provided by spokesperson Paul Rubenstein said. “As the audit nears completion, LAHSA remains committed to being a responsible steward of public funds, and we expect the audit to be completed on time.”Despite public records requests and a lawsuit, LAPD still hasn’t released crime map data In court records, a crime mapping company alleges LAPD has engaged in an “unlawful pattern of delaying tactics” to avoid releasing the data.City Council to study harms to prospective homeowners study released in October that found large landlords owned a growing share of L.A. properties.Measley, LAHSA’s lead contracted auditor, told the auditing committee on Wednesday that LAHSA executives had agreed in October to provide the documents by Jan. 15. LAHSA staff then confirmed multiple times in December and January that they were on track to do so, he said.Measley said the records were still not provided as of March 3, even after he raised concerns about the timing with O’Neill and LAHSA’s governing commission chair, Amber Sheikh, during a meeting in early February. On March 3, the audit firm contacted LAHSA’s governing commission about the overdue documents, Measley said. “I felt like I exhausted my ability to work solely within management, and I needed to alert governance of the delays, which is when I sent the letter of the potential for LAHSA to not meet its regulatory deadline,” Measley told the audit committee.Dennis Block submitted a filing in eviction court that a judge called “fabricated.” He’s now facing potential discipline from the California State Bar.UFW hasn’t received direct information about the allegations, but it’s serious enough to the organization to pull back from Chávez, who co-founded the union.From the Central Coast to San Diego, millions of Californians are under heat advisories and warnings this week. Here's what you need to know.In a statement, Sheikh said she met with the auditor in early February “as part of the standard annual single audit process.” “They shared that some steps were slightly behind schedule, but they did not express concern about delivering the audit on time,” Sheikh said. Juistin Szlasa, LAHSA’s audit committee chair, said he was not informed of any problems with the audit until March 3, despite them being flagged nearly a month earlier to O’Neill and Sheikh. Szlasa expressed concern about the remaining timeline, saying the agency’s governing commission would still need time to review the draft audit once it’s ready and ask questions before it’s finalized. He said the draft audit should be circulated at least a week before it’s finalized. “I don’t see how this is going to happen in a way that makes sense,” he said during Wednesday’s meeting. “I’m very disappointed,” Szlasa said. He did not fault the auditors, who he said were handling the review “with integrity and care.”L.A. Mayor Karen Bass is the only elected official on LAHSA’s governing commission, and was one of the three members of its audit committee from Aug. 22 until Jan. 23, which overlapped with the first few months of the audit. She did not attend any of the committee's four meetings during that time, according to official records.“Mayor Bass has been a champion for reforming L.A.’s broken homelessness system, and wants this audit done,” a statement provided by Ilana Morales, the mayor’s spokesperson, said. “She is tasking the City’s appointed LAHSA commissioners to work closely with the agency’s leadership to get this moving. After years of increases before she took office, Mayor Bass brought homelessness down, and she will not let bureaucratic failures stand in her way.” You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our connected community. We are free to tell the full truth, to hold power to account without fear or favor, and to follow facts wherever they lead . Our only loyalty is to our audiences and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen our community. Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive from readers like you will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.Housing & Homelessness
Amber Sheikh Audit Gita O'neill Homeless Services Karen Bass Los Angeles Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority Mayor Bass Single Audit
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