VA ordered to build thousands more homes for veterans on West Los Angeles campus

By Nick Watt, CNN

Los Angeles (CNN) — A federal judge on Friday slammed the Department of Veterans Affairs for failing to build enough homes for veterans in West Los Angeles and ruled that a private school, UCLA, an oil driller and a parking lot operator must vacate some of the most valuable real estate in America because their leases with the VA are illegal.

Judge David O. Carter – ruling in a lawsuit brought by homeless vets – ordered the VA to build about 2,500 temporary and permanent units of housing on the land so that more veterans can move off the street and the neediest among them can access the medical facilities available on the agency’s West Los Angeles campus.

“Today marks the first step on the long road of getting that land back to its intended purpose,” said Rob Reynolds, an Iraq War veteran and advocate. “As a soldiers’ home for disabled veterans.”

Carter ruled the parking lot and oil drilling leases, “void and terminated.” He ruled the UCLA and Brentwood School leases void and that the court will determine exit strategies for both following a hearing later this month.

Last year, a group of veterans sued the VA, demanding the federal agency build more housing, and build it faster. The plaintiffs demanded the VA terminate the leases with leaseholders who do not use the land to “principally benefit” veterans.

The land in question is a leafy 388-acre parcel that was gifted to the nation back in 1888 for a home for disabled soldiers. But, in recent years, the land has been leased by the VA to UCLA for the Bruins’ baseball field and to Brentwood School, which has spent millions of dollars building a football field, tennis courts and a swimming pool. Brentwood School has spent about $1 million more lobbying to keep it.

The agency said it has made progress on providing housing for veterans but the judge said:

“Over the past five decades, the West LA VA has been infected by bribery, corruption and the influence of the powerful.” Carter said the VA has broken previous promises to build housing and, “The cost of the VA’s inaction is veterans’ lives.”

During the bench trial, the 80-year-old judge, who is a Vietnam veteran, led lawyers and others on a 10-mile, pre-dawn hike around the entire campus asking questions such as, “How many temporary houses could be erected on Brentwood School’s baseball field?’”

Brentwood School does grant access to the facilities to veterans at certain times of the day. But, Carter ruled, the land is principally for the benefit of students at the school and not veterans.

The school said after the ruling its lease complies with federal law, according to a 2016 West LA leasing act. “While we are still examining the full implications of the ruling, it would be a significant loss for many veterans if the extensive services we provide were eliminated.”

Currently, there are just 233 permanent housing units in VA buildings on the land, most of which are occupied, according to the judge’s ruling. More units are under construction – but are well behind schedule and now mired in red tape.

Carter’s ruling comes after decades of activism and legal wrangling, as well as more recent media coverage from CNN and others.

UCLA said Friday it has had a public service partnership with the VA spanning more than 70 years. “Working with the VA to serve veterans continues to be one of our key objectives as part of UCLA’s mission of teaching, research and public service.” The university said it is reviewing Carter’s decision.

VA spokesperson Terrence Hayes told CNN: “While we do not comment on ongoing litigation, we at VA are carefully reviewing the Court’s decision and will continue to do everything in our power to end Veteran homelessness – both in Los Angeles and across America.”

Hayes pointed to a recent reduction in the number of homeless veterans in Los Angeles and a rise in the number of veterans the VA is moving into permanent housing.

“While there is still much work to do,” said Hayes, “there are signs that the nation is making real progress in the fight to end Veteran homelessness.”

In his 124-page ruling, Carter wrote: “Many of these changes, however, were only made once this lawsuit was revived.”

Carter made scathing remarks about presidents Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden: “Each promised that they would act swiftly to eradicate veteran homelessness in America. Yet today, approximately 3,000 homeless veterans live in the Los Angeles area alone.”

Mark Rosenbaum, an attorney for the veterans, said, “Today is the first real veterans’ day in America in a long, long time.”

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CNN’s Stephanie Becker contributed to this report.