California pledged $500 million to help tenants preserve affordable housing. They didn’t get a dime.

By Felicia Mello (CALMATTERS) – Luke Johnson and his neighbors thought they had found the perfect solution to avoid being displaced from their Silver Lake, Los Angeles fourplex: A state program was offering $500 million to help tenants, community land trusts and other affordable housing developers buy buildings at risk of foreclosure. With their longtime landlords set on selling the building, Johnson and his neighbors persuaded them to sell to a community land trust that pledged to keep rents low. But six months later, the state program has vanished after failing for three years to give out any of the grants and loans it promised. The deal with their landlords has collapsed. That leaves Johnson, 85, and his husband unsure whether they’ll be able to stay in the rent-controlled two-bedroom apartment where Johnson has lived for nearly half a century. The sudden disappearance of half a billion dollars of state money meant to help community land trusts has left some housing advocates questioning California’s commitment to preserving existing affordable housing, a strategy that’s less flashy than building new units but can also be less expensive. “It’s a struggle for us and I’m sure for a lot of other people who...