The City of Los Angeles Department of Cannabis Regulation will accept Social Equity Individual Applicant verification requests from May 26, 2022, to July 25, 2022, at 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time. The requirements for the Social Equity Individual Applicant verification are below.

Verification of a Social Equity Individual Application (“SEIA”) is required to submit a commercial cannabis business license application to conduct retail, non-retail delivery, and cultivation activities until January 1, 2025. Please note that individuals who were previously verified as SEIA in 2019 and who wish to participate in Phase 3 Round 2 lottery for Storefront Retail licenses, must be verified again under the updated criteria and have a California Cannabis Arrest or Conviction to register for the lottery. The eligibility criteria for verification changed in 2020.

How do I know if I am eligible to be verified as a SEIA for Phase 3 Retail Round 2?

In order to participate in Phase 3 Retail Round 2 lottery, the SEIA must be verified with: 

• A qualifying California Cannabis Arrest or Conviction prior to November 8, 2016 (please note: an arrest, prosecution or conviction for a violation of Proposition D is not a California Cannabis Arrest on Conviction); AND, either
• 10 years of cumulative residency in a Disproportionately Impacted Area (“DIA”) as defined by police reporting districts; OR
• Qualify as Low Income in the 2020 or 2021 calendar year.

How is Low Income Defined?

Low Income means both of the following requirements are met:  

• The SEIA meets the low-income thresholds established in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) income limits based upon the Area Median Income (AMI) for Los Angeles County based on household size: 
  1. 2021
     •  Single person household – below $66,250 
     • Household of four – below $94,600 i; 
  2. 2020
     • Single person household – below $63,100
     • Household of four – below $90,100.00; and
• The SEIA does not have assets in excess of four times the AMI amount for their household. Examples of assets: savings accounts, checking accounts, certificates of deposits, money market accounts, stocks, trusts, gifts and real estate. 

Residency requirements:

• Address – to determine whether you live in a DIA, you can check here: https://cannabis.lacity.org/licensing/licensing-information/licensing-map by adding the “Social Equity Program” layer to your search. 
• Cumulative years do not need to be consecutive, the years lived in a DIA means the total number of years lived in a DIA over your lifetime.

What documents will qualify?

• Arrest or conviction: 
  1. A physical copy of the ticket or citation; 
  2. A court docket referencing the arrest or conviction; 
  3. A letter of expungement from the jurisdiction who expunged the cannabis conviction or arrest record. 
• Low Income: 
  1. Federal tax return for 2020 or 2021; 
  2. Letter from IRS stating you were NOT required to file taxes. 
• Residency: 
  1. One dated document for each year of residency;  
  2. Legal name on the document must match the legal name on the verification request or evidence linking the legal names must be provided. 
  3. Types of accepted documents: 
     • Tax or financial records; 
     • Property deeds, mortgage or lease documents; 
     • Government housing or assistance records; 
     • Utility Bills; 
     • Education records; 
     • Employment records; 
     • Vehicle registrations; 
     • Identification cards

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Blog by Tatyana Brenner, May 13, 2022.