The Los Angeles City Council Tuesday approved recommendations to establish a right-to-counsel program and to codify legal defense protections for renters who may face eviction.

Council members voted 12-0 to provide a plan to expand their Eviction Defense Program (EDP), including an ordinance that would provide the right-to-counsel for qualified tenants, a five-year phase-in plan to roll out services citywide, and funding for additional staff to run the program.

The EDP was officially launched and began providing services on July 1, 2021. The City of Los Angeles partnered with L.A. County, as well as local community and legal service providers, to keep city residents in their homes by providing information and resources through the Stay Housed L.A. (SHLA) platform.

From the start of the program in 2021 through June 2023, the EDP has provided legal services to 7,883 households, consisting of 1,967 full-scope legal representation and 5,916 cases supported with limited-scope representation.

The reported outcomes indicate that of the 715 closed full-scope legal cases, 632 cases resulted in positive outcomes for the households through staying in their homes, receiving time and money to move out, or getting a waiver of back rent, according to a report by The Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD).

Councilmember Nithya Raman, who represents portions of Hollywood and one of the principal sponsors of the measure, said “Establishing a Right to Counsel program is not only the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do. By investing in protecting tenants, we are not only keeping Angelenos housed, we are saving money in costs related to emergency shelter, temporary housing programs, and health care.” She added, “I am so grateful to my colleagues for pushing this legislation forward and helping move us into an era of stability in the City of Los Angeles, keeping people in their homes and combating the eviction-to-homelessness pipeline that has exacerbated the homeless crisis for years.”

Before the City Council vote, members of the Coalition Keep L.A. Housed as well as other housing advocates held a press conference outside of City Hall to express their support for the motion.

“More than 74,000 eviction notices were filed between February and December of this year, nearly all for non-payment of rent. Almost 6,000 of those filings just in November alone. Those are thousands of tenants who are at risk of losing their housing if we do not take action to protect our tenants. We have taken huge steps forward on tenant rights for Los Angeles this past year,” said  Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez who represents the 1st Council District.

The LAHD estimates that it could represent 2,500 tenants facing eviction in the first year of the program, and could meet the expected demand of 10,000 cases by the last year of the phased roll-out.

The program would provide legal services to qualifying tenants at below 80 percent of the area median income who reside in the City of Los Angeles. The program would also require landlords to notify tenants of the Right to Counsel Program using a curated city form at the onset of a tenancy and attach to any termination of tenancy notice in the tenant’s primary language.

The department proposes rolling out the right-to-counsel program in the city’s most vulnerable zip codes over the next three years.

New York City, San Francisco, Cleveland, Boulder, Kansas City_, Toledo, and the States of Connecticut and Washington all have right-to-counsel protections for tenants.

According to a report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, tenant representation decreases the likelihood and overall impact of the consequences for tenants threatened with eviction.

The report states, “In addition, even a filing of eviction, regardless of the outcome, reduces housing opportunities and can remain on a tenant’s record for years. These consequences are not experienced equally. Black female renters face eviction twice as often as white tenants.”  It further states that on average only three percent of tenants have representation compared to 81 percent of landlords.

Photo by mrdoomits on iStockphoto.com