LA City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to give legal representation to tenants facing evictions.
After being made for more than two years, the allegations require formal implementation approval by Mayor Karen Bass.
This concept was first introduced by CounceMembers Nithya Raman, Bob Blumenfield and Hugo Soto-.
In 2023, Martinez, Heather Hutt, Eunises Hernandez and Katie Jaroslavsky.
“We hope that by passing this ordinance we will ultimately be able to move forward in establishing a very important service in the city of Los Angeles,” Raman said Tuesday.
Raman, chairman of the council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee, noted that the ordinance was originally pursued by Blumenfield and former councillor Paul Colletz about seven years ago.
In 2018, the council directed staff to begin developing the right to advise ordinances. Three years later, the city launched an eviction defense programme and provided eviction prevention services to residents affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Many of these programs are funded through House LA by Measurement United, which was approved by voters in November 2022. This measurement collects 4% tax on real estate sales of more than $5 million and 5.5% tax on sales of more than $10 million.
As of February, ULA had raised a total of $632 million.
Approximately 10% of the ULA revenue generated each year is funded by legal representatives. The funds generated by the tax also support the development of other tenant protections, such as affordable housing and emergency rentals.
Support and countermeasures against tenant harassment.
Under the advice program, tenants facing eviction procedures must live in the city of Los Angeles and earn less than 80% of the local median income determined by U.S. housing and urban development.
You should not live in the same residence as the department, and their landlord.
According to the language of the ordinance, tenants have 30 days to request legal assistance after receiving an eviction notice or the commencement of a covered lawsuit.
Additionally, tenants requesting the assistance of illegal detainees will be expressed until the complaint is withdrawn, the case is dismissed, or the judgment or post-ruling motion in the case is controlled by the court.
The program requires landlords to inform tenants about their rights and available resources. Information is available in multiple languages.
Members of Strategic Action for a Fair Economy and Other Housing Advocates gathered at City Hall Tuesday morning to support the rights of the city’s ordinance.
Nicolas Lampros, a betting staff lawyer for Tzedek Legal Services, defended three and a half years in illegal detainee lawsuits as part of the Stay House LA program.
Organization.
“I’ve seen firsthand work with tenants and see the big differences that lawyers can make… you don’t have to fight for your own housing,” Lampoulos said.
“Having an attorney in an eviction court makes a day and night difference in these tenants’ cases and their lives,” added Shane Henson, a public policy advocate for the inner city law centre.
The policy has been criticised by some landlords, including the Greater Los Angeles Apartments Association.
The association’s government affairs coordinator, Jesus Rojas, urges previously elected officials to reject proposed ordinances, warning the city to use “defective ULA tax” and other rare items.
Resources to fund it.
“It would be much better to use these funds as direct rental assistance to low-income renters than to pursue a program that puts money in the pockets of private lawyers to delay the already long eviction process.
And avoid evictions entirely,” Rojas said.
He noted that 96% of all evictions are due to non-payment of rent. The average rent outstanding is less than $4,000, which is much less than paying lawyers’ time at $250 per hour, Rojas added.
Similar policies exist in San Francisco, New York, Philadelphia and other cities.
When New York passed its rights to law in 2017, about 74% of tenants facing eviction were represented by lawyers, and 84% of those represented by the Housing Court as a result of the city’s initiative.
They will stay in their home, according to the councillor’s allegations.
San Francisco enacted the right to advise in 2018, and in just one year, officials said eviction applications have dropped by 10%.
The program could cost $34.6 million a year, according to a 2019 report from Stout Risius Ross, but could help the city avoid the approximately $120 million cost.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a similar policy in 2024 and expanded its Residence LA program to provide free legal representatives to tenants in the county’s unconsolidated area.
Failure to comply with the notification requirements could result in a civil penalty of up to $800, a criminal penalty of up to $800, and/or a prison sentence at the county jail for up to six months. According to the Ministry of Consumer and Business Affairs, continuing violations every day is another clear crime.
County officials officially launched the program in March after a delay in the January wildfire.
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