The Brief

Los Angeles housing officials say it would take the city five years to fully implement a proposal to guarantee free lawyers to low-income renters facing eviction. And by the time the potential “right to counsel” program is fully funded in 2028, it would cost close to $68 million per year.

The long-awaited report from the city’s housing department — which was months overdue — came up for discussion in the City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee meeting on Wednesday afternoon. The committee unanimously voted to move the recommendations toward a vote in the full council.

“I’m very excited about this moving forward,” said Councilmember Nithya Raman, the committee chair. Raman and other councilmembers proposed the right to counsel policy back in February.

If approved by the full council, the program would still take years to get fully up and running. The city aims to provide a dedicated stream of funding for eviction defense. But in order to meet demand from low-income tenants, L.A. would first need to greatly expand the number of legal aid attorneys currently helping tenants.

Does L.A. have enough lawyers?

The report comes at a time when evictions are rising and calls for a right to counsel program have grown louder. A similar policy is being weighed by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors.

L.A. is gradually removing the last remaining tenant protections from the COVID-19 pandemic. Tenant advocates say evictions could further increase after Feb. 1, when renters in the city who deferred rent during the pandemic will have to pay back all of their remaining debts. On that same date, tenants in rent-controlled L.A. housing will face allowable rent hikes of up to 6%.

Tenants in L.A. currently have no right to an eviction defense attorney if they can’t afford one themselves. Some have secured free legal services through the city-funded program StayHousedLA.org. Others are starting to connect with lawyers who are volunteering to offer pro bono services.

Despite those new resources, the vast majority of L.A. tenants go to court without an attorney, facing landlords who have legal representation in about 95% of cases. A 2019 study commissioned by right to counsel advocates found that when L.A. tenants go to eviction court without an attorney, 99% experience some level of displacement, such as formal eviction or other forms of housing disruption.

Other cities including San Francisco, Philadelphia and Cleveland have already passed right to counsel programs. New York City was the first to enact the policy in 2017, providing full legal representation to tenants with incomes up to 200% of the federal poverty line. The city reports that 84% of those who receive lawyers stay housed. Eviction filings have fallen 30% in the city. But New York has been struggling to match tenants with attorneys, who are in short supply.

Right to counsel proponents say L.A. has a long way to go if it hopes to replicate outcomes like those in cities like New York. In order to meet projected demand, housing department officials say L.A. will need about 200 full-time eviction attorneys to handle about 10,000 cases per year. One recent study estimated there are currently only about 50 attorneys representing tenants across all of L.A. County.

Where will the city get $68 million per year?

The city’s proposed policy would not cover everyone facing eviction. The plan would provide free attorneys only to tenants earning up to 80% of the area’s median income. Under current income levels, that would mean a family of four earning up to $100,900 per year would qualify.

Pablo Estupiñan, the right to counsel campaign director with Strategic Actions For A Just Economy, said those eligibility requirements should cover most tenants needing help.

“That's something to applaud,” Estupiñan said. “It’s providing full legal representation. This isn't just tenants getting brief advice. They will have an attorney from start to finish.”

During the first four years of the proposed implementation plan, lawyers would be prioritized for tenants living in certain ZIP codes. Estupiñan said areas will be chosen based on factors like higher renter populations, lower median incomes and higher percentages of residents from races disproportionately targeted for eviction. If approved by the full council, officials plan to implement the policy city-wide by 2028.

Tenant advocates who view eviction courts as the frontlines of L.A.’s homelessness crisis cheered the city’s move toward a right to counsel program. But landlords in the city have said the program is a waste of money.

When the policy was first proposed, the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles submitted a statement to the council saying a right to counsel “wrongfully promotes class warfare between renters and rental housing providers,” and detracts from other priorities such as the creation of new affordable housing and income support for disabled and senior tenants.

City councilmembers plan to fund the right to counsel program through Measure ULA, a ballot initiative passed by L.A. voters in 2022 that taxes property sales of $5 million or more. However, revenues from that tax have so far fallen below projections that claimed it could raise as much as $1.1 billion every year. The tax collected about $55 million in its first four months, and the city council has approved an initial spending plan for the first $150 million.

“Obviously, with ULA, we're hoping the resources will be bigger,” Councilmember Bob Blumenfield said during the committee meeting Wednesday.

The city estimates that each eviction defense case would cost about $5,000. That money would largely go toward paying lawyers at organizations such as the Legal Aid Foundation of L.A., which already have attorneys that specialize in this work. Those nonprofits would need to greatly increase their hiring in order to make the city’s proposed program work.

Beyond legal representation, L.A. also plans to use ULA money on rent relief programs and enforcement of the city’s law against landlords harassing tenants.

An employee of Los Angeles County’s Office of Emergency Management has sued his employer, alleging he was retaliated against for making whistleblower complaints about the response to the deadly Eaton Fire.

Nicholas Vaquero, an associate director in the Office of Emergency Management, alleges that officials leading the office failed to properly staff the response to the fire, which killed at least 19 people and burned thousands of homes and businesses in January 2025.

He also alleges the county’s emergency alerts were inadequate and that it submitted fraudulent data in order to receive FEMA reimbursement. Vaquero says in the suit that he used official county whistleblower channels to raise his concerns, in addition to speaking to OEM’s top two officials, Director Kevin McGowan and Deputy Director Leslie Luke.

Vaquero’s lawyers and the county declined to comment on the substance of the lawsuit. “L.A. County is going to address the allegations in court,” spokesperson Elizabeth Marcellino wrote in a statement to LAist.

LAist previously reported on Vaquero’s whistleblower complaint, in which he alleged that a now-retired employee with “a long history of sleeping on the job” was put in charge of emergency workers sending evacuation alerts and was asleep during critical moments of the first night of the Eaton Fire, when many of the deaths and much of the devastation occurred.

In the lawsuit, Vaquero alleges he has faced retaliation after raising his concerns, including being excluded from meetings he previously was a part of and being treated with hostility by the department’s leadership, among other things.

The complaint comes after county leadership launched a three-year restructuring of the Office of Emergency Management, which includes working to add staff and to conduct regular training for all staff on emergency alert software.

An after-action report from the McChrystal Group highlighted that the emergency management office was severely short-staffed during the fire. The department, which serves 10 million people, had a staff of 37 people at the time the fires broke out. Meanwhile, New York City has a population of 8.5 million and an emergency management staff of about 200 people, the report noted.

For the last three years, the record store and music venue Healing Force of the Universe has been operating on a sleepy street corner not far from Pasadena City College. Nearby businesses include a shoe repair store, a nail salon and several auto shops.

“We're kind of in a dead corner,” owner Austin Manuel said. “No offense if anybody lives here, but not a very foot-trafficked area, kind of a hard place to have a store.”

In spite of the location, Manuel said Healing Force has become a home away from home for musicians and music fans. One of them is Bobby Bradford, a jazz trumpet legend who lost his house and personal archive in the Eaton Fire. He performs regularly at the venue. (Healing Force has also partnered with LAist on fire recovery events.)

Its current location is set to close this month, but Manuel and his team are already raising funds to cover a move to another space: G-Son Studios in Atwater Village. The repurposed ballroom was the Beastie Boys' home base when they recorded their classic albums Check Your Head and Ill Communication. Run-DMC and Biz Markie stopped by at one point, and Beck also laid down tracks for his album Odelay there.

Inside Healing Force's space in Pasadena.

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The vibe

Healing Force sells records, of course, but these days it’s more of a nighttime performance space. Manuel said he wants people to feel comfortable striking up conversations after a show.

“I grew up in the church in the South, and I was like, ‘How do I design this so that it feels like a Southern church lady could come in here and feel welcome?’" Manuel said. “ I didn't want it to be too cool.  I wanted it to feel kind of suburban in a way.”

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Though the name might call to mind a cult slogan — and Manuel said they lean into that aesthetic on purpose — it’s actually a reference to the 1970 album Music Is the Healing Force of the Universe by saxophonist Albert Ayler.

At the venue, “people can kind of get … into a meditative zone,” Manuel said. “After the [January 2025] fires, it felt so good to come back together in this room and feel the healing of community.”

Healing Force's stage setup.

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The performances

The shows Healing Force puts on share a common thread: They’re meant to promote peace and relaxation, as well as deep, careful listening on the hi-fi sound system. But they’re an eclectic mix of genres. On one night, you might see L.A. spiritual jazz band Phi-Psonics, who turned a residency at the venue into a live album, Expanding to One.

On another night, you might catch a spaced-out electronic set, an up-and-coming singer-songwriter or a group of session musicians who’ve played with the likes of Paul Simon, Elton John and Lucinda Williams.

About the fundraiser

With the new space on Glendale Boulevard, Manuel said, Healing Force would triple its capacity for concerts, get a bar space and be closer to other venues in Northeast L.A.

“If 1,000 people gave $25, we would get there,” Manuel said – though he also said most people have been giving more.

You can read more about the fundraiser and donate at Healing Force’s GoFundMe.

See the Pasadena space before it closes

The venue is still open at 1200 E. Walnut Street and is holding events through this Halloween weekend. You can see their events calendar on their website.

The racist DNA of Jim Crow discrimination may be embedded in your housing documents.

The language in housing documents that restricts sale or use of a property only to a person of the white race is called a “restrictive covenant,” and in California the practice goes back to the 19th century and continued into the mid-20th century. While housing discrimination persists, the practice was found unconstitutional in 1948.

California counties are reporting mixed progress in meeting the demands of a 2021 law to excise the language from property records.

According to Sylvia Manzo, deputy recorder in the Orange County Clerk-Recorder’s office, the county finished the job in March of this year, removing racist language from more than 27,000 property documents with the help of computer software.

This 1924 property document from Bakersfield includes racist language limiting use of the property in question to people of "the white or Caucasian race."

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L.A. County is far from done. It says that with the help of an outside company hired in 2024, 50 million pages will be examined yearly, which would take about 10 years to finish the job.

Public agencies could use the public’s help.

Language examples

Here’s a 1924 example from a property in Bakersfield. The text reads, “That the lands herein conveyed shall never, at any time, be sold to or rented to or occupied by any person not of the white or Caucasian race.”

Or this language from a 1936 document relating to a Costa Mesa property: “That said premises shall not be sold, conveyed, rented, or leased to, or occupied by any person of African, Mexican, or Asiatic descent.”

How to get it taken out

The Restrictive Covenant Modification Form is at the heart of the effort to remove the racist language from housing documents. Each county has its own process. Some charge a fee; others don’t. Some require a notary certification for the signature; others don’t.

L.A. County:

Registrar-Recorder officials recommend these steps:

• Highlight or underline the unlawful provision on the recorded document
• Complete the Restrictive Covenant Modification Form
• Submit the form and the recorded document by email: RCM@rrcc.lacounty.gov or in person at the Norwalk headquarters at 12400 Imperial Highway in Norwalk
• Mail instructions are here.

Orange County:

The Orange County spokesperson says there may be some properties not caught by its software and urges the public to report them. Here’s the form

Riverside County:

Here’s the Riverside County form

San Bernardino County:

Here’s the San Bernardino County form

San Diego County:

Here’s the San Diego County form

Santa Barbara County:

Here’s the Santa Barbara County form

Ignoring the racist language in property documents, some say, reinforces the legacy of segregation, while taking steps to remove restrictive covenant language is a way individuals and organizations can repudiate policies that sought to discriminate.