Help for LA renters facing eviction at risk as city attorney refuses to sign contract

Legal aid and rental assistance programs that have helped thousands of Angelenos avoid eviction could abruptly end later this month because the L.A. City Attorney has refused to extend a contract with the city’s lead service provider, according to tenant advocates.

The city has been funding Stay Housed L.A. — a consortium of local tenant aid organizations — for the past four years. But the group’s contract with the city is set to expire on June 30.

In April, the City Council voted to extend that contract another five years for a total of nearly $34 million. Mayor Karen Bass signed off on the plan on May 1.

But last week, City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto informed city housing officials she would not approve the deal, according to tenant advocates involved in the contract.

Ivor Pine, a spokesperson for the City Attorney’s Office, said Feldstein Soto takes issue with how the contract was awarded.

In an email to LAist, Pine said the L.A. City Charter “mandates that city contracts must be awarded by competitive bidding unless one of the exemptions applies.”

Tenant advocates say the City Attorney’s Office did not raise concerns over the sole-source contract when the extension was being voted on by the City Council months ago.

“It was very surprising,” said Barbara Schultz, an attorney with the Legal Aid Foundation of L.A. who also oversees Stay Housed L.A. operations. “We were very shocked to find out that, potentially, tenants in L.A. would be without any Stay Housed services… as of July 1.”

Should the contract have been open to competing bids?

Schultz said Stay Housed L.A. leaders would have submitted a bid if the city put out a request for proposals, but now there is not enough time for the city to finalize an open bidding process.

“This is an incredibly bad time for this to be happening to tenants,” Schultz said. “There are so many tenants who are impacted by the ICE raids. And the last thing they need is to now no longer have services that will help keep them housed.”

Pine said Feldstein Soto met recently with tenant advocates to discuss a possible temporary extension of the contract while the city conducts a request for proposals. He said she also asked legal aid providers for “records necessary to confirm the spending of the taxpayer funds provided under this contract.”

Pine said awarding it as a sole-source contract violates the city’s charter.

Through Stay Housed L.A., tenants facing eviction can get access to free legal advice — and in some cases, a free attorney. The group also manages rent relief programs funded by the city’s Measure ULA, sometimes called the “mansion tax.” Stay Housed L.A. also receives L.A. County funding to provide similar services outside the city of L.A.

The city began funding Stay Housed L.A. during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Schultz said the group has distributed close to $10 million in rent relief, has represented 4,200 city tenant households in eviction proceedings, and has provided 15,000 more with limited legal assistance.

Stay Housed L.A. is currently representing 600 city households in active eviction proceedings, Schultz said.

“We have an ethical duty to continue to represent these tenants,” she said. “We just might not receive funding for it.”

Schultz added that if the contract lapses, the organization would not be able to take on new cases.

“Our hotline would be closed to city tenants,” she said. “We would probably move most of our resources over to the county.”

Past disputes between renters and City Attorney

This is not the first time Feldstein Soto has faced criticism from tenant advocates over her handling of issues related to housing.

Right To Counsel proponents have said they were confounded by efforts from the City Attorney’s Office to remove the word “right” from the city’s Right To Counsel ordinance, a program recently approved by the City Council to connect low-income renters with free eviction defense attorneys.

Tenants who prevailed in their fight against a mass eviction at Barrington Plaza also said they felt abandoned by the City Attorney’s Office.

Temporary contract extension plans unclear

Tenant advocates who met with Feldstein Soto earlier this week said her responses to their questions were non-committal.

“It was a confusing meeting,” said Catalina Romo Paxcle, a program manager with Stay Housed L.A. “I really don't understand the timeline — why you would pause such an essential service three weeks before the end of the contract.”

Tenant advocates say that a Stay Housed L.A. contract expiration could jeopardize the city’s ongoing efforts to prevent more Angelenos from falling into homelessness.

City leaders envisioned Stay Housed L.A. as a hub for convening all the new attorneys needed to fully roll out the Right To Counsel program.