LA passes ‘Right to Counsel’ law, but many tenants facing eviction won’t get a lawyer yet

The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to establish a long-debated “Right to Counsel” ordinance, which aims to provide free attorneys to low-income tenants facing eviction.

Tenant rights groups cheered the passage of a policy they’ve spent years advocating for, but cautioned that it could take five years or more before the city has enough funding and lawyers to give all eligible renters free legal representation in eviction court.

“We’re working to get there,” said Catalina Romo Paxcle with Stay Housed L.A., a coalition of legal service providers funded by the city and county of L.A. “This is a win moving toward justice in the courtroom and having a chance at a fair trial.”

Tenants facing eviction have not had the same right to a free attorney as defendants in criminal court. As a result, very few L.A. renters are accompanied by a lawyer in eviction court, where an estimated 95% of landlords have an attorney.

Tenant advocates say this imbalance in legal representation puts renters at a severe disadvantage, increasing their odds of becoming part of an unhoused population that has grown sharply in L.A. over the past decade.

Where will the funding come from?

The ordinance was approved by the City Council in a 14-0 vote. Councilmember Curren Price was absent.

The language of the ordinance clarifies that free eviction attorneys will be provided only to tenants earning less than 80% of the area’s median income. Right now, that means up to $77,700 per year for an individual or $110,950 for a family of four.

In Tuesday’s meeting, Councilmember Nithya Raman said L.A. was finally able to pass a policy she and other councilmembers introduced more than two years ago due to funding approved by voters through Measure ULA. It’s sometimes called the city’s “mansion tax,” though much of the measure’s revenue comes from the sale of commercial buildings and apartment complexes.

Some questions remain about "Right to Counsel," such as how much funding the city will be able to put toward the new program. Measure ULA raised nearly $300 million dollars in the 2024 fiscal year, and the measure requires 10% of annual revenue go toward the "Right to Counsel" program.

One previous report from L.A.’s Housing Department concluded that a fully funded "Right to Counsel" program would cost the city about $68 million per year.

Advocates say more lawyers are needed

Barbara Schultz, an attorney with the Legal Aid Foundation of L.A., said if the program launches with around $30 million in funding, the city would be able to connect low-income renters facing eviction within certain priority ZIP codes with about 80 lawyers currently handling eviction defense cases countywide through Stay Housed L.A.

“This has to be phased in,” Schultz said. “We can't instantly provide all tenants in the city of L.A. with a right to counsel and evictions, because we don't have enough attorneys to do that yet. It's something that we need to build up.”

Schultz said tenants living outside the current priority ZIP codes would not be disqualified for eviction defense attorneys, but they would be less likely to receive them. Schultz estimates L.A. needs closer to 300 eviction attorneys to serve every qualified renter throughout the county.

With Tuesday’s vote, L.A. now joins other cities, including New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco, that have passed their own versions of a "Right to Counsel" in recent years. Tenants in unincorporated areas of L.A. County became the first in Southern California to receive such support after a vote by the county’s Board of Supervisors last summer.

How tenants can ask for help

 
Landlord groups have argued that local governments would be better off spending funds on rental assistance to struggling tenants, rather than paying lawyers to defend them in eviction court.

In a letter to the City Council ahead of Tuesday’s vote, Janet Gagnon with the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles urged lawmakers to change a provision in the ordinance that would have allowed all tenants to challenge an eviction if their landlord failed to notify them of the Right To Counsel protections, even if that tenant did not meet the program’s qualifications.

“It is astounding that such unwarranted complications are being proposed,” the letter read. Councilmembers amended the ordinance Tuesday to clarify that this protection applied only to tenants eligible for the program.

For now, Schultz said, tenants facing eviction who believe they would qualify for help should reach out at StayHousedLA.org or call (888) 694-0040.