On August 17, 2018, the City Council directed HCIDLA to work with the Office of the Chief Legislative Analyst (CLA) and the City Attorney to develop recommendations, including prospective costs and funding sources, for a City of Los Angeles “Right to Counsel” ordinance and/or a program to ensure that tenants have access to the information and representation when facing landlord harassment, rental agreement and lease issues, and eviction.
For nearly the past two years, HCIDLA has conducted extensive research and held numerous meetings with various stakeholders (i.e., Right to Counsel Coalition members), including working closely with the Mayor’s Office, L.A. County, City Council offices, the CLA, the Office of the City Administrative Officer (CAO) and the City Attorney’s Office. At the conclusion of the City budget, an allocation of $2,937,000 was approved to fund the initial phase of the EDP program. During this time as well, the State passed AB 1482, the Tenant Protection Act of 2019: Rent Cap law that became effective in late Summer 2019. AB 1482, due to its urgent and timing provisions had a direct impact on the funding originally planned for the EDP. HCIDLA staff continued to work on the EDP framework and report back to City Council and officially transmitted its report to Council on November 1, 2019. The report was heard on December 10, 2019 at a special joint meeting of the Housing Committee and Personnel and Animal Welfare (PAW) Committee. Given the recent and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic impacts in 2020, HCIDLA has continued to work with the Mayor’s Office and City Council offices to identify funding to implement a citywide Eviction Defense Program. The City Council adoption of the EDP is pending at this time.
HCIDLA’s PP& R Unit will update this page after the City Council adopts the EDP program. We will provide more details on the program implementation process and other program components at a later time.
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Last modified: January 26, 2021