UCLA Law

NLSLA is part of a coalition of legal aid law firms and community based organizations working to get a codified right to counsel for low income tenants in eviction cases. We have been working on the local level, meaning the City and County of Los Angeles. While we've been successful in getting a right to counsel program in place, it's not yet a codified right.

On the state level, a bill was passed by the legislature last year that would provide legal aid for low income tenants in eviction cases, but because of budgetary issues, the bill was vetoed by the Governor. There is an effort to bring that bill back in 2022, but again it would not be a codified right to counsel.

With this frame, our coalition has been discussing whether an argument could be made that the California Constitution actually provides for a "right to counsel" in cases that affect a person's right to remain in their home. Essentially what we're arguing for is a right to housing. So far, this has only been a discussion, we have not done any research into this issue at all. We don't know if there is anything in the Constitution to support this, but we're hoping there is a hook in the constitution that would support this argument.

It would be helpful if the research were completed by March 1, and would likely take 25-30 hours.

For questions and to volunteer, please contact Skip Koenig at Neighborhood Legal Services at skipkoenig@nlsla.org.