Stay Housed LA: Know Your Rights!
Los Angeles renters have faced a housing crisis for many years, but it has exponentially intensified with the onset of COVID-19. Over half a million people are estimated to have lost jobs in the last six months, making rent even harder to pay. Scholars estimate that close to 350,000 people in LA County are at risk of eviction.
Safe, healthy, and stable housing is the foundation of public health. Lawmakers in many of our cities, plus LA County and the State of California have passed new emergency policies to protect renters during the pandemic, but untangling these protections to determine which ones might apply to you and what steps you need to take is next to impossible for the average person. That’s assuming you are aware these policies have been passed at all. Renters who don’t know their rights and have no way to exercise them are much more likely to leave their home even if they don’t legally have to. This is unacceptable at any time, but during a pandemic that mandates we socially distance from each other it’s not only unacceptable, it’s irresponsible.
Renters must know their rights and have the ability to exercise them. That’s why Liberty Hill has partnered with longtime housing justice organizations, legal service providers, and the LA County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs to launch Stay Housed LA County. Stay Housed LA County aims to educate tenants on their rights and connect qualifying tenants to the right legal service provider for them. We do this through:
- A countywide public awareness campaign to tell renters that they have rights
- Targeted phone and text outreach to neighborhoods most vulnerable to eviction and displacement
- Free virtual know-your rights workshops available six days of the week. Sign up for a workshop here.
- Free legal advice or full representation for qualifying tenants at the right legal service provider for them, based on location, income, and other preferences. Get referred to a legal service provider here.
- Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE)
- BASTA
- Bet Tzedek
- Communities for a Better Environment
- Community Legal Aid SoCal
- Coalition for Economic Survival
- Eviction Defense Network
- East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice
- Eastside LEADS
- Housing Rights Center
- Inquilinos Unidos
- Inner City Law Center
- Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles
- Liberty Hill Foundation
- Los Angeles Center for Community Law and Action
- Los Angeles Community Action Network (LACAN)
- Los Angeles Tenants Union
- Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County
- Public Counsel
- Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE)
We’re grateful to Supervisor Sheila Kuehl and Supervisor Ridley-Thomas for their leadership in passing the eviction prevention and defense motion that led to Stay Housed LA County. We also give thanks to the LA Renter’s Right to Counsel coalition, who began advocating for eviction prevention and defense in 2018, and whose members also participate in Stay Housed LA County. The LA Renter’s Right to Counsel coalition is still actively campaigning for a codified right to counsel that would provide every person facing eviction free legal representation. Find out more at their website www.rtcla.org.