LA County Board

14. Establishing Right to Counsel and Sustainably Expanding Eviction\nDefense Services in Los Angeles County\nRecommendation as submitted by Supervisors Mitchell and Solis: Instruct\nCounty Counsel, in coordination with the Director of Consumer and Business\nAffairs to return to the Board within 10 months with a Right to Counsel (RTC)\nordinance for adoption that will codify legal representation to eligible tenants\nwho have received an unlawful detainer in unincorporated Los Angeles County,\nto be fully effective for all eligible tenants by Fiscal Year (FY) 2024-25,\ncontingent upon securing the funding, with the ordinance to determine eligibility\ncriteria, and provision of legal services based on eligibility, per\nRecommendation 1a as outlined in the Director of Consumer and Business\nAffairs’ April 8, 2023 report entitled, "Report on Sustainably Expanding Eviction\nDefense Services in Los Angeles County;" instruct the Director of Consumer\nand Business Affairs to report back to the Board in writing in 180 days with a\nwritten reassessment and plan to phase in the implementation of a Universal\nAccess to Legal Representation program for eviction services to expand\ncoverage of legal representation services and wraparound services to additional\nnon-City of Los Angeles (LA) incorporated cities as the Department of\nConsumer and Business Affairs (DCBA) scales up program capacity, to\nachieve universal access Countywide by FY 2030-31, and work with non-City\nof LA incorporated cities to develop funding models for cities to develop funding\nmodels for cities to contribute to Stay Housed LA (SHLA) in order to support\nstanding up services within each jurisdiction interested in providing the SHLA\nprogram to their residents, and continue to engage key stakeholders, such as\nincorporated cities, tenants, private and nonprofit housing providers/landlords,\nand community-based organizations to inform this plan, per Recommendation\n1b as outlined in the Director of Consumer and Business Affairs’ April 8, 2023\nreport entitled, and take the following actions:\nInstruct the Director of Economic Opportunity and County Counsel, in\ncollaboration with the Director of Consumer and Business Affairs, to\nreport back to the Board in writing in 180 days including resources and\nprograms available to mom-and-pop rental property owners and\nrecommendations for a policy defining mom-and-pop rental property\nowners, including potential eligibility criteria for a legal advice and\nrepresentation program, and the feasibility of expanding and/or\nimplementing new programs for mom-and-pop rental property owners\nwho do not have the means or resources for legal advice and\nrepresentation;\nDirect the Chief Executive Officer, in consultation with the Director of\nConsumer and Business Affairs, the Executive Director of the Los\nAngeles County Development Authority, and the Los Angeles County\nAffordable Housing Solutions Agency, to report back to the Board in\nwriting within 120 days on the feasibility of identifying a sustainable\nfunding source to implement the RTC ordinance and Universal Access\nprogram under the SHLA umbrella, starting as early as FY 2024-25, to\neligible tenants Countywide;\nDirect the Chief Executive Officer, through the Legislative Affairs and\nIntergovernmental Relations Branch, in collaboration with the Director of\nConsumer and Business Affairs, to support State and Federal level\nlegislative budget proposals that would support funding sources for the\nRTC and/or expansion of SHLA;\nAuthorize the Director of Consumer and Business Affairs to enter into\nagreements, partnerships, and seek funding opportunities including, but\nnot limited to, philanthropic entities, as necessary to execute the\ndirectives of this motion; and\nAs recommended by the Chief Executive Officer’s June 26, 2023, report\nentitled, “Recommended Adjustments to the 2023-24 Recommended Budget to\nReflect Various Changes and Request Authorization to Execute Funding\nAgreements”, direct the Chief Executive Officer, as part of the FY 2023-24\nSupplemental Budget phase, to allocate $5,000,000 from the Affordable\nHousing Trust Fund in the Affordable Housing Programs budget unit to the\nDepartment of Consumer and Business Affairs to supplement the SHLA budget\nand other eviction prevention services to address service delivery gaps.\n(23-2511)\nAttachments: Motion by Supervisors Mitchell and Solis\nDepartment of Consumer and Business Affairs' Report\nChief Executive Office Report\nPublic Comment/Correspondence