Inner City Law Center

We represent twenty-one of these tenants. The landlord has been awful, but the City of Los Angeles has also failed these tenants. The owner brought six burly men with guns and three uniformed LAPD officers door-to-door, to tell the residents they had to release all legal claims against the landlord if they wanted relocation benefits—city-mandated relocation benefits he is required to pay by law. As soon as tenants signed releases, their apartment doors were boarded up, they were handed a check and forced to leave the building. Men with guns stationed in front of the building refused to let anyone back in to retrieve belongings. Several of the exits to the building have been welded shut, despite the fact that some tenants still live there. The City Housing Department, City Department of Building and Safety, and City Attorney, stood by and let this happen. Completely unacceptable. And we wonder why so many people are #homeless. “One elderly resident has remained at the property. That woman, who is in her 70s, has said she will not go until she knows she has another place to live. The owners have said they are going to start eviction proceedings against her, said Deborah Hoetger, an attorney with the nonprofit Inner City Law Center, which is representing her and 20 other former tenants.” #SlumHousing #LandlordsBehavingBadly #HousingJustice

It's #ProBonoWeek, and today I want to shout out a major new initiative at Bet Tzedek Legal Services centered around increasing pro bono assistance in landlord-tenant matters. With new funding, Bet Tzedek hired a dedicated, experienced Pro Bono Coordinating Attorney, Christopher Kung, to oversee eviction defense pro bono work. Since then, Chris has worked closely with Pro Bono Director Sara Levine to build brand-new programs, including pro bono clinics and case placement programs, to serve residential tenants in crisis. This is the first time in recent history that our agency developed such housing justice clinics staffed entirely by pro bono volunteers and made significant and sustained outreach efforts to pro bono lawyers, law students, and tenants. Every month, Bet Tzedek holds "Tenant x Attorney Consultation Clinics" in which residential tenants are paired with a pro bono volunteer to discuss their housing concerns. These clinics begin with a live training on housing law and pro bono attorneys have taken on cases for full representation following their positive experiences at these clinics. As a direct result, tenants have experienced transformative outcomes in their housing matters. Bet Tzedek has also developed a robust tenant education workshop series in conjunction with several major law firms. Pro bono volunteers at each partner firm chose a topic of housing law and prepared educational content which they present on each month and then answer tenant questions. Full-scope pro bono case referrals have come through these new channels, as well. This has translated into: - 6 full-scope eviction defense/ habitability/ landlord harassment cases placed with pro bono counsel, with Chris serving as mentor or co-counsel - 32 brand-new legal clinics in which 87 volunteers served over 247 clients. At these clinics, pro bono volunteers conducted consultations with residential tenants currently experiencing a housing crisis or facing a looming eviction. Legal issues included habitability, landlord harassment, active evictions, and post-eviction questions. We also worked with our pro bono partners on conducting Know Your Rights Presentations- pro bono attorneys from several firms prepared the content, gave the presentations to tenants, and answered questions Bet Tzedek is running this program in partnership with Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County and Inner City Law Center with the generous support of Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles through its Stay Housed LA Program.