Council establishes free legal representation for renters facing eviction
Hey friends,
I hope you are doing well and taking care of yourselves given the insanity we are all witnessing in our national government.
I have news to share which I hope will bring some positive vibes into your day.
By a vote of 4-1, Culver City Council just established a right to legal counsel for tenants!
So wtf does that mean? I’ll tell you!
Watch or read below👇
Did you know that in the U.S. less than 5% of tenants facing eviction are represented by an attorney compared to over 80% of landlords?
That imbalance makes tenants vulnerable to unfair and illegal eviction practices.
Evictions can impact your credit score which can make it harder to lease a new apartment or get a new job. An eviction also significantly increases the likelihood of a person or family becoming homeless.
You might already know that the 6th amendment of the Constitution guarantees everyone the right to a lawyer for criminal cases. But not for civil cases, which include evictions.
That's why on Monday night, Culver City officially established a pilot program to give free legal representation to tenants facing evictions. Once it clears a final vote in April, the program will go live in May.
San Francisco has had this program in place since 2019 in a study last year found that 63% of participants were able to stay in their homes compared to just 45% who did not receive the same level of legal services.
Here’s the thing: the city currently only sets aside $153,000 a year for tenant legal services. So the program will be limited to folks that make 80% of the median income in their area or less.
Staff is going to come back to council when that pot of funds has run out, and the council will have to decide whether to increases funds for this program.
So it’s just a start. But its a really encouraging start towards creating a more inclusive city and tackling our housing and homelessness crisis head-on.
If we are serious about fighting homelessness, we need to be serious about preventing it in the first place.
This is something I talked to folks about a lot during the campaign last year, and I’m really grateful that we’re getting it done.
Around Town
Vibes After Five!
The first Vibes After Five event in Downtown Culver City was a good time! A live DJ set the mood while ping pong and foosball matches ensued. Free non-alcoholic beverages were served, and this photo taken of me and my neighbor, Jeff Morical, looks like an ad for non-alcoholic IPA.
You can catch the next two Vibes After Five events in other parts of the city:
Thursday, April 24 from 5-8 PM at C3 5800 Bristol Pkwy, Culver City, CA 90230
Wednesday, May 14 from 5-8 PM at Stealth Building 3528 Hayden Avenue, Culver City, CA 90232
Fox Hills & Hayden Tract Specific Plans Open House
The city is kicking off a process to create ‘specific plans’ for Fox Hills and Hayden Tract, and I attended the open house event which allowed residents give their input into the future of these neighborhoods! These plans will guide development in the Fox Hills and Hayden Tract communities, creating more walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods with improved transit.
Sign up below to stay in the loop on this exciting project.
Thanks for catching up with me. I hope you have a great start to the week!
- Bubba