New Los Angeles rules expanding tenants’ right to counsel in eviction proceedings apply to senior living providers.
Overview
On August 20, 2025, the City of Los Angeles will implement its Tenants’ Right to Counsel (RTC) program, a citywide initiative designed to provide low-income tenants facing eviction or the loss of rental subsidies with access to free legal representation. The protections expressly cover qualified residents of independent living communities and are drafted broadly enough that they may extend to residents of Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly (RCFEs).
Notice Requirements
The RTC program requires housing providers to notify tenants of their right to legal representation. To facilitate compliance, the City has created a Notice of Right to Counsel in multiple languages.1 Housing providers must deliver this notice at the start of residency, when serving an eviction notice, when issuing a subsidy-termination notice, and when sending any correspondence that could result in the loss of a rental subsidy. In addition, the notice must be posted prominently in a common area accessible to residents.
Templates are available in English, Spanish, Korean, Armenian, Farsi, Russian, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Tagalog. For independent living communities and RCFEs, the most effective way to ensure compliance is to incorporate the notice into all standard move-in materials and to post a prominently displayed copy in a common area of the community.
Resident Eligibility for Free Legal Representation
Stay Housed LA is a public-private partnership in Los Angeles County that provides free legal services, tenant education, and outreach to renters facing eviction or other housing issues. Under the RTC program, senior living residents may qualify for free legal representation through Stay Housed LA if they meet the following criteria:
- They reside within Los Angeles city limits;
- They have a household income at or below 80 percent of the Area Median Income; and
- They contact Stay Housed LA within 30 days of being served with an eviction lawsuit or subsidy-termination notice.
Los Angeles County RTC Program
A separate Tenant Right to Counsel Ordinance took effect January 1, 2025, covering unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. This ordinance has its own County-specific Notice of Tenant Right to Counsel,2 which differs from the notice required under the LA City RTC program. Providers in unincorporated areas must deliver the County’s notice when serving an eviction notice and must also post it in common or easily accessible areas. Unlike the City’s RTC program, the County ordinance does not require providing the notice at move-in, focusing instead on delivery at the time an eviction notice is served.
Why Compliance Matters
For RCFEs and independent living communities, failure to comply with these RTC requirements can have serious consequences. If the required notices are not provided, qualifying residents may raise the omission as an affirmative defense in an eviction proceeding, delaying the case, weakening the provider's legal position, and possibly resulting in dismissal of the eviction lawsuit altogether. To minimize these risks, senior living providers should work closely with experienced legal counsel to review their policies, procedures, and notice practices for full compliance with the applicable RTC rules.
1 The LA City RTC notices can be downloaded on the Los Angeles Housing Department website, here.
2 The LA County RTC notice can be downloaded from the LA County Consumer & Business Affairs website, here.
