SEC. 166.03. RIGHT TO COUNSEL PROGRAM.

A. Subject to the availability of unencumbered funds and subject to the annual appropriation of the necessary funds by the Mayor and City Council (which appropriation remains in the sole and absolute discretion of the Mayor and City Council), the Department shall establish and operate a Right to Counsel Program to pay for Legal Representation to Covered Tenants as defined in this Section 166.03. The availability of Legal Representation for Covered Tenants is also subject to all the terms and conditions of the Right to Counsel Program established by the Department and to the availability of participating counsel.

Covered Tenants shall include any Eligible Tenant that meets all of the following conditions:

(1) The Eligible Tenant resides in a Rental Unit located in the City of Los Angeles within a Covered Geography;

(2) The Eligible Tenant earns at or below 80 percent of area median income for the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area as determined by HUD’s income limits for Los Angeles current at the time of the Tenant’s request for counsel;

(3) The Eligible Tenant does not reside in the same Rental Unit as their landlord; and

(4) The Eligible Tenant applies on or before the 30th calendar day after service of a complaint initiating an unlawful detainer (or equivalent) proceeding and is not in default with respect to such proceeding, or the Eligible Tenant applies on or before the 30th calendar day after receiving a notice of termination concerning the Eligible Tenant’s rental housing subsidy.

Legal Representation in an unlawful detainer matter shall last until at least such time as the Eviction Notice or unlawful detainer complaint is withdrawn, the case is dismissed, a judgment in the case is entered, or any post-judgment motion has been ruled upon by the trial court.

B. Notice of Right to Counsel Program. The Department shall prepare and publish an informational notice advising Tenants of the Right to Counsel Program (the “RTCP Notice”) in English and at least all Tier 1 languages included in the City of Los Angeles Community Investment for Families Department’s (CIFD) Language Access Plan (LAP). At the commencement of the tenancy, a landlord shall provide to the Tenant a copy of the RTCP Notice in the Tenant’s primary language if the Department has made available on its website a translation of the RTCP Notice in that language; if the Tenant’s primary language is not known or a translation of the RTCP Notice in the Tenant’s primary language is not available from the Department’s website, the landlord shall provide the Tenant with a copy of the RTCP Notice in English plus a copy of each RTCP Notice that the Department has translated and made available on its website in the languages included in Tiers 1, 2, and 3 of the CIFD’s LAP.

A landlord, housing authority, or responsible agency also shall serve a copy of the RTCP Notice on the Tenant in any of the following situations:

(1) attached to a copy of any Eviction Notice served on the Tenant;

(2) attached to any notice of termination of a rental housing subsidy if such notice is served by the landlord, housing authority, or responsible agency; or

(3) attached to any correspondence served by the landlord, housing authority, or responsible agency on the Tenant concerning an administrative proceeding that may result in the termination of the Tenant’s rental housing subsidy.

In each of the situations (1) through (3) described above, the landlord, housing authority, or responsible agency shall provide a copy of the RTCP Notice in the Tenant’s primary language. If the Tenant’s primary language is not known or a translation of the RTCP Notice into the Tenant’s primary language is not available from the Department’s website, the landlord, housing authority, or responsible agency shall provide a copy of the RTCP Notice in English plus a copy of each RTCP Notice that the Department has translated and made available on its website in the languages included in Tiers 1, 2, and 3 of the CIFD’s LAP. A landlord shall also post and maintain a copy of the RTCP Notice in a conspicuous common area of the residential building where the Tenant resides.

C. No Private Cause of Action. This article does not create any private cause of action against the City of Los Angeles arising from or relating to any legal services or Legal Representation provided under Right to Counsel Program or arising from or relating to any delay or denial of legal services or Legal Representation under the Right to Counsel Program. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no attorney-client relationship is established between any Tenant, including any Covered Tenant, and the City of Los Angeles by way of the provision of Legal Representation under this article or otherwise. The attorney-client relationship, privilege, and any liability rests exclusively between the Covered Tenant and the designated Right to Counsel Program attorney.