The Housing/ Eviction Defense unit can provide immediate legal assistance to low-income tenants if you are:
- Being evicted from your house or apartment and have received a court paper or a notice from the sheriff
- Being threatened by or having your landlord illegally shut off your utilities or lock you out
- In receipt of a 3, 10, 30, 60, or 90 day notice from your landlord, or were told to move
- Experiencing other housing issues
If you need help regarding homeownership problems such as foreclosure, loan problems, or other transactional problems relating to your home, please click here.
To be eligible for LAFLA services, you must meet certain income requirements. You must also meet certain citizenship and immigration requirements.
Because the Housing/Eviction Defense unit receives a high volume of clients, we will be more able to help you if you call our intake line to discuss your problem and possibly arrange an appointment. However, please read the information below about your type of case to see how you must prepare BEFORE calling us.
For all appointments it is essential that you:
- Bring all documents with you. Please scroll down for information on specific document requirements for each type of case
- Bring proof of your U.S. Citizenship or lawful permanent residency
- Arrive on time. Unfortunately, clients who arrive more than 15 minutes late will not be seen
- Read the posted parking signs as we do not pay for parking tickets
- Be prepared to spend some time at our offices; some types of paperwork can take more than three hours to process
Eviction Notices, Lock Outs, Other Housing Matters
If you have received a 3, 10, 30, 60, or 90 day notice, are being threatened with lock out, or you have other housing matters not dealt with here, you should call the Housing Intake line at (213) 487-7609 . If you have any court papers the interviewer will ask for the date you received them and from which court.
If you are eligible for our services, you will be given the first available appointment. If no appointments are available, you will be told how to protect your rights and obtain a later appointment.
You may be given an appointment for a Trial Prep Clinic. Please read carefully how to prepare before the appointment.
Trial Prep Clinic
If you receive an appointment for a Trial Prep Clinic, please bring the following documents:
- Your Summons and Complaint
- Your Answer to Complaint
- The 3, 10, 30, 60, or 90 day notice
- Your lease or rental agreement if you have one
- Your rent receipts or other proof that you are a tenant and have paid your rent (in date order, taped to blank sheets of paper)
- Pictures of any conditions or problems that may exist in your apartment. This is especially important if the notice is to pay rent or quit. In addition, if you know the Health Department has inspected, try to get a certified copy of their report before the appointment
- Any other document you may have relating to your tenancy, even if you don't think it is important
- If you live in the City of Los Angeles and there are at least two units on the lot in which you live and you think that the building was built before 1979, bring the certified copy of the Registration Status of the Building which you can obtain from the Los Angeles Housing Department
- You should also bring postal money orders for all the rent you owe. The money orders must be made out to yourself. This is verification that you have the rent.
When you arrive at the office, you will be asked to fill out several forms. Once the forms are turned in, the group will go into our conference room to first hear a general presentation. After the presentation, we will answer general questions. You will then be given individual time to ask specific questions about your case.
Notice of Unlawful Detainer Filing
If you have received an Notice of Unlawful Detainer Filing from the court, note that it is not a summons. It is a courtesy notice that alerts you that a law suit has been filed.
If you have not been served a Summons and Complaint (a white document, several pages long, that says Unlawful Detainer Summons and Complaint at the top and bottom), you will probably be served the Summons and Complaint in the next day or so. You will have five days from the date your receive it to file a written answer with the court. When you receive the court summons and complaint, call us for an appointment.
If you are not served the Summons and Complaint within three or four days of getting the Notice of Unlawful Detainer Filing, you should go to the court that sent you the notice to get a copy of the Summons and Complaint and the Proof of Service. Once you have done this, call us for an appointment. The address of the court that sent you the notice is on the notice itself.
Unlawful Detainer Answer
If you have been scheduled an appointment for assistance with filing an answer to an eviction action, please arrive on time and be prepared to be at our office for at least three hours. This is how long it takes to process the paperwork.
When you arrive, you will be given some papers to fill out. You will then be seen in the order in which the papers are turned in for processing.
If you are given an appointment for the last day to file the answer or if your case is filed in any court other than the Los Angeles downtown court, you also need to make the time and arrange for transportation so that you can file the answer yourself.
Please bring with you:
- Your Summons and Complaint
- Your Answer to Complaint
- The 3, 10, 30, 60, or 90 notice the complaint is based on
- Your lease or rental agreement if you have one
- Your rent receipts or other proof that you are a tenant and have paid your rent (in date order, taped to blank sheets of paper)
- Other notices you have received
- Your identification card or driver's license
- If you are on government assistance (AFDC, GR, SSI, etc.) proof that you receive that assistance. This is required by the court in order to waive the filing fee
- Any other document you may have relating to your tenancy, even if you don't think it is important
If you are being evicted for nonpayment of rent, we also recommend that you do the following before the appointment. If you cannot accomplish all of these tasks before the appointment, keep the appointment anyway. The staff person that interviews you will discuss how to complete the tasks and a timeline for completing them.
- Make a list of all the defects in your apartment
- Take pictures of all the defects in the unit and bring them with you
- Call the Los Angeles County Health Department or the LA Housing Department and request an inspection. One call may not be enough; you many need to call several times
- Try to get a certified copy of each report from the Health Department and the Housing Department before the appointment
If we are not able to give you an appointment, please see our Useful Information for downloadable materials on how to do it yourself. You can also contact one of the free or low-cost agencies listed on our Resources page.
After you file your answer, you have 10 days from the date you file to change it. If you call us immediately after you file, we will make every effort to schedule you an appointment to change your answer and assess your case for representation. Do not wait or our appointments will fill up. You can contact us for an appointment to amend your answer whether you filed it yourself of were assisted by another agency.
Request to Enter Default
If you have received a paper entitled "Request to Enter Default" look at the document carefully. If the request is to enter default against all unnamed occupants or against someone other than yourself and you have already filed an answer, don't worry about it.
If this is the first paper regarding this eviction you have received or if you have not filed an answer to the eviction action against you, go to court, obtain a copy of the file, and call our office for an appointment.
Signed Stipulation
If you signed a stipulation or agreement to move and you cannot move, we are sorry but we cannot help you. It is almost impossible to convince a judge to grant more time in these situations. You may be able to get more time by calling the attorney for the landlord directly.
Lost at Trial
If you have been to court and lost, we cannot assist you at this time. The Sheriff will post a five day notice to vacate sometime soon.
Notice of Entry of Judgment
If you have received a document entitled " Notice of Entry of Judgment" read it carefully. It will say whether the Plaintiff or the Defendant won. You are the Defendant. If you lost at trial, we cannot assist you at this time. The Sheriff will post a five day notice to vacate sometime soon.
For more information about Trial Prep clinics and other Housing/Eviction Defense events, please search the LAFLA Calendar.
© 2009 Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles
