according to city data based on reports from LAFLA.<\/a><\/p>\nThe program has also distributed more than $9.5 million in rental aid, held hundreds of Know Your Rights workshops, and reached roughly 840,000 renters through citywide outreach.<\/p>\n
Friday\u2019s vote is the latest flashpoint in a months-long standoff over how eviction defense services should be funded and awarded. In May, the City Council and Mayor Karen Bass approved a new five-year, $34 million sole-source agreement with LAFLA.<\/p>\n
But just weeks before the old contract was set to expire on June 30, City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto refused to sign off, citing concerns over the lack of a competitive bidding process.<\/p>\n
Instead, Feldstein Soto\u2019s office called for a new Request for Proposals (RFP) and began a legal review of how more than $54 million in city funds had been spent under LAFLA\u2019s previous contracts.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe issue is simple \u2013 we are attempting to verify compliance with the existing terms and value delivered for the more than $54 million paid through June 30,2025,\u201d said Karen Richardson, a spokesperson for Feldstein Soto. \u201cWe asked LAFLA for the invoices and the payments to the other providers. The Office evaluates sole-source authorizations on a case-by-case basis as part of its normal Contract review process.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richardson clarified that while the City Attorney\u2019s Office does not conduct financial audits \u2014 a function reserved for the City Controller \u2014 it is responsible for reviewing all city contracts over $25,000 for legal compliance.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur Office, however, has the responsibility and right to review every contract, grant, amendment, or other agreement (Contract) involving more than $25,000 for compliance including with the terms of the Contract itself, other City agreements, city authorizations, charter provisions, and all applicable provisions of federal, state and local laws,\u201d she said. \u201cThe reports we requested should already exist as they were required under the terms of the existing contract.\u201d<\/p>\n
While city officials moved quickly in June to authorize a seven-month bridge contract to keep services going, that temporary deal did not include 2025\u201326 Measure ULA funding, which hadn\u2019t yet been allocated at the time, Schultz said. As a result, LAFLA suspended rental assistance for three months, which made it difficult to keep tenants in their homes.<\/p>\n
Schultz added that the ongoing uncertainty has also impacted hiring, especially for postgraduate legal fellows who would be key to staffing the new Right to Counsel program, which was enacted by the city in August.<\/p>\n
Adding to the pressure: The city\u2019s new RFP process \u2014 meant to address Feldstein Soto\u2019s concerns \u2014 is now delayed.<\/p>\n
The Housing Department told Councilmembers during a Housing and Homelessness Committee meeting on Wednesday that it had postponed a scheduled bidders\u2019 conference and was reevaluating whether a new contract could realistically be executed by the end of January.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe received a notice yesterday stating that the RFP bidders conference and due date were suspended,\u201d Schultz said. \u201cWe are extremely concerned that the RFP and contracting process cannot be completed by February 1, 2026, and all SHLA services will be interrupted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Housing Department leaders said Wednesday said the new contract divides the program\u2019s original components \u2014 legal services, outreach and education, rental assistance, and tenant harassment services \u2014 into four separate components, opening the door for multiple agencies to apply.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do expect that agencies will bid for various parts of those components,\u201d Los Angeles Housing Department\u2019s Assistant General Manager Anna Ortega told Committee members. \u201cI think it\u2019s unlikely that LAFLA will be the only one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Councilmember Nithya Raman, who co-authored the original motion to approve the $34 million sole-source contract with LAFLA, said the short-term amendment is necessary to avoid a harmful service gap, especially as eviction filings remain high citywide.<\/p>\n
\u201cApproving this contract is critical to avoid a disruption in eviction defense services for residents of Los Angeles,\u201d Raman said in a statement Thursday. \u201cThere has been broad support from both the public and advocates for continuing this contract and providing vital services to keep people housed, including eviction defense, homelessness prevention, and tenant outreach and education programs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Raman also urged the City Attorney to move quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy hope is that the City Attorney will work swiftly to avoid any delay, recognizing that thousands of tenants will be at risk for eviction without proactive action from the City,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The Council\u2019s vote Friday follows Housing Committee Chair Nithya Raman\u2019s instruction on Wednesday for the Housing Department to confirm by Thursday whether additional time or funding will be needed to maintain services.<\/p>\n
Raman said the item could be continued to next Tuesday\u2019s committee meeting if those details remain unresolved, but that the Committee would move it forward to the City Council for now.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Originally Published: October 16, 2025 at 7:07 PM PDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles City Council is poised to vote on a contract amendment Friday that would keep city-funded…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":310086,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[852,1582,276,2961,224,13252,6080,5337,50,52],"class_list":{"0":"post-310085","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-affordable-housing","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-la","12":"tag-los-angeles","13":"tag-los-angeles-city-council","14":"tag-los-angeles-county","15":"tag-losangeles","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-top-stories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115388181694218198","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}