Low-Income Legal Services Pilot Program Solicitation for Mediators

Background

The past eighteen months have seen the end of the Los Angeles County COVID-19 Eviction Moratorium, an increase in renovation evictions, and a rise in complaints concerning housing affordability, rent increases, and uninhabitable housing conditions. Separately, effective April 1, 2024, Senate Bill 567 authorized city attorneys to enforce "just cause" eviction and rent cap tenant protection laws by seeking injunctive relief in court. Most recently, the Burbank City Council increased relocation assistance for all no-fault just cause evictions and added anti-retaliation tenant protection provisions with a local enforcement mechanism which authorizes legal action and certain administrative remedies for violations.

Tenants needing assistance with evictions or seeking civil damages for wrongful evictions or unlawful rent increases, report existing legal aid services are overwhelmed, leaving insufficient access to counsel and other legal resources.

Working Towards a Solution - Establishing the Housing Enforcement Program

To carry out these new enforcement functions, and assist landlords and tenants, Burbank established the Housing Enforcement Program ("H.E. Program"). As part of the H.E. Program, City Council has also authorized funding to support grants to qualifying tenants for private legal representation as well as a City-sponsored half-day legal mediations.

Mediation for Landlord-Tenant Disputes

The City Attorney's Office is seeking licensed California attorneys to serve on a panel of practitioners available to provide half-day mediations, inclusive of review time, for landlord-tenant disputes to be compensated at $1,000 each. Staff will receive the dispute, investigate the matter, and refer to a rotating panel of qualified attorneys for half-day mediations aimed at resolving the dispute.

Resident tenants and landlords would be invited to participate in the service at no cost to them, on referral. Though mediation will be voluntary for both parties and decisions will be non-binding, the no-cost opportunity could be an effective method of dispute resolution where other methods may be more costly or do not exist. In disputes where there is no pending court matter, mediation could be a prerequisite to qualifying for a $5,000 legal services grant to enlist private counsel in future litigation.

Interested in Becoming a Mediator?

For more Information regarding the H.E. Program and to apply to become a Mediator, please visit the City of Burbank's website to submit qualifications at: https://www.burbankca.gov/web/city-attorneys-office/mediator. Review of solicitations will be ongoing. If you have any questions, please contact the City Attorney's Office at 818-238-5700 or [email protected].