We are in this together. This is how it works:
The Tenant Power Toolkit is a series of tools that can help you fight your eviction at various stages of the process. The goal is to help you fight your eviction, learn more about your rent debt, connect you to resources, and plug you into our collective action campaigns to expand housing justice for all.
Answer Tool
I’ve been served eviction papers in California and I want to fight my eviction! (Only if you have already received a Summons and a Complaint-Unlawful Detainer)
Requests for Admission Tool
I have already filed an Answer in my eviction case but I’ve now been served a document called “Requests for Admission” and need to respond.
Rent Debt Survey
I owe my landlord back rent debt and I want to understand my situation, get some legal help, and organize with others in this situation.
WORKSHOPS AND TRAININGS
The Tenant Power Toolkit team hosts a series of workshops & trainings both online and in-person for impacted tenants and service providers alike. We currently host three types of meetings:
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Eviction Response Workshops (In-Person - For Tenants in Los Angeles): These workshops are in-person in Los Angeles and are intended for tenants who need help with using the Tenant Power Toolkit to respond to their eviction case. Please make sure to bring your Summons & Complaint documents with you!
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Online Tenants Rights Workshops (Online - For any Tenant Statewide): These workshops are online, over Zoom, and open to tenants statewide. They take place twice a month in English and twice a month in Spanish. They are intended for tenants who want to learn more about the eviction process and tenants’ rights.
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Toolkit Training Calls (Online - For Advocates, Organizers, & Service Providers Statewide): These calls are for advocates, organizers, and service providers to learn more about the Toolkit and how they can best utilize it in their own work.
Eviction Response Workshop
(LOS ANGELES ONLY)}Attend one of our in-person Eviction Response Workshops. You can get one-on-one help (in English and Spanish) with using our Tool to respond to your eviction case.
You must bring your SUMMONS and COMPLAINT - UNLAWFUL DETAINER documents with you. Note: We can only help you use the Tenant Power Toolkit to create your answer and other initial documents, the first step in fighting your eviction.
To find out when and where these workshops are taking place and to RSVP, click this button:
Online Tenants Rights Workshop
(FOR ALL TENANTS STATEWIDE)In Spanish every 1st and 3rd Monday of the Month at 6pm
In English every 2nd and 4th Monday of the Month at 6pm
Attend an online Tenants’ Rights Workshop for California tenants to learn about how the eviction process works and what you can do after filing your Answer.
Toolkit Training Call
(FOR ORGANIZATIONS & SERVICE PROVIDERS)First Wednesday of Every Month, 3 PM:
Our monthly, online Tenant Power Toolkit Training Calls are aimed at California tenant organizers, counselors, and lawyers who want an in-depth overview of how to use the Tenant Power Toolkit to prepare answers to eviction cases and how best to incorporate the Toolkit into their own work.
What is the Tenant Power Toolkit
The Tenant Power Toolkit is a collaborative effort between the The Debt Collective, The LA Tenants Union, The Anti-Eviction Mapping Project, anti-eviction lawyers and legal service providers including Gary Blasi, one of California’s best known housing justice lawyers. We designed this toolkit to keep people in their homes, fight evictions, fight rent debt, and build the collective power of tenants. Together, we have the power not only to fight back against the system, but to change it.
Know your rights
All Tenants have the right to live in a home that is both safe and sanitary.
A landlord cannot lock you out, remove your belongings, shut off your utilities, forcibly enter your home without notice or harass you into leaving your home. If the COVID-19 pandemic has affected your economic situation, certain laws may protect you from eviction or offer some protections from owed rent.
The Tenant Power Toolkit is not a legal aid organization. We cannot represent anyone or give anyone legal advice in their eviction case.
How we use and protect your personal data
YOUR DATA BELONGS TO YOU!
When using this toolkit, you will be asked for some information about your eviction and your rent debt, depending on your situation. We will use this information to file a legal defense to eviction, help organize against rent debt, and build tenant power. With your consent, we would like to share some of your information with social justice organizations including the LA Tenants Union and the Debt Collective, and with researchers devoted to housing justice. You will have the opportunity to decide on consent when you use the tool.
Disclaimer
The Toolkit is provided as a free public service and we have done our best to ensure that it works for all users as they intend. However, we cannot guarantee that the documents the Answer Tool generates and that we may attempt to file electronically on your behalf will be accepted by the Court before the deadline for filing (10 business days after service of the Summons and the Complaint-Unlawful Detainer). If your documents are not accepted by the Court as timely filed, you are at risk of losing your case by default. By using the Answer Tool, you agree to assume the risk that your documents will not be timely filed or accepted. If you do not want to accept that risk, you can print out the documents and file them with the Court in person at the courthouse identified in the Summons and Complaint before the courthouse closes on the 10th business day after you were served with the Summons and Complaint.
Tenant Power Toolkit is an effort from:
