California eviction cases hinge on whether tenants have lawyers

When tenants are trying to avoid eviction, their success can depend mostly on one thing — whether they have a lawyer.

It’s a narrative that plays out for many across the state and the country: Nationwide, fewer than 5% of tenants in eviction cases are represented by an attorney, compared to more than 80% of landlords.

Felicia Mello of CalMatters’ California Divide team explores that reality through the stories of Corey Lafayette and Nancy Wiles — and the very different situations facing tenants in two Bay Area counties.

In San Francisco’s Japantown, Lafayette had lived in his studio apartment for three years after previously living on the streets. Unemployed and relying on disability checks, he had fallen behind on rent during the pandemic, and was one day served an eviction notice. Fortunately for Lafayette, San Francisco is the only city in California that guarantees tenants access to an attorney in eviction proceedings. The city’s taxpayer-supported legal assistance program for tenants matched him with an attorney who stood by his side as they and a social worker sought to find a settlement that would let Lafayette stay in his apartment.

Wiles, on the other hand, was not as fortunate during the initial proceedings of her eviction from an Oakley apartment in Contra Costa County. She had lived in her unit since 2014, but started missing rent payments due to less work during the pandemic. The apartment itself was also rife with repair issues, and as she was packing to move to a new apartment in September, she was served with eviction papers. But because she was moving out anyway, Wiles did not respond to the notice within the legally required five-day timeframe — it was a move that would cost her later.

Without an attorney, Wiles struggled to navigate the complex eviction process outright. And studies show that legal representation not only increases favorable outcomes for tenants, it also increases the likelihood that an eviction case will be dismissed. Since the end of local and statewide eviction moratoriums, eviction rates in California have soared — with some locales reaching above pre-pandemic levels.

And while many evictions are due to unpaid rent, that’s not always the case. Some “no fault” evictions occur because landlords want to move into their tenants’ units, such as the case of one family who was forced out of their East Los Angeles home and into a smaller, more expensive apartment.

Some California jurisdictions are looking into launching their own right-to-counsel programs, including Los Angeles city and county, which took the first steps last year toward establishing such programs. But not all are successful. Community groups in Fresno and Bakersfield, for example, have attempted to establish a right to counsel, but have failed. These campaigns are sometimes opposed by landlord groups, including the California Apartment Association, whose executive vice president argues that funds “would be better used to provide rental assistance to prevent the eviction process from ever starting.”

To find out how Lafayette and Wiles’ eviction cases were ultimately resolved, read Felicia’s story.

From CalMatters politics reporter Yue Stella Yu:

Californians of color are underrepresented among Gov. Gavin Newsom’s appointees last year, accounting for 39% while white appointees make up 52%, according to an analysis to be released today.

The report is from the nonprofit advocacy group Hispanas Organized for Political Equality, which analyzed all 480 of Newsom’s appointments between Jan. 1 and Dec. 15, 2023. 

While 47% of the appointees are female — reflecting the gender makeup of California’s population — the pool is less diverse racially. Latinos account for 40% of the state’s population but just 17% of the appointees last year. Similarly, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders make up 17% of Californians but just 9% of the appointees. Black people — 6% of California’s population — account for 11% of all appointees.

Almost one in three appointees are white men, the study shows.

A similar study conducted by UCLA’s Latino Policy and Politics Institute found that, as of March 2022, Latinos were the most underrepresented among all executive branch appointees, making up just 18%.

The studies mostly rely on race and ethnicity information that is publicly available for every appointee. Helen Torres, CEO of the nonprofit group, said the governor’s office already collects self-reported demographic data from appointees anyway, and publishing it would promote transparency.

• Torres: “These commissioners, a good majority of them, have a lot of power. And we want to make sure that… our elected officials, our commissioners, are also representative of our government and the people they govern.” 

The latest report comes three months after Newsom vetoed — for a third time — a bill by state Sen. Monique Limón that would have required his office to publish self-reported demographic data on gubernatorial appointees. The governor said in his veto message that voluntarily disclosed data would not “necessarily accurately reflect the diversity of appointees.”

On the same day, Newsom signed a measure that forces venture capital firms to disclose demographic data on the founders of companies they invest in.

• Limón, a Democrat from Santa Barbara who reintroduced her bill this year, in a statement: “Without a public report to evaluate our progress, gaps in representation will continue to exist. This report reiterates the need for self-reported demographic data to be made available to the public. The work to advance transparency must start in-house.”

The Legislature’s first week culminated with a fight between two Republicans that became rather personal — and played out in public.

The back story: On Wednesday, the session’s first day, Assemblymember Bill Essayli, a Riverside Republican, introduced a bill to roll back the expansion of Medi-Cal to low-income undocumented immigrants, saying the state can’t afford it. 

On Friday, Assemblymember Devon Mathis, published a commentary in The Sacramento Bee, arguing that the Medi-Cal expansion would actually save money because undocumented immigrants end up in the emergency room for health care. The Visalia Republican also criticized the “combative and harmful rhetoric of those who choose to incite rage and anger against our friends and neighbors.”

Then the fireworks started: Essayli, in a Friday afternoon post on X (formerly Twitter), accused Mathis of exemplifying “corruption” at the Capitol and asked if he was interviewing for his next job, a “Sacramento Swamp Lobbyist.”

• Essayli, on X: “It’s obvious he’s already sold out and changed his position for financial gain. What a loser.” 

Within nine minutes, Mathis replied in kind, calling Essayli a “noob” and lecturing him to learn how the healthcare system works.

• Mathis, on X: “Before you try to launch red meat. Do your homework. Looks like you’re just being a #HeadlineWhore.”   

Essayli didn’t back down: In a post six minutes later, he called his colleague “an embarrassment to your district and the legislature.”

Two minutes later, Mathis told Essayli again to learn healthcare, “and if you have a brain in that hard head of yours you too can learn economics.” 

On Sunday, Essayli had a commentary on the issue published by the Orange County Register, so stay tuned.

Local officials on the outs: It was also a turbulent few days for local officeholders.

• On Thursday, Sacramento City Council member Sean Loloee resigned after a federal indictment and months of reporting by The Sacramento Bee questioned whether he actually lives in his district. Loloee stepped aside before he could have been removed by other council members. He still faces a 25-count federal indictment from last month, tied to his Viva Supermarkets, alleging fraud, obstruction, possession of false immigration documents and other charges.

• Also Thursday, former Lodi City Councilmember Shakir Khan pleaded no contest to 77 counts, including COVID relief fraud, illegal gambling and fraud tied to the 2020 election, when he won office. Khan was charged with having more than 20 people registered to vote at his home address and nearly 50 people registered using his personal email address and phone number, CBS Sacramento reports. 

• Then on Friday, a group of residents officially announced a recall drive against Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, who has been under fire for her handling of crime and delays in hiring a new police chief. The effort is led by former Police Commissioner Brenda Harbin-Forte, who was removed by Thao, NBC Bay Area reports. 

To truly transform California’s most infamous prison into the rehabilitation center that Gov. Newsom envisions, the guards at San Quentin may have to change as well. 

As CalMatters criminal justice reporter Nigel Duara explains, one of the key recommendations to change San Quentin state prison is to retrain the guards as “community correctional officers.” Instead of being prepared “like they are going to war” — as described by one unnamed correction department official quoted in a San Quentin Transformation Advisory Council report — guards should understand inmates’ traumatic experiences, substance abuse disorders, mental illnesses and anger issues. 

The 156-page report released Friday by the advisory panel adds more specifics to Newsom’s plan to overhaul San Quentin, a vision he unveiled last March as part of a statewide policy. The report also suggests ending double-person cells, expanding job-training programs and better housing for guards who stay on the prison’s campus. 

The recommendations are not required to be adopted by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. But they are modeled after prisons in Scandinavian countries, such as Norway, which decreased its recidivism rate from about 60% in the 1980s to about 20% today. It’s an approach that prisons in some states, both blue and red, are adopting.

Transforming San Quentin will also require money, which may be a hurdle given the state’s projected $68 billion budget deficit. The governor plans to lay out his initial proposed budget this week. But without funds, prisons will have fewer programs and worse living conditions — a dilemma the advisory group acknowledged. 

• The report: “There is no magic wand that can resolve all of these tensions. Policymakers will be grappling with these tradeoffs.”

For more on possible changes to San Quentin prison, read Nigel’s story.

In other criminal justice news: The legal ping-pong over California’s new law banning concealed weapons in most public places continued Saturday when a panel of federal judges reinstated an injunction blocking the law take effect. Gun rights groups say the law is unconstitutionally restrictive, and a judge has agreed with them. But state officials say it conforms with a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.   

• Newsom, in a statement: “This dangerous decision puts the lives of Californians on the line.”