Basta

Project: homelessness prevention and access to justice. Basta saves approximately 5,000 men, women, and children from eviction and homelessness each year. Basta is one of the largest providers of direct legal representation for eviction defense in southern California and does not accept any donations or grants that would substantially limit or restrict its ability to represent tenants. In this capacity, Basta is able to provide legal representation to all tenants facing the eviction process who could not otherwise afford quality legal services. Through representation of low income tenants before state tribunals and appellate courts throughout los angeles county, Basta pioneered the right to a jury trial for eviction defense cases statewide. Additionally, Basta provides education and outreach to help tenants understand the root causes of eviction and homelessness, as well as to understand their rights as tenants under local rent control laws and state law. In some circumstances, Basta is able to provide displaced tenants (whether displaced by eviction, fire, or other causes) with rental subsidies, moving expenses, housing assistance, and general relocation help.

Project: general advocacy, education, and outreach. Besides the three self-explanatory components, Basta also handles two other significant additional areas of tenant needs through this project. First, the organization assists tenants in connecting with qualified outiside counsel who can represent the tenants with affirmative litigation matters that Basta does not otherwise handle or does not have the capacity to handle at the time of referral. In such scenarios, Basta often provides an ongoing supportive role for the referred client and the new counsel. Second, the organization provides tenant-based, direct consumer services and other third-party referrals related to settlement proceeds arising from cases handled by Basta (e.g., real estate agents, relocation rental services, apartment listings, check cashing, social services assistance, etc.). Our aeo project endeavors to help tenants beyond mere in-court legal representation when resources permit such holistic services.

Project: impact litigation. Based on prior statistics from the inner city law center, an estimated 48,000 la county residents get sick each year from living in slum conditions. Exposure to rats, roaches, and bedbugs (chinches) can be devastating to an individual's health, causing illnesses such as asthma, bronchitis, rashes, etc. Basta forces slumlords to repair their properties or sell them to responsible landlords, as well as forces landlords to pay compensation to the low-income tenants suffering as a result of these slum conditions. Since its inception, through this project alone, Basta has obtained tens of millions of dollars on behalf of thousands of families. Besides creating an impact through the eradication of slum housing - which carries a substantial positive ripple effect throughout the entire community - this project also handles all sorts of other affirmative litigation impacting tenants' rights such as class actions, injunctions, and individually-based rent reduction lawsuits.

Project: non-profit housing cooperatives. Through this project, Basta provides litigation support and "advice and counsel" to non-profit housing cooperatives, defends these non-profit entities in lawsuits from external threats (e.g., former management companies or other vendors), represents co-op residents in derivative-style lawsuits, and interacts with hud on the co-ops' behalf.project: Basta universal!. Beginning as a pilot project in late 2019 whereby the organization's attorneys would provide completely pro bono legal representation at every courthouse in the county of los angeles - on a last minute basis on the actual date of trial - the successful pilot project later incorporated as a separate entity and became a subcontractor for the stayhoused la (shla) program. Shla is an entirely publicly funded "public defender" style program for eviction defense cases. The legal aid foundation of los angeles (lafla) administers the shla program on behalf of the city of los angeles, county of los angeles, and city of long beach (among other municipalities).project: tenant power collections. This necessary project, an enforcement wing of justice, focuses on collecting attorney fee awards and other judgments against landlords awarded by the courts to tenants and their counsel.project: tenant appeals