A role (individual, agency, or governmental department) written into a right to counsel ordinance for the purposes of administering or coordinating a right to counsel program (including implementation, funding, reporting, etc). This may or may not be a government entity.

Affirmative proceeding: A situation where a tenant files a lawsuit against a landlord and is the plaintiff.  This is usually done to enforce the tenant’s rights, such as the right to repairs.  In legal eviction proceedings, the landlord files against the tenant and the tenant is the defendant, but if the landlord evicts the tenant illegally outside of the courts (such as by changing the locks without a court order), then the tenant may file an affirmative proceeding against the landlord to regain access to their unit.

Some eviction RTC laws require a judge to “appoint” a lawyer or a legal aid program (which then selects a lawyer internally) to represent the tenant throughout the case, in the same way as is done for defendants in criminal cases. Where the appointment system is not created in the law, the tenant and the legal services provider must connect on their own either inside or outside of the courtroom; it’s not the judge’s responsibility. Example: Washington State, Minnesota, and Nebraska (for Omaha public housing tenants) have appointed counsel programs for tenants facing eviction.

a proposal for a law that typically goes straight to the public for a vote rather than to a city/county council or state legislature. In some situations, governmental bodies can propose their own ballot initiatives that are then voted on by the public, and in other situations governmental bodies can make changes to ballot initiatives approved by the public.  For more information, see the Appendix.

 A person licensed to practice law.

The tenants who the eviction RTC law says are entitled to counsel. There may be eligibility requirements based on income, presence of children in the household, subsidized housing status, or other factors. There are existing eviction RTC laws that do not have any eligibility criteria and thus cover all tenants.  

The types of legal proceedings where an eligible tenant is entitled to counsel.  Eviction trials in court are covered in all eviction RTC laws.  Some enacted laws also extend to other proceedings, including appeals, administrative cases to terminate a housing subsidy (which are considered equivalent to an eviction; see below) and proceedings that a tenant files in court to enforce existing protections (such as housing discrimination).

A situation where a tenant is served with court papers for eviction but does not respond either in writing or by appearing in person for the hearing. In some locations, failing to respond in writing might cause a default even if a tenant appears in person.

A role written into eviction RTC laws to describe the entity or entities  that provide the attorneys who will represent tenants. Typically these are non-profit, legal services organizations that are experienced in eviction defense and have the ability to build capacity and scale, but some laws may include private attorneys. Specific organizations are generally not named in the ordinance.

A legal proceeding to restore a landlord to possession of a property.

We use this shorter phrase to refer to the right to counsel for tenants facing eviction.  This is sometimes referred to around the country as “tenant RTC” but we use “eviction RTC” in this Guide since the RTC laws enacted so far typically don’t cover the legal needs of tenants outside of the eviction context, such as when a landlord is not making repairs.  A RTC is an ordinance, statute, or constitutional ruling by a court  guaranteeing full legal representation for eligible tenants in an eviction and paid for by the government. As described in Stage 1.2 of this Guide, there are specific requirements for a law to be a right to counsel for tenants.

 The level of service that an attorney representing a tenant has determined, based on the applicable facts/law for that case, ensures the best possible outcome for the tenant without regard to resource constraints. This can include, among other actions, a notice of appearance, settlement negotiation, discovery, trial work, appeals, etc. For full representation, there is an attorney-client relationship that is formed and the attorney represents the tenant. This is in contrast to “limited legal services”, described below.

This phrase is sometimes used in eviction RTC laws to describe proceedings that are not court-based evictions but that result in removing a tenant from the property. This can include administrative proceedings to terminate a tenant’s housing subsidy, as a tenant who loses their subsidy will almost certainly not be able to pay the rent and then will face an eviction in court for nonpayment.

An eviction carried out outside of the court process in a way that violates the law, such as when a landlord changes the locks or shuts off the utilities.

An eviction where the tenant leaves before the landlord files an eviction in court. This often happens after the landlord gives the tenant notice of an intent to file an eviction in court.

A city, county, or state.

 A property owner who leases out property to a tenant.

A type of contract between a landlord and tenant that is drafted by the landlord and that sets out the terms of the tenancy.

A nonprofit organization that provides free legal services to tenants facing eviction.

Legal assistance that is restricted, such as services that do not include appearing on behalf of the client in court, or that are limited to brief advice or helping with the preparation of documents.

A law passed at the city or county level to establish an eviction RTC.

A time-limited program designed to increase tenant representation in eviction proceedings while also measuring  the results of the increase.  Pilot  programs are not a right to counsel because there is no law guaranteeing representation for any particular tenants, although they can be important building blocks toward a right to counsel because they can help jurisdictions develop concrete, localized data about the impact of representation while testing out an eviction RTC services delivery model.

A statement of a city, county, or state government that expresses support for the principles of right to counsel but is not an actual right to counsel because it has no legal force.

An enacted law that guarantees that eligible tenants will be offered full legal representation in covered proceedings and has government funding.

An eviction RTC law that is enacted at the state level.

A person who leases (orally or in writing) housing. State (and sometimes local) landlord tenant law often will define this term.

A program that provides enough funding (not necessarily from the government) such that all eligible tenants receive counsel, but there is no enacted eviction RTC law  guaranteeing such representation.

A legal document issued by a court that gives a landlord the right to remove a tenant from a unit.

A law existing in nearly every state that requires the landlord to keep the rental unit safe and liveable.