San Francisco's Tenant Right to Counsel program promises full legal representation to renters facing eviction. It was designed to handle about 2,500 cases a year. The city is now on track for nearly 4,000 filings in 2026, the Standard reported on Nov. 9, stretching the guarantee to a breaking point.
Evictions are already elevated. There were 3,600 in 2025, the most in a decade, the Standard reported. "We believe we'll hit close to 4,000 [eviction] filings this calendar year," said Gail Gilman, executive director of the Eviction Defense Collaborative, the legal-aid group that leads the program and defends tenants.
What the new money does — and what it doesn't
The Board of Supervisors approved a $3 million funding increase for the program, raising the total budget for the next fiscal year to around $21 million, the Standard reported. City officials have said the added money can help grantees represent an additional 400 households that previously would have received only partial representation. In a September announcement of a broader rent-emergency package, Mayor Daniel Lurie's office cited regional research finding that tenants with full-scope legal representation were 39% more likely to remain in their homes than those who received limited-scope help.
The money will not automatically close the gap. "City budgets don't move as quickly as the eviction crisis," the Standard noted. An October report from the city's budget and legislative analyst found that EDC, the program's biggest grantee, provided full-scope representation to just over 600 clients in fiscal 2025, falling short of a goal of 838 by nearly 30%. The five other grantees all exceeded their goals, the Standard reported. Gilman said EDC provided limited representation to more than 1,300 clients and blamed a "perfect storm" of recruitment and retention problems.
Starting pay for EDC attorneys is $83,000, Gilman said; the city classifies a single person earning less than $90,750 as low-income. Lawyers often juggle 15 to 25 cases. The EDC union said the organization has lost 10 attorneys this calendar year and that a lawyer would need double the starting salary to afford a one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco. Ora Prochovnick, EDC's director of litigation and policy, described a "downward spiral" in which thinner staffing pushes more cases into limited-scope work, which further reduces capacity for full representation.
The San Francisco Coalition for Better Housing, a landlord group, questioned whether the increase would change outcomes. "Right now there is no real information about the program or how paying for more attorneys would change the actual outcomes for tenants with this program," vice president Dave Wasserman told the Standard. "This program needs more scrutiny, not just more money." Wasserman also represents San Francisco landlords in eviction cases.
How to get help if you have eviction papers
If you are a San Francisco tenant who has received a Summons and Complaint or a notice to quit, the city's tenant and landlord resources page says to contact the Eviction Defense Collaborative immediately for free legal help. Call the legal assistance line at (415) 659-9184 or email [email protected]. EDC's clinic at 976 Mission St. takes drop-ins on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 to 11:30 a.m. and from 1 to 2:30 p.m. The site does not list Thursday drop-in hours. Bring your eviction papers, lease, rent records and identification if you have them. Help is not guaranteed to be full-scope in every case while the program is short-staffed; call as soon as papers arrive.