Sustaining Tenants’ Right to Counsel
July 21, 2025
By Pilar Steward, PBI Intern Right to Counsel (RTC) programs, which jurisdictions across the United States have enacted, are both crucial to helping low-income tenants remain in their homes and provide a well-established return on investment to the governments that fund them. Yet despite their proven effectiveness, RTC programs remain severely underfunded, forcing many to limit eligibility and ultimately failing on the promise of a true “right” to counsel. Now with the expiration of COVID-19 emergency funds and threats to federal and local civil legal aid funding, these programs are at a crossroads. To ensure the survival of RTC programs