LA mayoral candidate Nithya Raman’s signature eviction-defense program is under fire after an explosive City Attorney report found up to $87 million in taxpayer funds unaccounted for in public financial records, the California Post learned.
City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto takes aim at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA), a nonprofit providing free legal help to tenants facing eviction, in an October 9 report. Raman, the former housing and homelessness committee chair, helped direct millions in city funds to the group.
LAFLA received $157.1 million from the city and county between 2020 and 2025, but Feldstein Soto said between $55 million and $87 million could not be reconciled with the nonprofit’s public financial records.
Based on LAFLA’s tax returns, the report says the money “may well have been used for other purposes, most notably to fund litigation against the very City that provided the funds.”
Feldstein Soto is demanding a full audit and accounting.
Raman, who is challenging Mayor Karen Bass for mayor this November, has repeatedly touted the city’s Right to Counsel program, which gives lower-income tenants a free lawyer when they face eviction.
Raman called her work on tenant protections probably her “biggest achievement since joining the council,” in a September interview with the Los Angeles Times.
Raman voted for a $177 million tenant-rights package that included $106.6 million for LAFLA over three years, more than half the total, in March of 2026.
Part of that money comes from Measure ULA, the “mansion tax” voters approved in 2022 on high-dollar property sales to fund affordable housing and prevent homelessness. LAFLA has received $42.9 million from the tax.
ULA has been blamed for slowing LA’s real estate market. A May 2026 RAND study tied the tax to a 31% drop in high-value property sales and estimated it deterred construction of more than 9,000 homes, as the California Post previously reported.
The California Post has also reported on LAFLA’s lawsuits against the city. The nonprofit organization has challenged the city’s efforts to clear homeless encampments, remove abandoned RVs and seize property during sidewalk cleanups.
The findings also bear on the race to replace Feldstein Soto as City Attorney. Marissa Roy, a deputy state attorney general, is also endorsed by Democratic Socialists of America. The group’s LA chapter endorsed Raman for mayor in September.
Roy’s opponent, Deputy District Attorney John McKinney, criticized the LAFLA findings.
“This is an outrageous failure of accountability. Angelenos are watching their tax dollars disappear into a system that can’t adequately explain where the money went or what it accomplished,” McKinney told the California Post.
“Tens of millions provided to LAFLA remain unaccounted for in public records, while attorneys connected to taxpayer-funded organizations are helping finance Marissa Roy’s campaign,” he said. “The public deserves answers, not excuses. As City Attorney, I’ll be a watchdog over taxpayer dollars and make sure taxpayers come before special interests.”
LAFLA and Raman’s campaign and Roy’s campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The California Post.
