Los Angeles just cut a whopping $106.6 million taxpayer check to a nonprofit law firm whose lawyers have spent years hindering the city’s ability to dismantle homeless camps and clean up city streets — with one attorney billing as much as $1,025 an hour for work tied to its activism.
The Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA) was awarded the largest share of an eye-popping $177 million tenant-rights funding package approved at City Hall this week, despite opposition from the City Attorney.
Under the deal, Los Angeles will funnel $106,572,543.69 over the next three years to LAFLA for eviction-defense services, even as attorneys connected to the organization have repeatedly filed lawsuits that blocked the city from enforcing municipal codes aimed at keeping sidewalks clear of encampments and neighborhoods safe.
But the money flowing to the group is far larger than that. City records show the Stay Housed LA eviction-defense program, a city initiative administered by LAFLA through a network of partner organizations, had already grown to a maximum contract value of about $90.8 million through a series of amendments approved by the City Council.
Put together, the contracts push the pipeline of taxpayer funding tied to the nonprofit to about $197 million. That number jumps off the page when compared to the organization’s own finances.
The Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles reported about $58.6 million in revenue in its most recent 2024 IRS filing.
In other words, the new City Hall contract alone is nearly twice the nonprofit’s annual revenue.
At the same time, the nonprofit has been collecting city funding, its attorneys have also been involved in lawsuits that reshaped how Los Angeles handles enforcement tied to the homelessness crisis.
The most recent legal clash involves a fight over abandoned RVs lining Los Angeles streets.
City officials attempted to launch a program allowing certain abandoned recreational vehicles to be dismantled and disposed of under a state law giving counties the power to address derelict RVs.
But LAFLA filed a lawsuit arguing the city’s plan exceeded the authority granted in the law.
The legal fight effectively halted the city’s enforcement effort.
City leaders have since returned to Sacramento to seek a fix.
A new clean up bill, introduced this year by Assemblymember Lena Gonzalez, would amend the state vehicle code to explicitly allow Los Angeles County and its public agencies, LA City, to implement RV disposal programs.
The change is designed to address the legal challenge that blocked the city’s original plan.
Los Angeles Councilmember Traci Park, whose district includes Venice and other neighborhoods heavily impacted by RV encampments, told the Los Angeles Times that lawsuits like the one targeting the RV program are “another example of activist lawsuits impeding our ability to address urgent public health and safety concerns while moving people indoors.”
Another case with major implications for Los Angeles is a lawsuit brought by plaintiffs represented by attorneys from LAFLA challenging how the city handles property during encampment cleanups.
The lawsuit argued that during cleanup operations, the city seized and destroyed belongings such as tents, medications, and personal documents.
In February 2026, a federal judge ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. The ruling effectively established liability against the city and could expose Los Angeles to damages and attorney-fee awards.
It also reinforces strict rules governing encampment cleanups, requiring the city to document, store, and track property rather than discarding items during sanitation operations — steps that increase the time, staffing, and cost of enforcement.
In the meantime, residents are left with filthy streets.
For Craig Ribeiro, a Venice landlord whose small fourplex has repeatedly been affected by nearby encampments, the contract was shocking. Ribeiro said he is well aware of the lawsuits he believes have handcuffed the city from carrying out regular cleanups in his neighborhood.
“They are looking for a payday, obviously,” Ribeiro said.
Ribeiro said he pays roughly $25,000 a year in property taxes and struggles to keep his tenants safe when encampments pop up nearby.
“We’ve been hamstrung in the past by these lawsuits,” he said. “My tenants want the sidewalks clean. They want to be safe. That’s what tenants want.”
Another major case that is currently playing out is the sweeping federal case LA Alliance for Human Rights v. City of Los Angeles, the high-profile lawsuit that placed major parts of the city’s homelessness response under federal court oversight.
During that litigation, Shayla Myers of LAFLA represented intervenors in the case and sought attorney’s fees tied to the litigation.
Court filings show Myers requested fees calculated at $1,025 per hour, a rate the federal judge ultimately found reasonable.
The court later ordered Los Angeles to pay $201,182.50 in attorney’s fees and $160 in costs to intervenor organizations involved in that portion of the case.
Other contracts in the $177 million package include: $42.1 million for the Southern California Housing Rights Center, $21.7 million for Liberty Hill Foundation, and $6.6 million for Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE).