Right To Counsel (RTC) expansion to zip codes 19124, 19141, and 19154

The City’ of Philadelphia's Division of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) joined community partners and other city officials at Logan Library to announce expansion of the successful Right to Counsel (RTC) initiative. Low-income renters are entitled to free legal representation if they are facing eviction in three newly added zip codes, 19124, 19141 and 19154, bringing the total number of covered zip codes to eight.

Philadelphians in the covered zip codes, with income at or below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, are eligible for RTC. Immigration status does not affect eligibility. The zip codes were selected based on those identified by a Reinvestment Fund report as having the highest need.

“DHCD is proud to oversee the Right to Counsel initiative—as well as the Philadelphia Eviction Prevention Project and the Eviction Diversion Program—for the City of Philadelphia and its residents,” said Mark Dodds, Interim Deputy Director, DHCD. “Right to Counsel keeps residents in their homes, stabilizes neighborhoods, and promotes fairness. It reduces evictions that uproot families and disrupt communities and ensures equitable access to legal representation.

RTC is part of a broader eviction prevention strategy that includes citywide legal representation, in-court support programs, and the Eviction Diversion Program. Together, these services have lowered eviction filings by almost 40%. The addition of the new zip codes means that more than 35% of all renters facing eviction are covered by RTC.

Success of Right to Counsel: FY24 Highlights

• RTC is achieving positive outcomes for tenants. Last year, RTC preserved, stabilized, or improved housing in more than 80% of cases and obtained critical financial relief for 70% of the remaining tenants.
• RTC proactively reaches out to tenants to connect them with services. Thanks to Community Health Workers at the City’s Philly Counts office, 48% of tenants contacted before their trial were referred for legal services.
• Families are at the heart of our efforts. Over half of those served by RTC were families. Consequently, RTC directly impacted the lives of 1,747 children in the last year.
• Legal advice and representation totals. In FY24, RTC partners provided legal services to over 4,400 households. Over 1,500 of these households lived in RTC zip codes.
• Tenants represented by Philadelphia Eviction Prevention Project (PEPP) partners achieve better outcomes in Municipal Court compared to those without representation.
  • No tenants represented by PEPP prior to trial lost by default judgment as compared to over 40% in all other cases.
  • PEPP-represented tenants were twice as likely to prevail at trial as compared to unrepresented tenants.
    Tenants represented by PEPP secured favorable Judgments by Agreement at more than twice the rate of unrepresented tenants.

Right to Counsel services are funded through the City’s Philadelphia Eviction Prevention Project budget and managed by DHCD. DHCD is part of the City’s Department of Planning and Development.

Tenants can go to phillytenant.org or call the Philly Tenant Hotline at (267) 443-2500 to access both Right to Counsel and Philadelphia Eviction Prevention Project services. Legal representation, support, and outreach are provided by Community Legal Services, SeniorLAW Center, Legal Clinic for the Disabled, Philly VIP, the Tenant Union Representative Network, Philly Counts (a part of the Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity), and Clarifi.

Please view the updated RTC Annual Reports to see how RTC has impacted Philadelphia.

For more information on DHCD, please visit phila.gov/dhcd.