Get Help

Do you need help with a housing or public benefits matter?

You may be eligible for free legal services from Inner City Law Center.

Inner City Law Center primarily serves clients, including veterans and people with HIV or AIDS, with legal issues related to housing and homelessness, as well as public benefits, with a focus on providing services to people who are currently homeless or extremely precariously housed.

We do not provide assistance with family law, criminal law, bankruptcy law, or immigration law issues related to citizenship, asylum, and family petitions. If you need assistance with these issues, please visit our referral page.

To learn more about how you can request help, please click on the questions below that most closely relates to you.

Homeless Veterans Project

Veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness may be eligible for legal assistance with accessing the VA benefits to which you are entitled as a result of your service. Our attorneys also represent veterans in discharge upgrades through the Department of Defense, ticket clearing, and driver’s license restoration.

How do I get help?

If you are a veteran needing legal assistance, please call (213) 891-2880 and dial 0 to leave a voice message. One of our intake specialists will call you back to conduct an initial screening to see if Inner City Law Center can help you. We try to return all calls from potential clients within two working days. Depending on your circumstances or legal issues, you may be referred to another organization.

Public Benefits

If you are living with a disability and need help enrolling in public benefits programs or appealing a wrongful denial of benefits, you may be eligible for free legal services from Inner City Law Center.

Inner City Law Center provides technical assistance and training to partner agencies enrolling eligible individuals in the following public benefits:

  • GR (General Relief)
  • SSI (Supplemental Security Income)
  • SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance)
  • Social Security Retirement
  • CAPI (Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants)
  • State Disability Insurance (SDI)
  • GR (General Relief)
  • CalWORKs
  • CalFresh
  • Medi-Cal

How do I get help?

To determine if you are eligible for legal assistance with a public benefits issue, call (213) 891-2880 and dial 0 to leave a voice message. One of our intake specialists will call you back to conduct an initial screening to see if Inner City Law Center can help you. We try to return all calls from potential clients within two working days.

Depending on your public benefits issue, you will likely be referred to one of our partner agencies.

Slum Housing Litigation

If you are living in slum housing you may be eligible for legal services from Inner City Law Center.

We force slumlords to repair their buildings and compensate tenants who have suffered because of harmful and dangerous living conditions. Buildings that qualify as “slum housing” have substandard living conditions that include:

  • Bed bug infestation
  • Damp or leaking ceilings or walls
  • Holes in walls, floors, or carpet
  • Falling plaster or peeling paint
  • No heat or hot water
  • Infestation of roaches, rodents, or insects
  • Missing or torn window screens
  • Leaking plumbing
  • Missing or broken windows
  • Missing or broken smoke detectors
  • Unclean common areas
  • Inadequate trash collection
  • Unsafe stairways or railings
  • Inadequate security or locks
  • Defective electrical wiring

Tenants living in slum housing conditions are often intimated or harassed by their landlord or management company. This includes being discriminated against on the basis of gender, age, disability, ethnicity, or family or immigration status.

How do I get help?

If you are suffering from any injuries as a result of the conditions of your building or due to the conduct of your landlord or management company, please call (213) 891-2880 and dial 0 to leave a voice message. One of our intake specialists will call you back to conduct an initial screening to see if Inner City Law Center can help you. We try to return all calls from potential clients within two working days. Depending on the conditions of your building, you may be referred to Inner City Law Center’s tenant organizing team for additional information and intake.

In addition to calls directly from tenants, we also often receive slum housing referrals from tenant organizing groups, City and County agencies, medical clinics, and other nonprofit organizations.

Bringing Families Home Program

Bringing Families Home provides holistic legal services that help parents experiencing or in danger of homelessness create and preserve safe, stable housing situations for their families in order to prevent foster care placement and increase family reunification.

Bringing Families Home works in partnership with homeless services, other community service providers, and LACDA to provide holistic legal services that help clients create and preserve safe, stable housing situations for their families.

The legal services offered include:

  • Eviction prevention and defense
  • Section 8 voucher assistance
  • Public benefits procurement assistance
  • Vital documents assistance
  • Record expungement
  • Assistance with clearing tickets
  • Assistance with addressing debt/credit issues

As part of our intake process, Inner City Law Center will conduct a total legal health checkup for each of the families that we assess. This helps us provide targeted, comprehensive services to ensure all potential issues that could impact housing stability are addressed.  

To get help, parents in need should ask their case worker about the Bringing Families Home program and the free legal services offered by Inner City Law Center.

Learn more about the program here.

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