April 28, 2026-PHILADELPHIA – The City’s Division of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) announces the expansion of the successful Right to Counsel (RTC) initiative. Low-income renters are now entitled to free legal representation if they are facing eviction in two newly added zip codes,19131 and 19153, bringing the total number of covered zip codes to a total of ten (19121, 19124, 19132, 19134, 19139, 19141, 19144, 19154, 19131 and 19153).
Philadelphians in the covered zip codes, with income at or below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, are eligible for RTC. The zip codes were selected based on those identified as having the highest need based on data analyzed by the Reinvestment Fund.
“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, 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 35-40% from pre-pandemic levels. The addition of the new zip codes means that more than 43% of all renters facing eviction are covered by RTC.
Success of Right to Counsel: FY25 Highlights
· RTC is achieving positive outcomes for tenants. Among RTC cases with known outcomes in FY25, legal representation preserved tenant housing over 70% of the time, secured critical financial relief in 45% of cases, and improved habitability conditions in 30% of cases.
· RTC proactively reaches out to tenants to connect them with services. Thanks to Community Health Workers at the City’s Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity, 620 tenants were successfully referred to legal services ahead of their scheduled court hearing.
· Vulnerable communities are at the center of our efforts. Nearly half of those served by the Right to Counsel program were families, and as a result, RTC directly impacted the lives of 1,793 children over the past year. Almost half of all households served included a tenant with a disability and more than a fifth included an older adult.
· Legal advice and representation totals. In FY25, RTC partners provided legal services to over 4,600 households. Over 1,750 of these households lived in RTC zip codes.
· Tenants represented by Philadelphia Eviction Prevention Project (PEPP) partners achieved better outcomes in Municipal Court compared to those without representation.
o No tenants represented by PEPP prior to trial lost by default judgment as compared to over 35% in all other cases.
o PEPP-represented tenants were more than twice as likely to prevail at trial as compared to unrepresented tenants.
o Tenants represented by PEPP secured favorable Judgments by Agreement at 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, Philadelphia Legal Assistance, Face to Face Germantown, 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