Eviction Defense Network

I went to their public transport friendly office, two stops away from the Downtown LA Courthouse, and was received by a very pleasant receptionist. Although the wait was long, I didn’t get charged for my consultation and was given a quote. I was in a very tough situation and they were able to guide me and tell me what to do. I was also informed that the old reviews were from a very long time ago before the new management. I highly encourage you to walk in. They don’t accept phone calls, but will see you in person. 5 stars for EDN. LA

Never come here! They waste your time with bs paralegals and are severely over extended. Elena was rude and condescending to me and lied about being seen by an attorney. I came here three times only to be told I have to pay $ 250 an hour to even receive consultation!
This place is a scam!

I had ms Popp as my lawyer and one thing about her is she doesn’t sugar coat things she says it like it is.

I represent tenants in affirmative housing cases. I do not handle evictions. I often get calls from prospective clients that have a potentially great case against the landlord for breach of the warranty of habitability and housing discrimination. Unfortunately, many of these calls come in after the tenant has been served with an unlawful detainer. I have referred dozens of cases to EDN for eviction defense while I tackle the affirmative case. I have never had a client complain about the representation they received at EDN. Clients have called me and thanked me profusely for sending them to EDN when they were frightened and felt helpless. I would not hesitate to send anyone with an eviction issue to EDN. They are the experts in defending tenants in evictions.

I was referred to EDN from Legal Aid. I went there directly after work as I received the
Notice to Vacate that morning. I arrived nervous and anxious and a lady came out looked at my paperwork and she said they would take my case. I was told to come back at 1100am the next day. I waited over an hour for someone to see me. The person who did was NOT an attorney but someone trying to sell their services. I explained to him I had been scammed by SEVERAL assholes on Craigslist and he kept on rattling on. He explained how my case was urgent and that he would have to drop everything to take on my case and process paperwork. He also went on about how he was going to have to blow off his wife this weekend and just work on MY case. At the end of it he wanted 750.00 now or get out. I informed I did not have any at that time and that I could in a week. He put my papers in an envelope and said only … good luck… my eyes started to well up and I was going to lose it but didnt. I will be
living in my car for a bit but if all they wanted was MONEY they should have told me on the phone or the first day I went there. I drove from Long Beach for nothing.
This company is a PROFIT OUTFIT and wont help you if you are in need. I will never be in this position again and I hope that they one day feel the hurt I did when being told GOOD LUCK !

I went to the EDN for help with a constructive eviction; I pay my rent faithfully, but the landlord’s failure to make repairs has made tenancy impossible, and my family has been forced to stay in a hotel; I am still paying full rent. I found the employees at EDN unprofessional, rude, unknowledgeable, and poorly educated. Worse, the employees discriminate against African Americans. They left me sitting in the lobby for an hour while people of Latin descent came in after me and were seen right away or within a few minutes although I entered the office while no one else was waiting. Finally, I met with Ana R., who didn’t even feign interest in my statement. She then walked away and returned with a sheet that stated how much I would have to pay if my landlord filed suit against me, but she declared that the EDN could not assist me at present. When I looked at the sheet, I noticed that Ana had made calculation errors, and she became upset when I pointed out basic math (using division to figure out a percent) to her. First, she recorded that I paid less than 30% of my income in rent, which was clearly way off. When I pointed it out, she brought in a denim-​clad «attorney,» who said, «Oh, I see, it’s 42%.» I pay more than 50% of my income in rent, and when I showed the «attorney» how, if she merely divided my income in half, half of my income is still less than the rent I pay, she looked perplexed and said that I would have to speak to the office manager, Joanne. I was astounded by the fact that neither of these supposedly educated people knew such basic arithmetic, but I thought that if I contacted Joanne and explained the math error that she would be a voice of reason who could simply fix the math. Instead, an immediately hostile Joanne defended the error, stating that it didn’t matter any way. When I asked if there was a complaint form available, Joanne told me I was threatening to file a lawsuit and that the EDN would never assist me before she hung up. ?? O_​o ?? I said nothing about a lawsuit; I just stated in a very calm tone that I would like to lodge a complaint and that I felt discriminated against; I was courteous throughout the encounter. (There are cameras in the office, recording all activity. They show that I was never irate or disruptive. And you’d better believe that these people would have called the police or had me escorted out if I were anything less than polite.) What made me so upset about this all was that I walked into the office, all smiles and with an amiable countenance. I had listened to a positive affirmation recording prior to my visit to EDN, and I was focused on the idea that extending kindness to others would return warmness to me. Not so at the EDN. I walked in with the wrong color, so I was not deserving of humanity in the eyes of the EDN staff. If this organization receives public funding, it cannot carry on discriminatory practices. Read through the one-​star Unilocal reviews, including the ones that aren’t «recommended,» and there is plenty of confirmation of the EDN staff’s abusive behavior. The icing on the cake was that Ana recommended that I go to the Housing Department to file a complaint, but – when I appeared at the Housing Department – a lady at the counter gave a sarcastic laugh and said, «I don’t know why they sent you here.» The Housing Dept doesn’t even deal with habitability issues. So not only was the EDN staff dismissive, derisive, derogatory, and math-​illiterate, they weren’t even competent in their supposed area of expertise. The least they should know is which city office accepts which kind of complaint. At that point, I realized that Joanne had done me a favor because I wouldn’t want any of the EDN’s maladroit staff within smelling distance of my case.

Horrible manners. Sloppy workflow. Ill ethics.
The consult was not with a lawyer and the meeting w/​the owner of the organization was also in ill natured. They are dismissive, careless, and rude. They quoted $ 2500 to file 2 pieces of paperwork to set aside judgement. Ridiculous amount of money asked for not even a law suit case. From the paralegal to the consult to the owner, it’s disturbing to witness their meanness against my original high hopes.
Maybe they intended good things in the beginning, but the people there now are just careless and mean, for the individuals I’ve encountered. Low cost? A firm later quoted me $ 500, so what they’re doing is obviously unprofessional and callous.
Incredibly disappointed by the experience…

In this world, I believe you get what you give! These lawyers went to school to earn a living. They are trying to help people and all I see are bad reviews. That’s not fair! I did have to wait to be seen for a long time (thats why i gave a 4 not 5 star review) but I was getting FREE services! They are honest and sometimes the truth hurts. I wasn’t forced to pay for my consultation but I did decide to retain Elena Popp,(she’s super smart, and gets the job done). They are not there to be therapist, they just need the facts. I understand a home is an emotional issue, and ya know what so do they and if you get upset they get you Kleenex and if you need a hug you can get that too. So be grateful that there are still people out there that are willing to help!

My experience with the Eviction Defense Network was very positive and helpful. I live in a duplex which was recently sold. One of the new owners wanted both units vacated before she and her partners purchased the property, when informed that she would have to pay us to moved she decided to let us stay. The tenant in the upper unit moved to N.Y. soon after the new owners took possession. That unit has sat empty for over seven months. One of the new owners who handles the property has been terrorizing me ever since, trying to force me out. She’s even gone so far as to hold rent checks for months, saying she never received them. She served me with a three day notice even though I paid the rent. I have been having major anxiety attacks, lost twenty pounds and have had many sleepless nights over the abuse.
I spoke with Elena and she put me at ease and said that she would take care of everything. I had such a positive experience the first time I met her that I went to her clinic to see what other rights I had. I would highly recommend this group to anyone. Everyone in the office was so helpful, which is a plus when being terrorized by a landlord. I found their fees to be more then reasonable and am looking forward to winning my case.

I recently used the EDN and they thoroughly helped me out. Another lawyer that I spoke to who normally represents landlords recommended them, as he had heard they had a high success rate. They were able to see the validity of my case and coach me through all necessary steps to take. The end result was $ 1000 relocation fees plus 3 months rent-​free.
I would recommend them to anyone that has legal discrepancies with a difficult landlord.

Eviction Defense Network took $ 800 dollars to represent my case in court and when I actually settled my problems with my landlord I was told by the only attorney I had met for 20 minutes that I would be refunded the $ 800 as I had paid for whatever other costs had been incurred, however I told her at the time that I would prefer if they kept the $ 800 as a retainer in case I had problems with the landlord again, well now of course I am having problems with this slum lord again and called them to ask if they could help and was told by «Nana» who had a hard time with English that I was the problem because I had misunderstood how it works, they do not do retainers or refunds and I said O.K. while she simmered and I tried to make nice and make an appointment with one of the attorney’s so we could go from here, no, she said you are not seeing an attorney because you misunderstand the way we do things here, finally I got it, I said, no, I understand you charged me $ 800 dollars to see an attorney for 20 minutes and your a SCAM operation… DO YOURSELF A FAVOR… GO SOMEWHERE WHERE THEY ACTUALLY DO REPRESENT YOU.!!

My experience with EDN was great. From the very first time we met with the case manager, she took plenty of time to hear our grievances about our eviction and objectively explained the pros and cons of proceeding with the case. Yeah, you don’t meet with a lawyer while you’re there but they notify you that you probably won’t meet with a lawyer until your first court date straight from the get-​go.
Deepika was the lawyer assigned to our case, who we met with about an hour before we were supposed to be in court. She rules. Totally down to fight for renters’ rights, and is realistic about mediation and coming to an agreement. Fortunately in our case, our ex-​landlord realized he was in the wrong and dropped the case. It took over 7 months for this to happen, but Deepika kept in constant contact with us the whole time and let us know exactly what was going on whenever we had questions.
And their fees are extremely cheap, which is something everyone in the position of being evicted can appreciate. I never thought I would have to deal with a crooked landlord, but there I was… and I’m glad I went to EDN and Deepika for help.

This place is taking advantage of people about to lose their homes. They act as a non profit or «low cost» attorney service, yet they charge a $ 125 consultation fee. Who does that?! Then you don’t meet w/​a Lawyer or even a paralegal. I met w/​«Leanne»…she was a Case Manager. She didn’t know diddly about my rights and I had to explain how they were violated… but Leanne, this is your expertise! How did they not even know the proper legal jargon that I knew for my case. Then they try to intimidate you into paying more money for more «help» because «it’s a really tough case.» I was able to fight & win my case on my own. This seems to be the case w/​many ppl from the previous reviews and conversations I had w/​other «clients.» There are also various complaints by more unhappy EDN clients @
Shame on you EDN for ripping off helpless people who are already going through a hard time!

Extremely helpful, patient, and courteous.

If you think that there is no hope with your eviction, you are wrong! This brilliant group of attorneys got us out of our home with a $ 7,300 relocation fee that was due to us for being cheated by a landlord who put us in an unapproved dwelling.
I highly recommend this place. It is well worth the money and extremely affordable.
The consultation was free and the fees for court were extremely small.
They will save you from the streets and do whatever they can to help you win!

These people were rude, unprofessional and no help! They take your money and promise to provide a service and then don’t provide a service. They think they know it all and refuse to listen. If you need anything out of the ordinary instead of their cookie cutter help, they cannot provide the information but then they refuse to refund you as well.

Similar to the previous review, I was also scammed by the EDN, which had us pay $ 175 to have us sit with «legal advisers» who did nothing more than tell us they would contact the bank, to see if they could negotiate a favorable outcome, as the bank was claiming we had not paid rent on the foreclosed house we were renting, when in fact we had. After numerous follow ups, and the date for filing a response closing in, I called to only be told that our «case worker» (not lawyer, or paralegal, or even legal counsel, mind you) had gone on vacation the day after we went there, and would not return until after the date for filing a response had come and gone.
We were forced to then go to a real paralegal, who informed us that EDN had completely misfiled our paperwork, which would have led to an immediate ruling against us, for fraudulent claims.
If I could give 0 stars, I would. Avoid this scam company AT ALL COSTS.

STAY AWAY! IT’S A SCAM!!! I was referred to this organization by legal aid in west hollywood, which as well, was a scam. The guy (in WeHo) seemed stoned, and not in a happy, jolly way, but in a he had no idea what he was talking about way and just wanted to be raiding his fridge and watching tv. When I arrived @ the Eviction defense network they made me fill out all the paperwork, wait, while no one else was there, and finally brought me in to speak with someone-​who I was led to believe was going to be a lawyer. Boy was I wrong. She wasn’t even «legal aid» qualified and when I put that in quotes, it’s because I don’t think she even went through that much training. She was basically reading off a script and when I would bring up documents I had helping my case, she had no rebuttal because she had no knowledge of the system. I never got to speak with an attorney, or even see one in person for that matter, and the advice I was given, a monkey could have given me. DO NOT go here!!! IT IS A SCAM!!! They will take your $ 60.00 and «try» to give you a good outcome on your case, which you can achieve the same outcome yourself, without taking the time or money to visit these people. Its a fraud. Its a scam. My 1 star rating is mandatory, in order to post!