Kahala said the mediator took time to fully understand his situation, outlining his options in layman’s terms and explaining the city’s COVID-19 eviction protections and the terms he should seek in any rent deferment agreement with his landlord.
The CIS is engaged in nothing less than the preservation of home, hearth, and community. It does so by introducing compassionate, cooperative, interest-based negotiation into an increasingly toxic and stressful world of renters and building owners.
Originally an idea put forth by District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin, the clinic is the result of hard work by Gabriel Bellman ’05, Director of Graduate Advising in the UC Hastings Career Development Office, and Kevin Thomason ’94, who is now director of the clinic. “The clinic’s primary mission is to help vulnerable residents save their homes by avoiding eviction,” Bellman said. The clinic provides tenants and landlords services to avoid litigation, including education, counseling, referral services, mediation and other forms of constructive conflict resolution.
The Lower Polk Tenant Landlord Clinic (TLC) is an innovative homelessness prevention program serving the historic Lower Polk district of San Francisco. The clinic’s primary mission is to help vulnerable residents save their homes by avoiding eviction. It does this by providing tenants and landlords services to work out problems collaboratively, without destructive litigation.
