All about St. Louis’s tenant RTC program
In 2023, St. Louis enacted an ordinance that provides a right to counsel for all tenants facing eviction. The ordinance covers both court evictions and termination of subsidies, extra-judicial evictions, unlawful utility disconnections, or the functional equivalent of any of these. The right attaches as soon as the notice to quit is received. The program must be implemented by July 1, 2024, and the Coordinator is required to work with community groups on outreach and education. Passage of the bill was covered by St. Louis Public Radio, KMOV, Fox 2, and the St. Louis Business Journal. Notably, a 2012 study found that St. Louis tenants only won .04% of the cases that went to trial, and 46% wound up with a sheriff’s execution of eviction.
In November 2025, St. Louis NPR reported that, as shown by a September 2025 report, “out of 1,352 people served by the program, only 343 received legal defense for eviction cases through the program. The others received some legal assistance or a referral.” The article also notes that the program has only received 20% of the funding stipulated by the ordinance and that it is dramatically underfunded.
The NCCRC assisted the City Council and advocates as well.
