Spanish Language Tenant Counselor

Are you passionate about HOUSING JUSTICE?

Do you want to join a diverse, multilingual tenant organization fighting for TENANT POWER?

Job Description: Spanish Language Tenant Right’s Counselor

The Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco (HRCSF) is a tenants’ rights non-profit serving tenants citywide since 1979, offering free counseling and organizing support for San Francisco tenants in all types of housing, including rent-control, public housing, and Section 8. Our purpose is to strengthen tenants’ rights, improve living conditions for renters, and preserve and expand affordable housing opportunities. Through our counseling program, we support more than 5,000 tenants a year, and our organizing program has helped build five tenant associations across the city since 2019.

Position Summary:

The Spanish Language Counselor provides counseling to tenants in our drop in clinic, in both Spanish and English. Counselors assist tenants who are experiencing problems with their landlord or want information about their rights under landlord/ tenant law. Counselors provide legal information, as well as resource and referral information in order to help tenants achieve housing stability, assert their rights and improve their housing conditions. The Spanish Language Counselor works as a Team Member of the Spanish Language Counseling Team, which serves monolingual Spanish speaking families, and reports to the Lead Spanish Language Counselor.

Key Responsibilities:

• Educate clients about their rights involving issues such as repairs, decrease in housing services, rent increases, evictions, security deposit and lease matters, harassment, discrimination and other landlord/ tenant issues.
• Help tenants request and document housing needs, write letters, navigate enforcement agencies, connect to referrals and understand their rights.
• Perform site visits to support tenants with their repair cases.
• Develop activities to deepen tenants' education and have effective conversations with them about their rights.
• Conduct intakes, screen cases and maintain accurate database records and files on cases.
• Refer tenants to appropriate service providers and legal services.
• Assist with English to Spanish translations for written outreach and educational materials.
• Assist in developing Know Your Rights materials for Spanish Speaking tenants.
• Provide know your Rights presentations and workshops for Spanish speaking tenants in the community.

Necessary Skills

• Patient, empathetic, and non-judgemental communication style
• Ability to absorb and apply technical information quickly
• Excellent organizational and time management skills
• Collaborative and team-oriented work style
• Strong research and problem solving abilities
• Initiative and curiosity to seek accurate legal information for complex cases

Essential Qualifications and Experience:

• Familiarity with SF tenant laws and conditions for tenants. Or proven capacity to learn new subjects in a fast-paced environment.
• High level of written and verbal fluency in Spanish and English, with the ability to navigate and communicate effectively across diverse Spanish dialects spoken throughout Latin America.
• Knowledge of tenants’ rights or landlord/tenant law, and other related issues impacting renters in low-income communities. Or proven capacity to learn new subjects in a fast-paced environment.
• Commitment to social and economic justice and bottom-up social change.
• Ability to work effectively as part of a team as well as independently.
• Ability to work both collaboratively as part of a team, and independently with minimal supervision.
• Experience conducting one-on-one interviews and/or providing direct client support.

Preferred Qualities

• Prefer two+ years direct service experience.
• Legal training or background or social work/case management/ direct service training or experience also preferred
• Experience working at a community-based non profit or social service provider a plus
• Experience with advocacy related to housing conditions or landlord/ tenant issues a plus

This position is a full-time, non-exempt position with a current hourly pay rate of $36.54/hour. Benefits include medical - including chiropractic and acupuncture - dental, and vision and a generous accrual of paid vacations and sick time. This position is full-time (40 hours per week). HRCSF fosters a sustainable work environment centered on self and collective care.

This position is included in a collective bargaining unit represented by Office & Professional Employees International Union, Local 29. Specific employment terms are subject to a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

To apply, please send your resume and cover letter to resume@hrcsf.org, with ATTN: Spanish Language Tenant Counselor in the subject line.

HRCSF is an equal opportunity employer: People of color, women, immigrants, LGBTQI2S, and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply. Diverse viewpoints are vital to our organization’s mission and culture.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Medical, dental, vision, chiropractic, acupuncture

High level of written and verbal fluency in Spanish and English.