Our Publications

Directors and executive staff of a California nonprofit organization may wish to make changes to the organization, including changing the name, mission, programs and services, or governing rules. This guide explains the required process for making these changes, including how to notify the IRS and California regulatory agencies, as well as potential legal concerns that need to be addressed before the changes are made.

This is a sample letter that an attorney should send to a nonprofit corporation after it has successfully applied for and received tax-exempt status from the IRS. The letter covers …

Si usted es ‘a prueba de cobros’, lo que significa que no tiene bienes que los acreedores puedan obtener de usted, incluso si tienen un fallo en su contra, puede …

This publication is a reference guide for small business owners on physical barrier accommodations they may need to make in order to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), …

If there isn’t a court form for what you need to file with the bankruptcy court, you will need to write your own court papers on pleading paper. You may …

If there isn’t a court form for what you need to file with the bankruptcy court, you will need to write your own court papers on pleading paper. The first …

This guide includes practical steps your board can take to prevent embezzlement and, if necessary, respond to it.

For decades, hundreds of thousands of tenants in unincorporated Los Angeles County had virtually no protection against exorbitant rent increases or unfair evictions, fundamentally undermining their housing stability. This is …

This form contains all of the requests for information that are required for filing an application for changed assessment with the Los Angeles County Assessment Appeals Board.

This alert provides an overview of the legal requirement that tax-exempt organizations make federal exemption applications (e.g. Form 1023 or Form 1024-A) and annual informational tax returns (Form 990, Form …

In order to retain public charity status, most nonprofit organizations need to meet one of two “public support tests,” which measures an organization’s public support over a five-year period. This …

A reaffirmation agreement is where you agree to pay a debt even though you could have eliminated the debt in your bankruptcy case. When you reaffirm a debt, you continue …

“Reconsidering Redevelopment” is a report co-authored by more than a dozen community-based groups that highlights the need to address economic development in Los Angeles’ poorest areas.

Como proveedor de cuidado infantil, puede encontrar situaciones en las que sospecha o sabe que un nino bajo su cuidado esta siendo abusado o descuidado. Cuando se presentan situaciones como …

As a child care provider, you may encounter situations where you suspect or know that a child in your care is being abused or neglected. When situations like this arise, you must follow appropriate procedures to ensure that the child gets help and that you are complying with legal requirements.

This publication discusses legal issues that may arise when a tax-exempt organization engages in revenue-generating activities, including income tax considerations, mitigating liability, structuring options, and taking on investors. This publication is intended to provide an overview of issues an organization should consider before launching a new revenue-generating activity.

This guide provides a basic overview of the risk management process. Using a case study as an example, the guide explains the three fundamental steps that every organization should take in order to create a risk management plan: assess the nonprofit’s risks; mitigate those risks to the greatest extent practicable; and obtain insurance to help pay the costs in the event a loss occurs.

Bankruptcy, especially a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, can cause immediate damage to your credit and ability to access affordable loans. This one-page guide in English and Spanish provides some factors to …

As a child care provider, you are not only a business person but you are a key member of the community in which you work and live. This means that you must have a good working relationship with parents, neighbors, landlords and licensing personnel. In fact, most problems involving the law can be avoided by simply maintaining good relationships with other members of the community.

This publication will discuss many of the common litigation risks and issues associated with volunteers and interns, including misclassification, compensation, discrimination and/or harassment, disciplinary actions, and injuries in the workplace.

Sample of a Gift Acceptance Policy for a California nonprofit public benefit corporation exempt from taxation under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3) – it was designed to assist nonprofit organizations seeking to adopt or amend such a governance policy and the pro bono attorneys who represent them. The form is annotated with explanatory endnotes, including citations to applicable laws, alternatives, and recommended practices.

Public Counsel’s Community Development Project has designed these annotated sample minutes, consents, and board resolutions to serve as a tool for non-membership California nonprofit public benefit corporations and pro bono …

This document provides a sample letter a commercial tenant should send to their landlord in order to take advantage of protections in the City of Los Angeles for tenants who …

This document provides a sample letter a commercial tenant should send to their landlord in order to take advantage of protections for commercial tenants in unincorporated LA County or County cities that do not have their own COVID-19 commercial tenant protections. (June 24, 2020)

The contract that follows is a sample, not a model; it may contain provisions that are not appropriate for certain providers, and it may not contain others that your program requires. You should modify it and/or adapt it for your own use after a review of your specific program and methods of operation. When you settle on the version that seems best for you, you should ask a lawyer to review your contract before using it with any parents.