Free Legal Help for Eviction 2026: Legal Aid Income Limits

If you have an eviction notice or a court date, the question is not whether a lawyer would help. It is whether you can get one. Free civil legal help exists in every state through 129 independent nonprofit legal aid organizations funded by the Legal Services Corporation, running more than 800 offices between them — and housing and foreclosure cases are the second largest category they close.

This guide is built around the part almost nobody reads: the actual federal eligibility rules in 45 CFR parts 1611, 1620, 1626 and 1633. They are short, they are public, and they contain several openings that people are routinely told do not exist. Below you will find the 2026 income table for all three poverty-guideline regions, a self-check against the real rules, and a document checklist.

One thing to be clear about up front: this is not a government program. The Legal Services Corporation is an independent nonprofit 501(c)(3) that Congress created in 1974 to fund legal aid. It does not take cases. Your case would be handled by a local nonprofit organization.

The Short Answer

Question	The rule	Where it comes from
Income ceiling	Each program sets its own, and it “may not exceed” 125% of the poverty guidelines	45 CFR 1611.3(c)(1)
Over the ceiling	Four authorized exceptions; two capped at 200% of the guidelines, two with no cap	45 CFR 1611.5
Assets	Each program sets its own ceiling. LSC publishes no national figure	45 CFR 1611.3(d)
Domestic violence	The abuser’s income and assets, including joint assets, are excluded	45 CFR 1611.3(e)
Immigration status	Intake and referral are open to everyone; several categories are eligible for representation	45 CFR 1626.3, 1626.4, 1626.5
Eviction restriction	One narrow bar: public housing plus a drug sale or distribution charge	45 CFR 1633.3
Cost	No fee for representation; costs and court fees are separately regulated	45 CFR 1609.5

2026 Income Limits, by Household Size and Region

Two numbers matter. The 125% column is the highest annual income ceiling a program is allowed to set — several set theirs lower. The 200% column is the outer limit of the exceptions in 45 CFR 1611.5, which is the number to quote if you are told you earn too much.

The poverty guidelines are different in Alaska and Hawaii, so all three regions are shown separately.

48 Contiguous States and the District of Columbia

People	2026 poverty guideline	125% ceiling	200% limit
1	$15,960	$19,950	$31,920
2	$21,640	$27,050	$43,280
3	$27,320	$34,150	$54,640
4	$33,000	$41,250	$66,000
5	$38,680	$48,350	$77,360
6	$44,360	$55,450	$88,720
7	$50,040	$62,550	$100,080
8	$55,720	$69,650	$111,440
each extra person	+$5,680	+$7,100	+$11,360

Alaska

People	2026 poverty guideline	125% ceiling	200% limit
1	$19,950	$24,938	$39,900
2	$27,050	$33,813	$54,100
3	$34,150	$42,688	$68,300
4	$41,250	$51,563	$82,500
5	$48,350	$60,438	$96,700
6	$55,450	$69,313	$110,900
7	$62,550	$78,188	$125,100
8	$69,650	$87,063	$139,300
each extra person	+$7,100	+$8,875	+$14,200

Hawaii

People	2026 poverty guideline	125% ceiling	200% limit
1	$18,360	$22,950	$36,720
2	$24,890	$31,113	$49,780
3	$31,420	$39,275	$62,840
4	$37,950	$47,438	$75,900
5	$44,480	$55,600	$88,960
6	$51,010	$63,763	$102,020
7	$57,540	$71,925	$115,080
8	$64,070	$80,088	$128,140
each extra person	+$6,530	+$8,163	+$13,060

Where these numbers come from. The poverty guideline column is the 2026 HHS poverty guidelines as published in the Federal Register at 91 FR 1797 on January 15, 2026, effective January 13, 2026. We multiplied each figure by 1.25 and by 2, rounding half up to the nearest dollar, and then checked every result against LSC’s own published table in Appendix A to 45 CFR part 1611 (issued at 91 FR 3066, January 26, 2026). All 48 figures matched. These are annual figures, because 45 CFR 1611.2(i) is written in annual terms. To sanity-check a monthly paycheck, divide by 12: the one-person 125% ceiling of $19,950 works out to about $1,663 a month, and the $31,920 exception limit to about $2,660 a month.

Do You Qualify? A Six-Question Self-Check

1. Count your household the way the rule counts it.

45 CFR 1611.2(i) defines income as “actual current annual total cash receipts before taxes of all persons who are resident members and contribute to the support of an applicant’s household.” Two words are doing work there. A roommate who lives with you but does not contribute to the household’s support is not part of the count. And “household” itself is defined by each program, not by LSC.

2. Add up only the money the rule counts as income.

The same definition names what does not count: “the value of food or rent received by the applicant in lieu of wages; money withdrawn from a bank; tax refunds; gifts; compensation and/or one-time insurance payments for injuries sustained; non-cash benefits.” A tax refund is not income here. Neither is your SNAP benefit, which is a non-cash benefit. What does count includes wages, Social Security, unemployment, SSI, pensions, child support and alimony.

3. Compare that to the 125% column — then keep reading if you are over it.

45 CFR 1611.3(c)(1) requires every program to “establish annual income ceilings for individuals and households, which may not exceed one hundred and twenty five percent (125%) of the current official Federal Poverty Guidelines amounts.” Read that carefully: 125% is a ceiling on the ceiling. A program is free to set its ceiling lower, and some do. Ask what theirs is.

4. Check your assets against their number.

There is no national asset limit. 45 CFR 1611.3(d)(1) delegates it: every program “shall establish reasonable asset ceilings for individuals and households,” and in setting them “may exclude consideration of a household’s principal residence, vehicles used for transportation, assets used in producing income, and other assets which are exempt from attachment under State or Federal law.” Note also that 45 CFR 1611.2(d) defines assets as things “readily convertible to cash, which are currently and actually available to the applicant” — a retirement account you cannot touch without penalty is worth asking about.

And paragraph (d)(2) contains a valve most applicants are never told about: a program’s policies “may provide authority for waiver of its asset ceilings for specific applicants under unusual circumstances and when approved by the recipient’s Executive Director, or his/her designee.”

5. If you are a domestic violence survivor, the arithmetic changes — by mandate.

45 CFR 1611.3(e) opens with “Notwithstanding any other provision of this part” and requires every program to specify that when assessing a domestic violence victim, it “shall consider only the assets and income of the applicant and members of the applicant’s household other than those of the alleged perpetrator of the domestic violence.” It then excludes assets held by the abuser, assets held jointly with the abuser, and assets held jointly by any other household member with the abuser. If you left a household whose income was mostly your abuser’s, that income is not yours for this purpose. Say so at intake.

6. If your only income is a means-tested benefit, ask about the shortcut.

45 CFR 1611.4(c) lets a program find you eligible “without making an independent determination of income or assets, if the applicant’s income is derived solely from a governmental program for low-income individuals or families” — provided the program’s governing body has already determined that the benefit’s income standards sit at or below 125% of the guidelines and that it has an assets test. This is permissive, not automatic, and it requires that the benefit be your only income. It is still worth asking.

Over the Limit? Read 45 CFR 1611.5 Before You Give Up

This is the section that most contradicts what people are told. Being over a program’s income ceiling does not end the analysis. 45 CFR 1611.5 authorizes four exceptions, available so long as your assets are within the program’s asset ceiling or that ceiling has been waived.

Two of them have no percentage limit whatsoever:

• 1611.5(a)(1) — you are “seeking legal assistance to maintain benefits provided by a governmental program for low income individuals or families.” If your eviction is tangled up with keeping a Housing Choice Voucher or a public housing tenancy, this is the paragraph to raise.
• 1611.5(a)(2) — the Executive Director or a designee has determined, on documentation, that your “income is primarily committed to medical or nursing home expenses” and that without that portion you would otherwise be eligible.

Two more apply up to 200% of the poverty guidelines — the right-hand column of the tables above:

• 1611.5(a)(3) — you are seeking help to obtain government benefits for low-income people, or to obtain or maintain government benefits for people with disabilities.
• 1611.5(a)(4) — the program decides you should be treated as eligible after weighing one or more listed factors. The list is worth reading in full, because it is broad: “Current income prospects, taking into account seasonal variations in income”; “Unreimbursed medical expenses and medical insurance premiums”; “Fixed debts and obligations”; “Expenses such as dependent care, transportation, clothing and equipment expenses necessary for employment, job training, or educational activities in preparation for employment”; “Non-medical expenses associated with age or disability”; “Current taxes”; or “Other significant factors that the recipient has determined affect the applicant’s ability to afford legal assistance.”

Two honest cautions. These exceptions are optional — 45 CFR 1611.3(c)(2) says a program “may adopt” them, so whether they are available is a local policy question. And 1611.5(b) requires the program to document the basis for any such determination, which is part of why it is not granted casually. Ask the question anyway, name the section, and be ready to show the numbers behind whichever factor applies to you.

What Legal Aid Can and Cannot Do in an Eviction

The one eviction-specific federal restriction is narrow. 45 CFR 1633.3 prohibits defending an eviction only when all of the following are true together: the housing is a public housing project; the person has been charged with or convicted of “the illegal sale, distribution, or manufacture of a controlled substance, or possession of a controlled substance with the intent to sell or distribute”; and the eviction is brought by a public housing agency on the basis that that drug activity “threatens the health or safety of other tenants residing in the public housing project or employees of the public housing agency.” A private-landlord eviction is outside this rule entirely, and simple possession is not on the list.

“It’s not one of our priorities” has an exception too. Every program must adopt written priorities under 45 CFR part 1620 and can only take cases within them — which is a real reason people get turned away. But 45 CFR 1620.4 requires the governing body to also adopt written procedures for emergencies, and defines emergencies to include non-priority matters needing “immediate legal action to… Secure or preserve the necessities of life.” A hearing date is the fact that makes that argument.

Expect a level of service, not always a courtroom. Programs deliver advice and counsel, brief services, clinics, and full representation, and the rules treat these differently. Under 45 CFR 1611.9, extended service — continuous representation — requires a written retainer agreement stating the legal problem and the services to be provided; advice and brief service do not. If you are unsure which you have been offered, ask whether there will be a retainer.

Money. There is no fee for the representation. Two adjacent rules exist: 45 CFR 1609.5 allows a program to accept reimbursement for out-of-pocket costs out of a recovery if you agreed in writing in advance, and to require you to pay court costs if you do not qualify to proceed in forma pauperis. Separately, 45 CFR 1609.3 requires a program to try referring a genuinely “fee-generating” case to the private bar first — but under 45 CFR 1609.2 a fee-generating case is one expected to produce a fee “from an award to a client,” which an ordinary eviction defense is not.

Immigration Status: What the Rule Actually Says

45 CFR part 1626 restricts who an LSC-funded program may represent. Four provisions are worth knowing before you decide not to call.

• Everyone can call. 45 CFR 1626.3 states plainly that “legal assistance does not include normal intake and referral services.” Intake and a referral are outside the restriction.
• Survivors are eligible regardless of status, and housing is named. 45 CFR 1626.4 covers people who have been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty, or are victims of sexual assault or trafficking, and 1626.4(b)(2) says the related assistance “may include immigration law matters and domestic or poverty law matters (such as obtaining civil protective orders, divorce, paternity, child custody, child and spousal support, housing, public benefits, employment…).”
• Lawful permanent residents and several other categories are eligible under 45 CFR 1626.5, including refugees and people granted asylum.
• How you sound is not evidence. 45 CFR 1626.6(b): a program “shall not consider factors such as a person’s accent, limited English-speaking ability, appearance, race, or national origin as a reason to doubt that the person is a citizen.”
• Documents can come later in an emergency. 45 CFR 1626.8 permits representation to begin before the paperwork when an applicant cannot produce it in time, with the documents to follow as soon as possible.

H-2A agricultural and H-2B forestry workers may be helped with matters arising under their employment contract, and 45 CFR 1626.11(c) lists housing among them.

This is general information about an eligibility rule, not immigration advice. Ask the program to assess your own situation.

Before You Call: What to Have Ready

45 CFR 1611.7 requires a program to make “reasonable inquiry regarding sources of the applicant’s income, income prospects and assets” and to use “simple intake forms and procedures… in a manner that promotes the development of trust between attorney and client.” Intake lines are busy and often close early in the day, so having this pile within reach shortens the call.

For the eligibility screen (this is what the rules require them to ask about):

• Annual income for everyone in the household who contributes to its support — pay stubs, benefit award letters, pension or unemployment statements
• A list of what is not income under 1611.2(i) that you might otherwise have volunteered — a tax refund, a gift, money moved out of a bank account, SNAP or other non-cash benefits
• Assets — bank balances, and a note of anything you think is excluded (home you live in, car you drive to work, tools of your trade)
• Medical costs and premiums, dependent care, transportation, fixed debts, and current taxes — the 45 CFR 1611.5(a)(4) factors, if you are near or over the ceiling
• Household size, counted the way step 1 above counts it
• Proof of citizenship or immigration status if you have it — and see 45 CFR 1626.8 if you do not

For the eviction itself (practical, not required by the federal rule):

• Every paper the landlord or the court gave you, with the dates you received them
• Your court date, time and courtroom, if a case has been filed — say this in your first sentence
• Your lease, and any written changes to it
• Rent payment records — receipts, money order stubs, bank or app records
• Written communication with the landlord — texts, emails, letters, repair requests
• Anything showing conditions or repairs, including photos with dates
• Whether the unit is public housing, has a voucher, or is privately owned — this changes which rules apply
• Whether you have a pending rental assistance application — programs like Catholic Charities, the Salvation Army or St. Vincent de Paul can matter to the outcome

How to Find Your Legal Aid Program

There is no national application and no single phone number. You contact the organization that serves your county.

1. Use LSC’s own finder. I Need Legal Help takes an address or a click on the map and returns the LSC-funded organization for that area, with its phone number and website. The Our Grantees page lists all 129 by state if you would rather browse.
2. Check LawHelp.org too. LawHelp.org, run by the nonprofit Pro Bono Net, lists nonprofit legal help by state — including organizations that are not LSC-funded, which are not bound by the restrictions above — and carries a Rent and Eviction Help Guide.
3. Ask your court. Many housing courts host a self-help center or a volunteer lawyer-of-the-day clinic on hearing days. Call the clerk and ask what is available on your date.
4. Lead with your deadline. Intake screening is triage. “I have a hearing on the 14th” is the sentence that gets a case looked at today.
5. Ask three questions if you are screened out: What is your income ceiling? Do you apply the 45 CFR 1611.5 exceptions? Does my hearing date make this an emergency under your 1620.4 procedure?
6. Call 2-1-1 if you cannot reach anyone — it can route you to local legal and rental assistance.

If Legal Aid Cannot Take Your Case

• Ask for a referral anyway. Referral is outside the part 1626 restriction and is a normal part of intake; programs keep lists of state bar pro bono panels, law school clinics and volunteer lawyer projects.
• Money is sometimes the faster fix than a defense. Nonprofit rent help through Catholic Charities, the Salvation Army and St. Vincent de Paul is a separate track; our side-by-side comparison explains how the two differ.
• Stabilize the rest of the budget. LIHEAP for energy bills and SNAP for food free up cash for rent.
• If the problem is the rent level, not this month. Housing Choice Vouchers and public housing run on separate waiting lists; apply while you still have an address.
• Show up either way. Not appearing at a hearing usually costs more than appearing unrepresented. Ask the clerk what happens if you appear without a lawyer.

How We Checked This

Every rule and quotation above was read from primary sources on September 3, 2026.

The regulations. We pulled the current text of 45 CFR parts 1609, 1611, 1620, 1626 and 1633 from eCFR’s renderer API against title 45’s latest issue date of August 31, 2026, and quoted from that text directly. eCFR’s ordinary web pages redirect automated requests; the links in this guide point to the human-readable sections.

The numbers. The poverty guidelines come from the Federal Register text of 91 FR 1797, “Annual Update of the HHS Poverty Guidelines,” published January 15, 2026 and effective January 13, 2026. We computed 125% and 200% for household sizes 1 through 8 in all three regions ourselves, rounding half up to the nearest dollar, and then compared all 48 results to LSC’s published table in Appendix A to 45 CFR part 1611. Every figure matched, including the half-dollar roundings in the Alaska and Hawaii columns (for example, $19,950 × 1.25 = $24,937.50, published as $24,938).

The program facts. The counts — 129 grantees, more than 800 offices, over 94% of funding distributed, housing and foreclosure as the second largest closed-case category — come from LSC’s own Who We Are and I Need Legal Help pages, read the same day.

Five places where the common understanding and the actual rule diverge, and where we followed the rule:

1. “You have to be under 125% of the poverty line.” Two corrections. 45 CFR 1611.3(c)(1) makes 125% the maximum a program may set, not a promise — a program may set its ceiling lower. And 45 CFR 1611.5 authorizes acceptance above the ceiling: up to 200% under (a)(3) and (a)(4), and with no stated percentage limit under (a)(1) and (a)(2). The Code of Federal Regulations even prints a “Reference Chart—200% of Federal Poverty Guidelines” alongside the 125% table in Appendix A.
2. “There is a national asset limit.” There is not. 45 CFR 1611.3(d)(1) hands that decision to each grantee’s governing body, permits exclusion of the home, the car and income-producing assets, and (d)(2) allows the Executive Director to waive the ceiling in unusual circumstances. Any specific dollar figure you are quoted is a local policy number — ask for it in those terms.
3. “They’ll count my ex’s income.” For a domestic violence survivor, 45 CFR 1611.3(e) says the opposite, and it is mandatory on every grantee: only the applicant’s and household’s income and assets count, and assets held jointly with the alleged perpetrator are excluded outright.
4. “Legal aid can’t defend an eviction if you have a drug record.” 45 CFR 1633.3 is far narrower than that summary: public housing only, a sale/distribution/manufacture (or possession-with-intent) charge or conviction only, and only where the housing agency brings the case on health-or-safety grounds. Three conditions, all required.
5. “Undocumented people shouldn’t bother calling.” 45 CFR 1626.3 excludes “normal intake and referral services” from the restriction entirely, 1626.4 makes abuse, sexual assault and trafficking survivors eligible with housing expressly named as a covered matter, and 1626.6(b) forbids treating an accent or limited English as a reason to doubt citizenship.

What we could not verify, and did not claim. We did not verify any individual program’s income ceiling, asset ceiling, whether it has adopted the 1611.5 exceptions, its written priorities, or its current capacity — those are 129 separate local policies and the regulations expressly leave them local. We make no claim about how long an intake call takes, whether any program is accepting eviction cases this month, or your odds of being represented. We did not attempt to verify state or local eviction procedure, which varies by jurisdiction and is outside these federal rules.

One inconsistency we noticed and are flagging rather than smoothing over. LSC’s own “Who We Are” page still describes eligibility using 2025 figures ($19,563 for an individual, $40,188 for a family of four) while the binding table in Appendix A to 45 CFR part 1611 carries the 2026 figures used above ($19,950 and $41,250). We used the regulation. Separately, 45 CFR 1609.2(b)(3) cross-references the definitions of advice and counsel and limited services to “45 CFR 1611.1(a) and (e)” — but 1611.1 is the purpose section and those definitions actually sit at 1611.2(a) and (e). We read it as pointing to 1611.2 and say so here rather than quietly correcting it.

Legal aid programs are independent nonprofits with their own boards, their own priorities and their own eligibility policies within these federal limits. The rules quoted here set the outer boundaries, not what any one office does this week. If something here contradicts what a legal aid program, a court, or a lawyer tells you about your case, trust them for your situation and tell us so we can re-check the guide.

This is general information, not legal or financial advice. Nothing here creates an attorney-client relationship. Last updated: September 3, 2026.