Street Smart Economics | Legal representation for tenants facing evictions can mitigate the power imbalance between tenants and landlords in court
Eviction is far too common, on the rise and incredibly destructive for families and the community. Experience in other cities shows providing legal representation to renters in eviction court will dramatically reduce evictions in Multnomah County — and that this investment will pay for itself several times over.
In December 2022, 42% of renter households in a national survey told the U.S. Census Bureau they were at least somewhat likely to face eviction from their homes in the next two months. An even higher proportion of renter households with children — 45% — said the same.
Evictions cause homelessness, break up families, reduce income, upend child care, damage school arrangements and worsen health. Eviction hits low-income renters particularly hard, especially women, children, Black people, Native American people and Latinos of low incomes.
Locally, we can ensure greater economic, racial and gender justice by passing a ballot measure for Eviction Representation for All this May.
Legal representation makes a big difference and cuts public costs
Currently, there’s no right to an attorney in civil cases — as there is when you’re accused of a crime. Yet the consequences of civil cases can be enormous, including being evicted from your home. In 2022, only 3% of tenants had legal representation in housing courts, versus 81% of landlords, according to the National Coalition to a Civil Right to Counsel. So, landlords were 27 times more likely than renters to have a lawyer.
Erasing that power difference is crucial to keeping people in their homes. After winning the right to counsel in eviction proceedings in New York City, 83% of tenants were able to stay put. In Cleveland, 93% of represented tenants avoided an eviction ruling or an involuntary move.
What’s more, publicly providing attorneys for tenants in eviction court more than pays for itself. A global financial analysis firm, Stout, studied the costs and benefits in 10 different cities and states. They found eviction representation saves money and generates revenue.
Lowered eviction rates also cut expenses for shelters, health care, foster care and other social services. Public revenue goes up because people who aren’t evicted go on to earn more money, spend more at local businesses and pay more taxes. For the city and county of Los Angeles, Stout determined every dollar the county spent for eviction representation would return $4.80, and every dollar the city spent would return $3.48.
Far too many people are evicted, often unfairly or illegally
Over 6,600 eviction cases were filed in Multnomah County in 2022. October alone saw 820 cases filed, far more than at any point in the three years prior to the pandemic and dwarfing the numbers when pandemic protections were in place. Even though Portland and the county were providing some federal pandemic stimulus money to pay for attorneys to represent renters with low incomes, only 8% of tenants had lawyers, while 65% of landlords did.
“We started looking at the eviction docket in January 2021, and frankly, we were shocked,” Oregon Law Center attorney Becky Strauss told the Portland Mercury. “We were seeing all types of evictions, and a large number of them were … (clearly) unlawful. And there is no way in our eviction court system for anyone to stop unlawful evictions from moving forward.”
Attorneys for tenants could change that.
Not only are many evictions illegal, but a lot of others are unfair. Nuisance ordinances like Portland’s punish landlords for crimes committed on their properties. Landlords then evict tenants to avoid future penalties.
Until the Violence Against Women Act came back in force in October 2022 after being allowed to lapse in 2018, domestic violence was the single biggest source of eviction related to nuisance ordinances. Domestic violence survivors were evicted for the police showing up, either to answer a 911 call or to enforce a restraining order. That’s still true in localities that don’t receive federal money through the Community Development Block Grant program. Other, better solutions are available.
Eviction’s economic and social costs are high
Evicted families suffer more homelessness, lower earnings, less access to credit and are more likely to lose a working car.
Since renters facing eviction tend to already struggle with falling incomes, loss of employment and hospitalizations, it is hard to show worse outcomes after eviction wouldn’t have happened anyway. However, by comparing what happened to people whose situations were similar but had their eviction cases heard by judges who showed more or less sympathy to renters, Notre Dame economist Robert Collinson found strong statistical evidence showing eviction itself sends families spiraling down further.
Concerned about the growing back rent owed by tenants who lost jobs during the pandemic, Portland State University researchers foresaw a surge in evictions as soon as pandemic eviction moratoriums were lifted. They estimated some of the potential community costs, finding increased public expenditures could rise into the billions for shelters, in-patient medical care, emergency room visits, foster care and child delinquency costs.
Renter education is needed to stop invisible evictions
Tenant representation in eviction court will be an important step in cutting the number of evictions, but outreach and education are also needed.
Uncounted in the data, too many tenants effectively evict themselves, moving out quickly after they receive an eviction notice. Most tenants don’t know they can often successfully challenge eviction notices and fear the impact of having an eviction on their record when looking for housing, applying for work or trying to get credit.
Get out the vote for eviction representation for all in May
We can expect a lot of eviction attempts in the next few years now that pandemic protections have been lifted.
By far, the most common charge against tenants is falling behind on their rent. While workers lost ground to inflation, Oregon’s weak excuse for a rent control law keeps landlords well ahead of price increases. They can raise rents by the amount of inflation in the previous year plus 7%, which allowed them to raise rents by 9.9% in 2022 and by nearly 15% in 2023.
Without a right to counsel, the courts don’t hear about unsafe and unhealthy conditions or problems like lack of maintenance. Without an attorney, tenants have no assistance in negotiating arrangements that allow them to stay put while applying for rental assistance, gradually paying down what they owe, or taking the time to find another place to live.
Knowing your rights and having legal representation in housing court can be expected to make a tremendous difference for tenants, their families, their neighborhoods and our city.
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