Housing Equity in Action

Advancing a Tenant Right to Counsel

Results for America, in partnership with the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel (NCCRC), PolicyLink and Strategic Actions for a Just Economy, invites place-based teams to apply for this robust, 7-session learning opportunity exploring how to design, enact, implement and sustain a right to counsel for tenants facing eviction (RTC). Teams should include government and community partners and should be committed to advancing RTC in their communities.

If chosen to participate in this Solutions Sprint, teams will learn from a variety of experts and will network with peers from other jurisdictions pursuing RTC. The Sprint offers communities an opportunity to build a diverse coalition of individuals, organizations and sectors working together to improve housing stability through a tenant right to counsel.

Key Dates

• Applications due: Thursday, September 19, 2024
• Sprint Kickoff: Wednesday, September 25, 2024
• Duration: 7 sessions running from the end of September through November

Learn more about this opportunity: Watch the informational session to learn more about what to expect during the Solutions Sprint.

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Sprint Overview

Key Terms

• RTC = Right to counsel for tenants facing eviction.
• Enactment = The process through which government formally adopts a new law, ordinance, regulation or policy.

Participating teams will work through a 7-session online learning curriculum with a cohort of jurisdictions also advancing RTC in their communities. During the sprint, teams will:

• Receive guidance on designing, enacting, implementing and sustaining tenant RTC policies. Each session will focus on a different topic, from how to build a solid campaign to understanding critical implementation steps like planning for funding and budgeting. All sessions will prioritize advancing racial equity.
• Learn from experts, including tenants impacted by eviction and tenant organizers who have successfully run RTC campaigns, policymakers who have supported RTC laws, members of legal aid organizations currently implementing RTC, researchers collecting eviction data and analyzing the costs and benefits of implementing RTC, and policy narrative and messaging specialists.
• Participate in built-in opportunities to strengthen relationships within and across teams and form a coalition of diverse local advocates and organizations, recognizing the broad-based partnership needed to implement RTC.
• Engage in curated activities to build an action plan that outlines the team’s next steps in advancing their RTC work, with dedicated time to workshop ideas and create a capstone presentation.
• Participate in follow-up, one-on-one coaching sessions designed to help teams assess where they are in the RTC enactment process and generate next steps.

As part of this opportunity, Results for America will award one participating team a sub-grant to assist in implementing a portion of their action plan and advancing tenant RTC. The available funding and award criteria will be shared with the participating teams.

Sprint Objectives

By the end of the Sprint, participants and teams will have:

• Greater insight into why tenant leadership is critical in RTC advocacy.
• An expanded understanding of RTC and strategies for supporting it.
• Increased confidence and ability to codify RTC in their jurisdictions.
• Stronger relationships with their local coalition and advocates in other jurisdictions.

By the end of the Sprint, teams will also have created an action plan that could include any or all of the following elements:

• Steps to help build a broader coalition of tenant leaders and other advocates.
• Steps to collect the necessary historical data on evictions in their jurisdiction.
• Steps to develop an effective pilot project.
• A timeline for legislative introduction.

Who Should Apply

This opportunity is designed for local or state jurisdictional teams interested in adopting and implementing a tenant right to counsel policy or program.

To maximize this opportunity, jurisdictions are strongly encouraged to bring together a team of key, diverse stakeholders. For your application, we encourage you to convene and submit the strongest team possible. However, teams will be allowed to add additional participants after submitting their applications.

Strongly recommended:

• At least one organization or leader that represents the interests of impacted renters (e.g., tenant organizing groups), with priority to teams with a community / tenant organizing team lead
• At least one eviction defense or legal services organization that could be a RTC service provider

Recommended:

• Community-based organizations (e.g., organizations working on housing justice, social justice or racial justice)
• Government staff (e.g., staff from the legislative and executive branches, and legal, health or housing departments)
• Providers of post-eviction services (e.g., homeless shelters)
• Housing court (e.g., judges and/or staff)
• Program evaluation partner (e.g., academic or research institutions)

Participation Requirements

Teams should demonstrate the following in their application:

• Interest and Commitment: Participating teams should demonstrate a clear interest and commitment to enacting RTC in their community. This may include progress towards:
  • Establishing or expanding a RTC coalition that includes community organizers, legal service programs and government officials.
  • Conducting RTC research, consulting with RTC expert partners or attending RTC educational events.
  • Gathering local data on the scope of the eviction crisis in preparation for an RTC campaign.
  • Allocating or securing newer streams of government funding for tenant legal representation.
  • Launching a pilot program to measure the impact of tenant representation.
  • Advancing or enacting resolutions and ordinances supporting RTC.
  • Expanding or sustaining an existing RTC policy or program.
• Active Participation: A majority of the team (3-5 members) are able to fully engage in the Sprint. This includes regularly attending sessions, engaging in group discussions and completing assignments.
• Long-Term Investment: Committed to achieving the goals of the Sprint, both during and after its completion.
• Equity Integration: Committed to race, gender and health equity, and integrating these principles in RTC development.
• Tenant-Centered Approach: Committed to centering tenant, community advocate and organizer input in RTC development and implementation.

About the Sprint Facilitators

Weekly sessions will be designed and led by:

• National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel (NCCRC): The NCCRC works to ensure individuals have a right to effective counsel when facing the loss of their basic human needs in the civil legal system. Tenant RTC is a significant focus area, and we have supported advocates in most of the 24 jurisdictions that established and are now implementing such a right. We also assist nascent efforts around the country.
• PolicyLink: PolicyLink is a national research and action institute that is working to build a future where all people in the United States of America can participate in a flourishing multiracial democracy, prosper in an equitable economy and live in thriving communities of opportunity.
• Results for America (RFA): RFA is a non-profit organization that works with governments to identify and implement evidence-based policies and practices. Over the last several years, RFA has successfully run various Solutions Sprints, supporting over 100 jurisdictions in implementing evidence-based solutions and benchmarking their progress towards better outcomes for their communities.
• Strategic Actions for a Justice Economy (SAJE): SAJE builds community power and leadership for economic justice in South Central Los Angeles and beyond. Working side by side with our members, we’ve brokered community benefits agreements, strengthened tenant rights, fought for more accessible public transit, and designed programs and policies to ensure equity in land use and housing.

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Why Advance a Tenant Right to Counsel?

The Challenge: Increasing Housing Stability for All Renters

In a typical year, 3.6 million households face eviction, with babies and toddlers disproportionately at risk and Black children and their mothers even more so. Eviction, and the threat of it, can create significant health and economic hurdles for tenants, including job instability, the risk of homelessness, and increased interactions with the criminal and child welfare systems. Evictions are particularly devastating for children, affecting their long-term social and emotional development and educational attainment. Because evictions disproportionately threaten, disrupt and harm communities of color, they further entrench existing racial and health inequities.

Research shows that many evictions are avoidable when tenants have legal representation during eviction proceedings. The problem is that they rarely do. On average, only 4% of tenants facing eviction are represented, compared to 83% of landlords. Securing legal assistance often depends heavily on where a tenant lives and is particularly difficult for low-income and undocumented renters.

The Solution: A Legal Guarantee to Counsel When Facing Eviction

A right to counsel for tenants facing eviction (RTC) is a guarantee in the law that eligible tenants will be provided with an attorney when they face eviction, or other equivalent proceedings.

Thanks to the efforts of community organizers, tenants, civil servants, lawyers and judges across the country, 17 cities, two counties and five states have enacted a right to counsel for tenants since 2017. With its benefits increasingly clear, support for RTC is growing: 81% of voters — including 87% of Democrats, 73% of Independents and 70% of Republicans — favor a right to counsel for eviction proceedings.

A tenant right to counsel keeps people in their homes:

• In New York, New York, a recent evaluation of the City’s right to counsel program showed that 84% of represented tenants were able to remain in their homes.
• In Cleveland, Ohio, a recent evaluation showed that the City’s right to counsel program helped 81% of its clients avoid an eviction judgment or an involuntary move. Additionally, 88% of clients who wanted more time to move and 94% who sought monetary relief received it.
• In San Francisco, California, current data from the City’s right to counsel program shows 63% of fully represented tenants remaining in their homes, while 92% avoided homelessness.
• In Boulder, Colorado, all tenants who appeared in court with an attorney provided by the right to counsel program avoided eviction.
• In Kansas City, Missouri, the judge either dismissed the case or ruled in favor of the tenant in 82% of cases where tenants were represented.

A tenant right to counsel saves jurisdictions money:

• Stout, a financial analysis company, has found that jurisdictions will save more than they spend to provide a tenant right to counsel, due to avoided costs around shelters, health care, foster care and other social safety net services.
• In Baltimore, Maryland, every dollar invested in their RTC program provides an estimated cost savings of at least $6.24 for the city and state.
• A recent evaluation of Cleveland, Ohio’s RTC program found that it saved the City and Cuyahoga County approximately $1.8 million in avoided social safety net costs.
• In Detroit, Michigan, the RTC program would provide an estimated 252% more in economic benefits than the cost of running the program.
• In Connecticut, a RTC program saved the state an estimated $5.8 million to $6.3 million between January and November 2022.

In addition, a tenant right to counsel can help:

• Improve health and economic outcomes for all renters.
• Empower tenants to advocate for their rights.
• Help tenants organize around and achieve housing justice reform.
• Encourage thoroughness and fairness in the courts.

For more on the proven benefits of a tenant right to counsel, see NCCRC’s comprehensive bibliography of studies analyzing its impact or the Tenant RTC Resource Page. For more on strategies for promoting housing stability and preventing homelessness, see Results for America’s Economic Mobility Catalog.