PHOENIX — Advocates want to see permanent funding in the City of Phoenix for legal help for tenants who are facing eviction, citing how other cities’ investment is believed to have saved the city money overall.
It comes as 7,957 new eviction cases were filed in August in Maricopa County, the second-highest monthly total ever recorded. Only January 2024 topped August with more than 8,000 new eviction cases filed.
While the City of Phoenix has invested millions in federal funding since July 2020 on the Tenants Eviction Assistance Project with Community Legal Services, elected leaders and residents want to see the right to counsel become a permanent city-funded program.
“Some may ask, ‘Why should the government pay for tenants lawyers?' The answer is simple, because we already pay for the consequences of evictions, and those costs are far higher,” Councilwoman Kesha Hodge Washington of District 8 said in front of Phoenix City Hall on Wednesday.
Hodge Washington points to Philadelphia, which invested $3.5 million in right to counsel since February 2022 in select zip codes.
“They're estimating the cost savings to be $45.2 million in savings,” Hodge Washinghton said. “I think that's a worthwhile investment.”
While nearly all landlords are represented by legal counsel at eviction hearings, according to the William E. Morris Institute for Justice, less than 1% of tenants are represented.
“It really is an uneven balance of power when we have landlord attorneys versus pro per tenants, and it's the pro per tenant who is facing the loss of their house,” said Pamela Bridge, director of advocacy and litigation at Community Legal Services.
Bridge said when attorneys with Community Legal Services get involved they’re able to see if there’s legal merit in the eviction, if amounts landlords are alleging are correct, and check complicated federal regulations.
“Even if there's no legal merit, you know, and the tenant just - that the landlord did everything right, then we can negotiate with the landlord to try to work out a settlement so that tenant doesn't get an eviction on their record,” Bridge said.
Now, the Phoenix Industrial Development Authority is financing a cost-benefit analysis to understand what the impact of permanent funding to right to counsel could be in Phoenix.
Advocates with the Take Back Our Homes campaign believe it will show an economic benefit for Phoenix.
“We need actions taken to pass legislation so we stay in our homes and prevent homelessness from becoming an even bigger crisis,” said Catherine Wilkins with the Take Back Our Homes campaign.
Six years ago, Meisha Fish was evicted after not having an attorney involved in her case.
“I'm unprepared. He knocks at the door. I answered and he says, 'You would - you have one hour grab, grab whatever you can carry’,” Fish said. “I had no recourse to what was going on. I had no shelter.”
If you or someone you know are facing an eviction, Bridge recommends reaching out for help right away.
“Don't assume that next week is going to get better and that everything is going to be worked out. Try to communicate with your landlord and seek legal counsel as fast as possible, because that gives us more time to negotiate and go through your case,” Bridge said.
Help with Community Legal Services can be found online, or in person Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at Native Health at Indian School Road and Central Avenue between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. and Wednesdays in Mesa.