Lawyer Steven S. Flores and his staff at the Housing Law Center at Rhode Island Legal Services Inc. are busy these days, and many of their cases have a saddening similarity.
Eight years ago, just 2 out of every 10 cases handled by Rhode Island Legal Services were related to housing issues such as defending tenants in eviction proceedings. Now the amount of housing-related cases handled by the nonprofit that provides free civil legal assistance to low-income residents has more than doubled to 5 cases out of 10.
“I would just chalk that up to relentless demand on the eviction defense side and more people need help to stay safely housed,” said Flores, director of the Housing Law Center. “I don’t think demand is going to waver anytime soon.”
It looks like help might be on the way.
In January, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded $2.5 million to Rhode Island Legal Services, a grant to be dispersed over two years. The agency is one of 21 recipients of a total of $40 million in funds from HUD.
While RILS had been notified that the allocation was being held up by the White House, the organization now has been told grant money will start arriving because a temporary restraining order has been granted by a federal judge against the Trump administration.
Flores, who says his group was assigned to about 4,400 housing legal matters in the last 12 months, says the grant will be used in part to pay for more lawyers and support staff. Right now, RILS has 10 housing lawyers and staff members.
“It’s a relief,” said Flores, who joined the agency more than six years ago. “This money will help us meet more of that demand and keep more people safely housed through the work we do.”
And demand for housing legal services is clearly high.
There were 134 eviction filings per 20 days in Rhode Island in December 2024, according to a database maintained by the R.I. Housing and Mortgage Finance Corp.
This marks a 37% increase over the average of 98 eviction filings per 20 days from 2016 to 2019.
RILS doesn’t work alone. The funds from HUD will be shared with the Rhode Island Center for Justice, the Roger Williams University School of Law’s Pro Bono Collaborative and HousingWorks RI.
The groups began collaborating in 2017 as the state started facing an emerging housing crisis, says Jennifer Wood, executive director of the Rhode Island Center for Justice. The crisis was only exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Similar to RILS, the Rhode Island Center for Justice has also seen a dramatic rise in demand, with more than half of its legal efforts focused on reducing the effects of the state’s housing crisis.
“We see a very different 2025 than 2015 in terms of both the volume of evictions and housing displacement,” Wood said. “There’s a greater number of people sleeping outside and unsheltered.”
The rising demand for legal assistance in housing cases coincides with soaring rents and lengthening waiting lists for subsidized housing, many of which are several years long, Wood says.
“They’re underwater before they even start,” Wood said of low- and moderate-income families seeking affordable housing. “So, it’s really very, very challenging and that’s why it has become such a greater focus for us and a greater proportion of the work of our practice.”
Neither Flores nor Wood expects the demand for housing assistance to decrease anytime soon, but the HUD grant will help them keep up with the growing workload.
“It’s really part of the sustainability plan for us to be able to continue the work we’re doing,” Wood said, adding that a majority of the funds will go to lawyers helping clients with housing-related cases.
The funding will also go toward outreach for those in need and providing education, as well as helping clients address the underlying financial reasons for their housing instability, Flores says.
Women make up about 70% of the clients RILS directly serves in housing and about 40% of the households include children, Flores says. Also, about 70% of the households RILS helps have incomes that are below 30% of the area median income.
In almost every single case, RILS and RICJ are able to improve the client’s housing situation, whether that’s preventing them from being kicked out or negotiating more time for the tenant to pay rent or find a new home, Flores and Wood say.
And usually, clients seeking help for a housing-related case need assistance in other areas such as taxes and financial guidance, elder protection or child care, Flores says.
RILS created a position in 2023 called a “housing navigator,” who helps the needy address problems that contribute to their housing insecurity. Part of the HUD grant would go to funding that position.
Clients who worked with the housing navigator were four times less likely to return to District Court for eviction proceedings than those who didn’t, Flores says. Also, studies have shown that low-income families aren’t the only ones who benefit from eviction work. Flores referenced a 2018 study by Stout, a global financial advisory firm, which found that every $1 spent on eviction defense in Philadelphia provided more than $12 in indirect benefits and savings for things such as shelter and hospital costs.
“We’re finding if you can help clients address the underlying cause of their housing instability, you can get long-lasting positive results,” Flores said. “We’re starting to see less and less repeat clients.” n
