PROVIDENCE – Mayor Jorge O. Elorza along with other city officials and housing advocates Wednesday launched the Providence Eviction Defense program aimed at providing qualified low-income residents with legal defense services in housing court.
“As a former eviction defense attorney, I have seen firsthand the difference having a lawyer can make in someone sleeping with a roof over their head or on the street,” Elorza said. “I am happy to be building on the prior successes of our eviction defense work, especially in the midst of our state’s current housing crisis, to help our city’s most vulnerable residents to stay in their homes and have access to the resources they need.”
The defense program will provide services to city residents who earn 65% or less of the area median income or who live in a qualified census tract, where more than 50% of the households are income eligible. Tenants will be assisted through the support of attorney advocates and law students, have access to a tenant help desk located in District Court in Providence and increased community supports through the Direct Action for Rights and Equality Tenant and Homeowner Association.
HousingWorks RI at Roger Williams University will oversee the data analysis, evaluation and reporting components of the eviction defense program.
“There’s no question that families continue to fall behind and have been unable to keep up with rising rents throughout the city,” said Councilwoman and Deputy Majority Leader Mary Kay Harris. “This eviction defense program will provide more breathing room for tenants, up to another year, of much-needed assistance. It’s important for tenants facing eviction to have options and this program will give them the tools needed to legally negotiate and come to a compromise with landlords.”
The program will operate for a year and will be funded by $600,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funding, according to the release.
Providence launched a similar program in June 2020 at the height of COVID-19 pandemic, funded by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act and the Providence Housing Trust. The Collaborative Housing Program used $1 million to help families with eviction defense and rent relief, and it was operated by Rhode Island Legal Services, Crossroads Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Center for Justice.
From 2020 to 2021, the collaborative provided legal services to 775 families facing eviction.
“The overwhelming majority of tenants facing eviction do so without legal help, and landlords almost always have an attorney,” said Steven S. Flores, of Rhode Island Legal Services. “The tenant help desk is a group effort intended to shift that lopsided power imbalance. Rhode Island Legal Services is proud to be the lead partner with the city of Providence for continuing this important work into next year, which simply could not be done without the tireless efforts of each partner, including Rhode Island Center for Justice and the Pro Bono Collaborative at Roger Williams University School of Law.”
…and they wonder why there is a housing shortage!