Advocates are pushing the city of Phoenix to legally ensure that tenants have full legal representation during the eviction process. In Maricopa County less than 1% have representation in court, compared to 94% of landlords.
Miss Catherine Wilkins, a leader with the Take Back Our Homes Campaign, remembered being evicted as a scary experience.
“Sadly, I am not alone,” said Wilkins. “Last year over 77,000 evictions cases were filed with Maricopa County. These are people that didn't have any help. They didn't have any legal representation. The majority of people in eviction proceedings end up losing their homes, their apartments, they even lose their space of being out on the road because everything is stolen from them, like I did, often in a matter of days.”
Wilkins said things could have been different if she had been guaranteed legal representation, and hopes others will in the near future.
District 8 city Councilmember Kesha Hodge Washington said that when renters have a right to counsel, or RTC, it brings down eviction rates and creates a more stable community.
“It is time to make RTC permanent in Phoenix. We have it on a temporary basis through the use of ARPA funds. But imagine a Phoenix where families feel secure in their home knowing they have a fighting chance if faced with evictions. We can see a significant reduction in homelessness, a continued reduction in homelessness as we address one of the root causes. Tenants can assert their rights without fear," Washington said.
Advocate Noellë Lewis recalled getting several notices before her eviction last year. She said many Arizonans are closer to being in a similar situation than they might realize.
“I’ve done the scraping of the scraps and I’ve done the praying,” Lewis said. “It could be a missed check a couple days work missed because you're sick or need to take care of a child and then right there your debt to income ratio has skyrocketed exponentially because you're having to choose between buying food and putting gas in the car to work some more to be in stress about paying rent or getting evicted this month.”
“Most of our cases are non-payment of rent cases,” said Pamela Bridge, an attorney and the director of advocacy and litigation at Community Legal Services, a non-profit law firm that represents low income tenants for free. “So imagine when a tenant who is facing the worst experience of their life — maybe trying to move at the same time, pull their kids at school — shows up in court, who hasn't had evidence training, against an attorney who does this every day. That's simply– the scales of justice are not fair.”
With the volume of evictions filed in Maricopa County last year alone, she said firms like hers can’t represent them all.
