May 04, 2023

Right to counsel laws are a critical tool to help struggling tenants avoid eviction, but the shortage of lawyers representing tenants has limited renters' access to legal representation. Though 90 percent of landlords nationwide have lawyers in eviction cases, only about 10 percent of tenants do.

Shelters, nonprofits, and other traditional providers aren’t the only ones offering social work services and community outreach for mental illness, substance use, and homelessness anymore. Public spaces such as libraries and transit systems are helping address these issues, too.“The crisis has grown by leaps and bounds and so the work we do has to shift as well,” said Valerie Wonder, the regional manager for the Seattle Downtown Public Library.

According to the National Housing Preservation Database, more than 20 percent of Philadelphia’s affordable housing complexes—approximately 100 out of 450—are set to lose affordability restrictions over the next decade. These units rely on federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and Section 8 subsidies to keep rents affordable, but as these subsidies expire, landlords may choose to raise rents to market rates, displacing tenants or putting them at risk of homelessness.

Oregon lawmakers introduced a new bill that would decriminalize homeless encampments in public places and allow people experiencing homelessness to sue for $1,000 if harassed or told to leave. “It expresses a sentiment that we are all here to protect the dignity, the welfare, the legal right of this community,” said Jimmy Jones, executive director of the Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency.