Please join the NAACP New Bedford Branch for a conversation with Annette Duke, Staff Attorney with the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute and the Massachusetts Right to Counsel Coalition on the benefits of the Right to Counsel for tenants at risk of eviction.
Zoom Meeting May 19th @ 7:00pm
https://umassd.zoom.us/j/92535882524?pwd=ODVySWFBZXB0RVhqbElJT1M5bFlBdz09
Meeting ID: 925 3588 2524
Passcode: 1909
Aside from the matter of justice, the Boston Bar Association estimates that the Right to Counsel would save the Commonwealth over $63 million annually: “For every dollar spent by the state for civil legal aid in eviction and foreclosure matters, the state would save $2.69 in costs associated with emergency shelters, health care, and other services as a result of evictions.”
Bristol County has seen an explosive number of evictions related to the pandemic, chronic housing supply shortages, inequities in lending, generational poverty, and other harms. In 2020-2021 Bristol County alone accounted for over 35% of all evictions in the Commonwealth.
Despite federal and state programs to mitigate evictions, and a CDC moratorium on evictions which expires at the end of 2022, many renters still cannot successfully navigate all the legal and paperwork obstacles to qualification for relief without legal assistance. And, typically, those affected by evictions are disproportionately people of color and the poor.
In Bristol County, 92% of all renters have no legal counsel in eviction proceedings, and the Southeast Housing Court makes counsel available only one day a week, from 1-4 pm — a time slot impossible for most working people.
Last week the ACLU released a research report “No Eviction Without Representation” which describes the disproportionate harms of eviction and the virtually impossible situation for renters. For example, during the last 40 years rents have increased six times faster than wages, government has backed away from investments in housing programs, and renters typically spend between 30-50% of their income on rent. With this economic burden, few can ever hope to save enough to become home owners.
Please join us on Thursday, May 19th for this important discussion on the Right to Counsel.
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More on evictions and the housing crisis
- Activists Fear Safety Net Won’t Catch Evictions | WBUR News
- After 17 months, eviction lawyer program launching in Bristol County – The New Bedford Light
- Around Massachusetts, racial divides persist – The Boston Globe
- Baker-Polito Administration Announces Comprehensive Eviction Diversion Initiative To Keep People Safely Housed During Pandemic | Mass.gov
- CDC Eviction Moratorium Struck Down – the shoestring
- CommonWealth Magazine
- COVID-19 and Housing | MassLegalHelp
- Extend the Moratorium on Evictions and Foreclosures – NAACP New Bedford
- Federal Judge Overturns National Eviction Moratorium | HuffPost Latest News
- Finfer presentation for CSJ – Google Slides
- For Black Families, Evictions Are Still At A Crisis Point — Despite Moratorium : NPR
- Homes for All Massachusetts
- How Redlining Continues to Hold Back Black Americans
- In rural America, an invisible eviction crisis – Center for Public Integrity
- landlord-tenant-guide.pdf
- Lawmakers demand answers on Bristol County evictions – The New Bedford Light
- MASS SPENT MILLIONS ON COVID CONSULTANTS TO RATIONALIZE LETTING EVICTION MORATORIUM EXPIRE
- Mass. Weekly Eviction Filings Hit Highest Level Since Before COVID – NBC Boston
- Massachusetts Trial Court, Summary Process Executions Issued | Tableau Public
- Miami landlords are raising rents and evicting vulnerable tenants as Omicron surges
- Millions Face Eviction With CDC Moratorium Ending And Delays In Rent Assistance : NPR
- New Report Illustrates How Right to Counsel Prevents Evictions and their Discriminatory Impacts on Communities | News & Commentary | American Civil Liberties Union
- Nearly Four People Are Evicted Every Minute: New Project Tracks US Eviction and Effects
- New Bedford eviction actions mount as legal services languish – The New Bedford Light
- New Bedford Housing Crisis Prompts Meeting
- NEW REPORT SHOWS WHO BORE BRUNT OF COVID EVICTION CRISIS IN BOSTON
- Report: Nonwhite Residents Hit Harder By Post-Moratorium Evictions – Fall River Reporter
- States Make Tenants Jump Through Hoops for Rental Assistance
- Supreme Court Allows Evictions To Resume During Pandemic | HuffPost Latest News
- The “Tip of the Spear”: Sheriffs and Evictions
- The Eviction Crisis is a Race and Gender Wage Gap Issue – Institute for Policy Studies
- The Eviction Moratorium Is Over. Black Renters Are Suffering the Most—Again. | The New Republic
- The People Left Behind by Biden’s Eviction Moratorium | The New Republic
- When Government Drew the Color Line | Jason DeParle | The New York Review of Books
- With housing courts set to reopen Monday, calls grow to extend ban on evictions – The Boston Globe
