Unlike the public image of people experiencing homelessness, recently evicted Oklahomans might push a cart with an antique clock or an ottoman that was their grandmother’s prized possession. A person evicted may find themselves with no place to go and their belongings bagged up, weighing them down on the side of a road near their former home.
Evictions can be a pipeline to homelessness. They linger as permanent blemishes on a person’s court record in Oklahoma.
While groups such as Legal Aid Services and Shelterwell are tracking and publicizing the state’s standing as one of the worst for evictions, the problem is not correcting itself. Rather, it’s getting worse. A grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development could fund a right-to-counsel program in Oklahoma if local lawmakers are willing to create city codes to qualify.
Right to Counsel is a nationwide movement to provide free, guaranteed legal representation to tenants involved in eviction cases. Also known as Expanded Tenant Protections, cities that have enacted right-to-counsel ordinances have seen significant positive results with fewer filings, fewer defaulted cases and many more people staying in their homes than in cities without right-to-counsel laws.
Evictions Projected to Exceed 2023 Numbers In 2023, 48,278 eviction cases were filed in Oklahoma.
A new report from Legal Aid Services Oklahoma shows that eviction filings this year are increasing in Oklahoma City and stagnating in Tulsa.
Tenant advocates scramble to provide legal services and mediation to help people during their eviction hearings and to prevent eviction filings before they happen, but with no ordinances mandating tenants’ right to counsel, people facing eviction are often left to fend for themselves during the complicated eviction process.
According to the Legal Aid Services report, between Jan. 1 and April 30, Oklahoma City courts received more than 5,700 eviction filings. Tulsa is trending toward the same number of eviction cases filed as last year with about 4,100 filings in the same period.
While eviction filings don’t always end in judgments against tenants, as many as 70% of tenants fail to show up for their hearings, resulting in losses by default, said Brad Senters, director of eviction prevention at Shelterwell, an agency that collects eviction court data in Oklahoma City and provides mediation services for tenants and landlords in eviction disputes during their hearings at Oklahoma County District Court.
When tenant rights are balanced with landlord rights via legal representation, far more defendants show up for their hearings, cases are dismissed for improper or illegal filings and tenants and landlords are able to agree on arrangements to pay late rent and fees. Codes Could Guarantee Right to Counsel in Oklahoma This year, HUD is offering cities grants of $2.4 million for right-tocounsel programs, but to qualify, Oklahoma City and Tulsa will need to pass right-to-counsel ordinances.
Without right-tocounsel laws in place, tenants who do show up to eviction court can receive free legal representation by Legal Aid Services Oklahoma, known as LASO, but they must know to do so, and there is no guarantee of legal support.
Data from the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel shows that only about 4% of Americans facing eviction access attorneys to fight their cases; 83% of landlords employ attorneys to lead their cases.
Travis Hulse, Tulsa’s housing policy director,
Turn to EVICTION, p3 said city leaders, Legal Aid Services, and Tulsa Public Schools have been discussing measures to curb evictions. The talks have gained urgency as evidence, such as the Point in Time counts that track people experiencing homelessness, shows direct correlations between evictions and homelessness.
48,278 eviction cases filed in Oklahoma in 2023 Hulse said Tulsa would likely approve changes in the municipal code to stem evictions and homelessness. Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum’s office and the Tulsa city council have expressed support for right-tocounsel laws, he said.
Since August 2022, Legal Aid Services has been operating a rightto- counsel pilot program during which it provided free legal representation to 1,824 households with 3,749 residents.
Funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the rightto- counsel pilot program resulted in impressive returns on investment. Legal Aid Services spent $860,000 on the pilot between August 2022 and June and estimated a fiscal impact of about $6.3 million, a return on investment of $7.37 for every dollar spent.
“Right to counsel is like a city service,” said LASO Executive Director Michael Figgins. “Courts cannot deny representation. In the long run, fewer evictions will result, not only in court but largely by preemptive legal help to avoid a case being filed altogether.”
Heather Warlick is a reporter covering evictions, housing and homelessness. Contact her at hwarlick@ oklahomawatch.org.