Housing advocates argue that when tenants are facing eviction, they have an unfair disadvantage. They claim that landlords are represented by an attorney nearly 90 percent of the time, while tenants have legal representation only 10 percent of the time. Providing an attorney to those facing an eviction will “balance” this power. But there is no right to counsel. In addition, I find this claim dubious given my own personal experiences.
I have been to eviction court more than ten times. Each time, there were dozens of other cases on the docket. I have been present for well over one-hundred eviction cases, and I have seen an attorney present for a landlord only one time. And that was an apartment complex that was evicting multiple tenants that day. All of my evictions have been for non-payment of rent, and only three tenants even bothered to show up for the trial. Each tenant who did attend admitted to the judge that she hadn’t paid the rent. These were simple cases, and there was no dispute over the facts. There was no need for an attorney to be involved.
Regardless of the actual statistics, housing advocates demand that tenants be provided free legal help when facing an eviction, just as defendants in a criminal case are provided a public defender. At least nine cities have enacted “right to counsel” laws, including Seattle, Louisville, and Cleveland.
When tenants are provided a taxpayer funded attorney, landlords are going to have little choice but to hire one themselves. I certainly did. After losing an eviction hearing, the tenant appealed and filed a pauper’s affidavit. She was provided an attorney for the appeal. Despite handling all of my previous evictions without an attorney, I thought it prudent to hire one for the appeal. It should be obvious, but hiring an attorney costs money. And when a landlord’s expenses increase, rents are soon to follow. Providing legal counsel for tenants facing eviction will certainly help some, but other renters will face higher rents. Adding insult to injury, the landlord will also have the privilege of helping pay for the tenant’s attorney through his taxes. Right to counsel laws subordinate landlords and taxpayers to renters.
Along with other tenant protections, the right to counsel is going to discourage property owners from renting housing. And those who stay in the business are going to be much more discerning when screening tenants.