The FWD #G31 • 1,028 Words
Guest Author: Laura Dobbs, Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) of Virginia
In Richmond, a statewide solution could address the local eviction epidemic.
Every week at the John Marshall Courthouse in downtown Richmond, the story is the same: case after case of eviction filings come before a judge, and families’ lives are turned upside down.
There are many reasons for this. In Virginia eviction cases, 71% of landlords enjoy legal representation, while only 1.6% of renters come to court with an attorney. In Richmond, as much as 99.9% of landlords bring attorneys to eviction court. Due to Virginia law, it’s cheap and uncomplicated for a landlord to file an eviction. Together with a tight real estate market where landlords have an upper hand, we can start to see why Richmond has the second-highest rate of evictions among U.S. cities.
But there’s another factor at work – a policy failure with a ready fix. Under state law today, landlords can evict tenants for a whole host of reasons and can choose not to renew the lease for no reason at all. Landlords can file for eviction even if they have ignored or dismissed maintenance requests, locked out tenants from their units, or shut off utilities – examples of neglect we document regularly in our work with renters at HOME of VA. Often, evictions can seem retaliatory: if complaints about unlivable conditions rub the landlord the wrong way, they may decide – and the law enables them – to push tenants out.
The tight rental housing markets we see across Virginia, where the demand for housing far outstrips the supply, make this situation especially ripe for discrimination and exploitation. Landlords, especially those renting to low-income families, know that tenants have few housing opportunities, while dozens of new applicants wait to take any open slots. Something has to give, and too often it’s justice.
That’s why tenant advocates and attorneys across the country are advocating for “just cause” eviction protections. The idea is simple, humane, and powerful. If a landlord seeks to evict a tenant, then they must prove that the renter has violated reasonable criteria for remaining in their unit.
Five states and several localities have already taken action to enact “just cause” eviction protections. In St. Paul, Minnesota, a city roughly the size of Richmond, a law passed in 2020 establishes 10 “just causes” that landlords must prove to evict a tenant. Several California cities have made similar moves, and a recent study found that these protections reduced eviction rates.
But even these examples don’t capture the full potential of “just cause” protections. For every formal eviction, a federal study has documented two to five forced moves. We can think of these as “invisible evictions,” unseen in eviction stats but deeply felt by those affected. They result from egregious rent increases, unlivable housing conditions, and non-renewals of leases. “Just cause” laws could limit invisible evictions, too, bringing stability to thousands of families every year.
These signs of progress are not only encouraging, but also instructive for a locality like Richmond. They address a little-discussed agony on display at the courthouse and in neighborhoods throughout the city.
The households most likely to be evicted are headed by Black women. And the most common age among those evicted is younger than 18. Meanwhile, the profound disruption caused by eviction has been linked with reduced life expectancy among those affected. Put simply, evictions predominantly harm Black women and children – and shorten their lives. This must change.
How to build a “just cause” eviction law
Although the contours of “just cause” eviction laws vary, they share a common core: they define the legal grounds on which a landlord can evict tenants or refuse to renew a lease. These may include nonpayment of rent, continued lease violation after written notices, substantial damage caused by the tenant, criminal activity that threatens the safety of other residents, and intent on the part of the landlord to repair or move into the unit.
Effective protections often include other elements:
- Enhanced written notice requirements: Before evicting a tenant, the landlord must provide a written notice, as many as 90 days in advance, documenting approved reasons for displacement. This gives tenants a chance to remedy the violation or oppose the eviction for a lack of “just cause”, or time to find alternative housing.
- Leveling the field: Perhaps most importantly, effective “just cause” eviction laws empower tenants to pause the eviction process until a court resolves the dispute. Some “just cause” laws also allow tenants to seek restitution and reinstatement of their tenancy—even after removal.
- Retaliation protection: “just cause” eviction laws typically protect tenants from being evicted or having their lease non-renewed in retaliation for exercising their rights, such as complaining about unsafe living conditions and organizing with other residents.
- Support for tenants facing “just cause” eviction: In cases of allowed “no-fault” evictions, such as the owner moving into or renovating the property, some localities provide financial support to displaced residents. Others have passed a right to counsel to ensure tenants are fairly represented and their rights protected during eviction proceedings.
Evictions are avoidable, not intractable
If the pandemic has taught us anything about housing, it’s that we can prevent evictions.
Lawmakers, working to keep people housed while a novel virus spread, established protections at the federal and state levels to halt evictions while deploying millions of dollars in rental relief. The Virginia Eviction Reduction Pilot program, one of those initiatives, demonstrated success during its pilot year, significantly reducing eviction filings in the communities where it was active. The General Assembly recently allocated additional funds to the program to further its reach.
But eviction protections also revealed loopholes in the law. Some landlords skirted pandemic eviction protections by simply waiting for the tenant’s lease to run out and then declining to renew the lease. Still others accepted government relief money only to turn around and refuse renewal of leases for tenants who were helped by it.
When landlords must provide a “just cause”, they can no longer skirt other legal protections for tenants. And when enacted alongside other tenant protections – such as a right to counsel and compensation for no-fault displacement – “just cause” eviction laws promote tenant safety and stability throughout their residence.
As HOME’s Director of Policy, Laura Dobbs advocates for state and local policies to dismantle housing discrimination and expand housing choice.
Laura joins HOME from the Virginia Poverty Law Center where she served as the Deputy Director of the Center for Housing Advocacy. There, she advocated for systemic change for low-income renters through policy advocacy and litigation. Laura started her career as a voting rights attorney in Durham, North Carolina where she connected with voting advocates and communities across the south to preserve and advance equal access to the ballot and fair maps. She earned her J.D. from William & Mary Law School and B.A. in Industrial Design from North Carolina State University College of Design.