National Study Examines Tenants' Rights to Counsel in Evictions


A new study entitled A Descriptive Analysis of Tenant Right to Counsel Law and Praxis 2017–2024, released on Friday by multiple universities, outlines tenants' rights to counsel in eviction actions. According to a Law360 article about the study, only five states, 17 cities, and one county guarantee legal representation to tenants facing eviction. Notably, Cleveland is listed as one of the few large cities that have created Right to Counsel (RTC) programs.

The article details both successes and challenges these programs face nationwide. Among other issues, it notes that “even where funding was available, multiple large jurisdictions struggled to identify a pool of attorneys to staff the program,” and that local attorneys were often “underpaid and overburdened.”

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