ABA midyear meeting. Home Security

• Author: Amanda Robert
• Pages: 66-67

ABA MIDYEAR MEETING

Home

Security

ABA develops 10 guidelines

to aid tenants and landlords

dealing with evictions

BY AMANDA ROBERT

As the COVID-19 pandem-

ic worsened the nation’s

already dire housing crisis,

the ABA Standing Commit-

tee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense

turned its attention to improving the

experiences of people involved in the

eviction process.

Its Task Force on Eviction, Housing

Stability and Equity used recent data

and best practices to develop the ABA

Ten Guidelines for Residential Eviction

Laws. They were submitted in October

and approved by the House of Del-

egates at the ABA Midyear Meeting

in February.

Los Angeles County Superior Court

Judge Bryant Yang, who chairs SCLAID,

introduced Resolution 612, which also

urges all legislative and governmental

bodies to implement the guidelines. He

pointed to recent statistics showing that

more than a half million Americans

experienced homelessness in 2020, and

that COVID-19 put even more peo-

ple at risk.

These guidelines, which Yang said

are supported by several entities and

notably not opposed by the Real

Property, Trust and Estate Law Section,

seek to “make the procedures and laws

around eviction fairer and more equita-

ble.” He added that the resolution “does

not call for a moratorium” or “preclude

evictions in appropriate circumstances.”

SCLAID recommends the following

guidelines:

1. Tenants should receive reasonable

notice of any breach of their lease

and the chance to correct the prob-

lem before they face eviction.

2. Courts should provide emergency

procedures to tenants who have been

locked out or unlawfully excluded

from their homes.

3. Tenants should not be evicted

without the opportunity to present

their defense in a hearing before

a judicial ofcer with appropriate

legal training.

4. Tenants facing eviction should

receive ample opportunity to prepare

for their hearing, including through

formal discovery.

5. Courts should require landlords and

tenants to participate in eviction

diversion programs before litigation.

6. Tenants facing eviction should have

access to qualied counsel in all

proceedings.

7. Tenants facing eviction for non-

payment of rent should be able to

maintain their housing by paying the

full amount owed to their landlord

before a nal judgment.

8. Tenants should be able to appeal an

eviction judgment without facing

undue bond requirements.

9. Tenants should not be evicted or not

be given the chance to renew their

lease without a good cause.

10. Courts should seal the names of

defendants before a nal judgment

in eviction cases as well as when

eviction cases are dismissed and have

additional procedures for protecting

the privacy of defendants who can

demonstrate good cause.

According to data from the Eviction

Lab at Princeton University, an average

of 3.6 million eviction cases were led

annually between 2000 and 2016. Of

those cases, about 1.5 million resulted

in eviction judgments each year.

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau

shows how the COVID-19 pandemic

exacerbated the eviction crisis. As of

mid-August 2021, more than 8 mil-

lion tenants were behind on rent. By

January, that number had increased to

nearly 10 million tenants.

Wendy Mariner, a Section of Civil

Rights and Social Justice representative

to the House of Delegates, spoke in

favor of the resolution. She contended

ABA Insider | ABA MIDYEAR MEETING

The guidelines “can work best

when done before an eviction

proceeding is begun, and this

is one of the most important

contributions.”

—WENDY MARINER

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ABA JOURNAL | APRIL–MAY 2022

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