An Interview With Charles Holton

• Publication year: 2017

An Interview with Charles Holton

Prasad Hurra

Zalak Raval

SPECIAL PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION ISSUE 2017: AN INTERVIEW WITH CHARLES HOLTON

Introduction

Many important economic indices show that the economy has improved markedly under the Obama administration, but, there are communities that are still struggling with loss of jobs and housing. Courts are seeing an increased number of eviction cases presenting some very serious concerns, particularly for the tenants. However, the evictions can be reduced, and educating the judges, tenants and landlords is the first step. The struggling tenants can seek public funding or legal aid available in their counties that provide alternatives to eviction, but unfortunately, the cutbacks in funding to legal aid organizations have affected many states of late. The State of North Carolina is an example, where the funding level has dropped 80% over the past few years. The new federal administration in 2017 should consider the social consequences when reducing the budgets for legal aid at the federal and state levels.

On behalf of the Emory Corporate Governance and Accountability Review ("ECGAR") for the Pre-Presidential Inauguration Edition, Prasad Hurra¹ and Zalak Raval² interviewed Mr. Charles Holton, Director of the Civil Justice Clinic at the Duke University School of Law. Mr. Holton was named the Pro Bono Attorney of the Year for 2013 by the North Carolina Bar Association. This interview is about the legal battles of the individuals and the communities that have suffered the impact of homelessness.

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I. Interview

Prasad Hurra: In general, what are your thoughts about eviction cases? What are the laws that are applicable and other issues that you think are concerning, in relation to eviction cases?

Charles Holton: From my observation there has been a growing crisis with regard to evictions. It is multi-faceted. It has to do with landlords wanting to move out tenants who are perhaps paying lower rent than what landlords might otherwise get. It has to do with the state of the economy and a number of other factors. But, the net result is that our courts are seeing an increased number of eviction cases, and those cases present some very serious concerns, particularly for the tenants. They are often dealing with a lease that has likely been drafted by the landlord's attorneys with numerous complicated provisions in it, and those provisions may sometimes be illegal.

The tenant rarely has the opportunity for any kind of legal review of the lease before an eviction proceeding is brought on for hearing by the landlord. Usually, it is very short process, often allowing only 10 days between filing and hearing. In some cases, the matter simply involves the issue of non-payment of the rent. In such a situation, the landlord does not have to wait an extended time to move a tenant out and get someone in who will pay the rent.

On the other hand, there are many other more complicated cases where the tenant is given a very short timeframe to assess what might be done, to seek legal help, and learn if they wish to oppose eviction some way. On top of that, you typically have a David and Goliath situation with regard to the landlord who will often be represented in court by a lawyer, or if not that, a property manager who has done perhaps hundreds of evictions before and is quite familiar with the courthouse, the court procedures, and what needs to be done, as opposed to a tenant who may have never had a moment in civil court before.

I think there is a significant need for availability of legal advice to the tenant. Advice could and should concern an assessment, first, on the legality of the lease. There are leases that I have seen many times that have provisions that are illegal and unenforceable. There are also potential tenant counterclaim issues such as unsafe housing or lack of repairs; there may be issues of discrimination and perhaps retaliation for a tenant complaint that had been made previously— all of those things need to be assessed by an attorney and there needs to be time in which to do that. Some states automatically provide additional...