Detroit's "Right to Counsel" inches toward launch
DETROIT (CBS DETROIT) – After months of delays, there's progress in getting a program set to help thousands facing evictions off the ground. Low-income tenants will soon not have to fight their landlords in court alone.
Steven Rimmer has been fighting to stay in his apartment for five years. Facing eviction, he sought the help of a tenant advocacy group that connected him with a lawyer.
"This is a lot for me to go through. If I was, I don't know, any legal jargon. I don't know how the courts really work," Rimmer said.
As is the case in the nearly 30,000 eviction cases filed annually. Although landlords usually have an attorney, many tenants are out of luck.
"The earlier eviction lawyers can get to a person in these cases, the better chance they have of being able to effectively represent the person and improve that person's outcomes," said April Faith-Slaker, executive director of Detroit's Office of Eviction Defense.
The city passed the right-to-counsel law last May ensuring any Detroiters facing eviction and earning at or below 200% of the federal poverty threshold get a lawyer.
The program was scheduled to start in October but was delayed until last week when the city council awarded a $5 million contract to the United Community Housing Council.
They're working with the Office of Eviction Defense to get tenants lawyered up by March 1.
"We'll be measuring different outcomes in the cases we'll be looking at. There's another issue of landlord compliance with certificates of compliance that we'll be looking at," Faith-Slaker said.
Currently, it's set to help about 2,500 people. Tenant advocates argue the program is underfunded to make a drastic difference.
"We didn't strike when the iron was hot, so to speak, when there were other layers of pandemic relief available. So next fiscal year, you're looking at a minimum of $21 million to be able to service everybody at a minimum," Tonya Myers-Phillips with the Right To Counsel Coalition told CBS News Detroit.
"We have the data, we have the numbers, we do realize there's a need for more funding, and we'll continue to work with my colleagues and the administration to properly fund 'right to council,'" City Council President Mary Sheffield.
The city also plans to establish a hotline number by march 1st so tenants who need this help can easily reach out.
This effort is estimated will cost $6 million over three years. That money is coming from the American Rescue Plan.
