Should city pay for tenants to have an attorney in eviction cases? Advocate says it would actually save Tulsa money

Tulsa already had one of the highest eviction rates in the country, and local officials were discussing ways to address it. But the sense of urgency wasn’t the same, Michael Figgins said.

“Now times have changed,” said Figgins, executive director of Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma. “Now the situation is a lot worse.”

Local and state officials seem more willing to consider new ideas for averting a huge wave of evictions that could sweep across Tulsa later this year, when federal moratoriums on eviction cases could be lifted, Figgins said.

Legal Aid is advocating a short-term pilot project to test the concept of giving a tenant the right to have an attorney during an eviction hearing.

The U.S. Constitution’s Sixth Amendment protects a right to “assistance of counsel” during criminal trials, but it doesn’t apply to civil cases such as evictions. More and more municipalities, however, are granting such a right on a local basis, Figgins said.

Studies show that cities save about $7 for every $1 invested in a right-to-counsel program, Figgins said. When fewer residents face evictions, local governments don’t have to spend as much on homeless shelters, foster care and other social services, he said.

“That’s how you sell it,” Figgins said. “If I have a product that costs $20 but will save you $50 on your light bill, you’re going to say, ‘Sure, I want one of those.’”

The Tulsa City Council has already agreed with Figgins, in principle, when it passed a resolution in mid-December recognizing “that legal representation to Oklahomans in an eviction proceeding may prevent many evictions and save state and local dollars.”

But how could Tulsa officials really make it happen?

“We need to start small,” Figgins said.

He’s proposing a pilot program that would, at least at first, cover only a few ZIP codes in Tulsa that have a particularly high number of out-of-state landlords who file a disproportionately high number of evictions.

It could be funded by federal stimulus money, with Oklahoma expecting another $263 million soon for rental and utility assistance programs in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Cleveland counties, Figgins said.

He said 90% of the funds must be spent on direct assistance but that part of the remaining 10% could be used for a right-to-counsel pilot project. A “bare minimum” effort could be funded with as little as $200,000, covering tenants in select ZIP codes for six months, he said.

“From there, you’ll see the results. You’ll see the benefits,” Figgins said. “In the long term, the city will have to see it as an investment.”

Before the pandemic, Tulsa courts had been averaging 1,200 eviction cases per month in recent years, giving the city the 11th highest eviction rate in the United States. Cases slowed down in 2020 as federal authorities issued a series of moratoriums that limited what kind of evictions could be filed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But those restrictions likely will end at some point this year, possibly triggering a huge wave of new evictions. As many as 500,000 Oklahomans, 13% of the state’s population, could face eviction in the next few months, according to estimates from the Tulsa City Council.

A right to counsel won’t let anyone avoid paying rent, Figgins said. But it would at least give tenants a chance to negotiate with landlords.

“If I have an attorney, you have to deal with me,” Figgins said. “You can’t brush me off. You can’t just ignore me.”

Video: Tulsa World town hall on the eviction crisis

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