National research has shed light on who is more likely to face eviction: Black and Latinx renters, renters with lower-income, and women. Still, national data on the demographics of eviction can be hard to come by. Crucial demographic information, such as income, race, gender, and sexual orientation, are rarely collected during the eviction process. Other illuminating details, such as household size, the cost of rent, and type of rental agreement, similarly go uncaptured on a national level. However, the EDDP program’s client intakes, coupled with Dane CORE data, sheds light on some of these important questions. Continue reading

Equitable solutions are needed to address the imbalances and obstacles that come from language barriers to accessing the court process; both in the hearing room and before a case is heard. Inequitable barriers in eviction court for tenants with limited English proficiency (LEP) persisted this quarter. Court translators for Spanish-speaking tenants continued to be an underutilized resource for native Spanish-speakers and the translation services available frequently present challenges to tenants – a major concern for EDDP staff and its partners, a number of whom are native-Spanish speakers themselves. Continue reading

In the last quarter, 74% of households had their cases dismissed due to the efforts of the EDDP; 90% were able to remain in their homes. A torrent of evictions in Dane County only grew more severe in the past three months, according to the latest Tenant Resource Center evictions data. Landlords filed 619 eviction actions, involving approximately 500 households, from December 1, 2022 to February 28, 2023 – a 40 percent increase over the previous quarter and nearly double the number of evictions during those same months last year. Mirroring previous quarters, most of the evictions were filed due to nonpayment of rent: 538 households (87%) faced eviction due to unpaid rent with the average household owing roughly $2,500; another 18 (3%) due to non-rent related lease violations; and 37 (6%) due to “holding over” past the end of a lease term. Continue reading

The Tenant Resource Center, in partnership with Community Justice Inc. (CJI), Legal Action of Wisconsin (LAW), and the University of Wisconsin Law School, launched the Eviction Diversion and Defense Partnership (EDDP) in the Fall of 2021. Using funding made available by Dane County and the City of Madison, the EDDP aims to improve tenants’ housing stability. The EDDP is able to improve tenants’ housing stability by increasing access to legal representation and other housing support services as well as court navigation services provided by the Tenant Resource Center. The impacts of eviction are not felt evenly. Black and Latina/o/x renters are evicted disproportionately when compared to white renters. Access to legal representation can mollify the power imbalance between tenants and landlords by ensuring that tenants, especially those who are members of marginalized groups, have access to the same quality of legal resources their counterparts enjoy. Continue reading