All about Connecticut's eviction right to counsel

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01/13/2024, Legislation, Housing - Evictions

UPDATE: 2023 report shows RTC still delivering results

 

A 2023 report from Stout notes that Connecticut's tenant RTC has expanded to 10 additional zip codes. It also found that RTC helped clients achieve 64% of all of their goals, with the breakdowns being the following:

 

Stout 2023 Connecticut 2023 report results

 

The report also commented that "Clients owed fewer months of back rent [16% vs. 30% of clients owed 6+ months], were more likely to want to stay in their home [72% vs. 68%], were more likely to indicate they would experience unsheltered homelessness if they had to move [25% vs. 17%], and had less time to move in 2023 compared to 2022."

 

Interestingly, the report notes that of the 72% of veterans who wanted to stay in their homes, 73% were able to do so, compared to the 69% of non-veteran clients who wanted to stay in their homes and 63% who were able to do so.

 

Separately, a 2023 qualitative analysis was released from several Yale professors, prepared for the Connecticut Bar Foundation, based on community engagement, qualitative research, and interviews with tenants and stakeholders.  It found that:

 

  • "[A]mbiguity regarding payment of housing subsidies could lead to or complicate eviction cases";
  • "Tenants we spoke to expressed frustration that they were unfairly expected to keep paying their rent in the absence of essential repairs and maintenance (the Stout report found that ("59% of clients reported defects in their housing, with 70% of them reporting more than one");
  • "[T]he complexity of an eviction case often reveals itself over time as a person engages with legal services. Those complications may not be identified through the screening processes often used to prioritize limited legal aid resources, as tenants are often not aware of their rights."
  • "CT-RTC was able to help negotiate exits that both minimized adverse impacts for tenants and ensured the timely return of property to its owner. Stout found that 51% of CT-RTC clients have the goal of securing 30 days or more to move. Our data shows how crucial it can be for tenants to have the time they need to make that move and the role of CT-RTC in obtaining this time."
  • "While tenants also received important sources of support and stress relief from caseworkers, social workers, and others, our interviews highlight unique aspects of legal support. Lawyers are not simply “someone on their side.” They also have legal knowledge that tenants perceive as protective and empowering. Tenants said having a lawyer during the eviction process made them feel less intimidated by the power imbalance between them and their landlord."

 

UPDATE: report shows effectiveness of first 10 months of RTC

 

Stout has released a report that examines the impact of Connecticut's statewide right to counsel from 1/31/22 - 11/30/22.  It found that:

 

  • Of the 82% of clients that wanted to prevent an involuntary move, 71% achieved that goal;
 
  • Of the 80% that sought to avoid an eviction on their record, 76% achieved that goal.
 
  • The estimated cost savings to the state were $5.8 - $6.3 million.
 

In terms of client demographics:

 

  • 75% of all the RTC clients identified as non-white;
 
  • Nearly 50% of RTC households had a member with a disability;
 
  • Nearly 50% of RTC households had a child;
 
  • 59% indicated they had defective conditions in their homes, which may have contributed to the 32% of clients that indicated they did not want to stay in their homes.

 

The report's release was covered by the Connecticut Mirror, which also looked at right to counsel client racial demographics. The Connecticut Law Tribute Editorial Board noted the success outlined by the report and observed, "We supported the right to counsel bill when it was proposed, and the first year of its implementation suggests continued promise."

 

Notably, the eviction filing rate as of early 2023 is higher than pre-pandemic levels (and having an especially detrimental impact on families with children), indicating the urgency of full epxansion of the right to counsel statwewide.  Yet as Connecticut Public Radio reports, there is not yet funding available for statewide implementation

 

UPDATE: right to counsel set to go live in January 2022

 

The Connecticut Insider reports that the state's eviction right to counsel law will launch in January 2022 and provide counsel to all tenants at 80% or below of area median income. Law dot com has more.  There is also a website portal for Connecticut tenants looking for assistance.

 

UPDATE: the bill is law!

 

On May 27, the right to counsel bill passed through the House and Senate, it has now been signed by the Governor.  CT Post has the latest.

 

UPDATE: Governor proposes $20 million of federal funding to support right to counsel

 

The Governor of Connecticut has put $20 million of federal Fiscal Recovery Funds (FRF) for tenant representation in his proposed budget, which will greatly bolster efforts to enact the statewide tenant right to counsel bill (CT HB 6531).  In the Milford Mirror, the CT House Speaker said he liked to see this and that right to counsel is “a big deal”.

 

Additionally, opinion pieces appeared in the Connecticut Mirror and New Haven Independent in support of the right to counsel.  The first was written by health experts and the second (which was penned by advocates) argued that right to counsel is a LGBTQ issue.  The Appeal covered the efforts to get right to counsel enacted in Connecticut. 

 

UPDATE: Additional statewide right to counsel bill filed, has hearing

 

A new bill, HB 6531, has been filed that would provide a right to counsel for all indigent tenants facing eviction.  On March 4, 2021, the bill had a hearing before the House Housing Committee at which many people testified in support. 

 

The Connecticut Mirror covered the introduction of the bill and noted that in the last 3 months, fewer than 5% of tenants had appeared with counsel for eviction proceedings.  

 

UPDATE: Statewide right to counsel bill filed

 

Once again responding to the legislative task force recommendations, a bill has been filed, SB 531, that would provide a statewide right to counsel for tenants making $75,000 or less.

 

UPDATE: Connecticut DSA launches right to counsel petition drive

 

In January 2021, the Connecticut chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) launched a campaign calling on the Connecticut Legislature to provide a right to counsel for tenants facing eviction.

 

UPDATE: bill introduced to provide right to counsel in evictions


In 2019, a bill emerged from the Task Force's recommendations: SB 652 would guarantee a right to counsel statewide for tenants making less than $50,000 who are in an eviction proceeding.  An op-ed in the Harford Courant notes that Three cities in Connecticut are on the list of the top 50 eviction rates in the nation, and four are in the top 100.


Background


In 2016, Connecticut Senate Bill 426 created a new legislative task force to explore the right to counsel in civil cases.  After meeting several times over the course of the year, the Task Force issued its Final Report in December 2016.  Among other recommendations, the Report called for the state to 


Establish a statutory right to civil counsel in three crucial areas where the fiscal and social cost of likely injustice significantly outweighs the fiscal cost of civil counsel:
a. Restraining orders under General Statutes § 46b-15;
b. Child custody and detained removal (deportation) proceedings;
c. Defense of residential evictions.

 

The Report suggested the first step in implementation is "establishing a right to counsel pilot program for at least one or more of three areas of critical need: restraining order, family unity (child custody and detained removal

proceedings), and residential eviction cases. "  Connecticut News Junkie has more about the release of the Report.  The Task Force had the backing of many Connecticut leaders, including the Connecticut Bar Association President, the Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, the Senate President, and the dean of the University of Connecticut School of Law.  You can read more about the Task Force at Fox 61Hartford Courant, and Caifornia Courts Monitor, Also, you can check out the website of the Task Force.

Appointment of Counsel: categorical Qualified: no

 

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The NCCRC has provided technical support to the campaign and testified on HB 6531.