Darcy McLean Meals (Courtesy photo)

A 27-year-old African American mother of three recently received a confusing eviction notice. Without access to a lawyer, she didn't understand how to correctly complete the form or whether she was required to see a judge and state her case in person. She grew concerned about her family's future. She is not alone. The majority of tenants facing eviction across the country navigate housing court without a lawyer, according to Governing magazine.

"I didn't realize that I checked the wrong box at first," she said. 

After seeking guidance from Housing Court Assistance Center, a local legal aid organization that was able to explain the situation to her free of charge, she was more confident in her ability to handle the dilemma.

"Now I get it, and I will be ready for my case," she said.

For a program that operates for only six hours each week and is run almost exclusively by volunteer attorneys and law students, the HCAC's limited representation model has made a significant impact. As detailed in a recent report from Georgia State Law's Center for Access to Justice, since reopening in 2017, the HCAC has served more than 1,315 tenants, most of them African American.

While the organization's volunteers do not provide full legal representation and never appear before a judge on behalf of a client, they do provide detailed advice and information to tenants who have received an eviction notice. This includes help with filing an answer, asserting defenses and counterclaims, and appellate procedure and post-judgment motions. 

Renters in Georgia are almost twice as likely to be evicted as the average United States renter, according to Eviction Lab. Those living in the Atlanta metro area, where rents are high and affordable housing is scarce, are particularly vulnerable. In Fulton County—Georgia's most populous county—107 evictions were filed every day in 2015, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. That's nearly 40,000 evictions filed in just one year.

Eviction—which disproportionately impacts marginalized communities such as women and people of color, those with lower levels of education and people in poverty—does more than displace people. It affects mental and physical health, not just because of the stress of the eviction, but because of the consequences of being forced to leave home. Workers who are evicted are 15% more likely to lose their jobs and 25% more likely to experience long-term housing problems than renters who moved voluntarily. After an eviction, people are more likely to accept substandard housing and move to a neighborhood that is more disadvantaged and possibly more dangerous than where they were before.  Others may end up homeless.

Even if the eviction doesn't happen, the mere filing of an eviction notice can leave a tenant with a tarnished financial record, making it difficult to rent in the future. 

This process is made worse by the relatively short period of time during which tenants must act. In Georgia, tenants must file an answer within seven days of service. Once a judgment has been issued and matters are seemingly decided, there are still courses of action that could delay eviction. But without the advice of counsel, there is little chance a tenant will understand all her options and will be able to defend herself in court. A tenant's likelihood of receiving a favorable judgment can increase tenfold with the assistance of an attorney. Even simple advice, without full representation, may still contribute to better outcomes for tenants.

For instance, tenants who consulted the HCAC were spared paying excessive fees demanded by their landlords or rent they did not actually owe. From October 2017 through June 2019, landlords received more than $1 million less in judgments than they claimed, and tenants who visited HCAC saved nearly $500 each. Further, nearly 80% of closed cases on which the HCAC consulted never resulted in a writ of possession for the landlord, which would otherwise force the tenant out of the property by court order.

HCAC is managed by a consortium of organizations, including Lawyers for Equal Justice, the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, and Georgia State University College of Law's Center for Access to Justice. Funding from Eversheds Sutherland and RentPath Gives Back, a charitable foundation whose mission is to end homelessness, supports an attorney who oversees volunteers and law students. 

Former HCAC Supervising Attorney Andrew Thompson says one interaction he had illustrates the value of the help the organization provides. An older man who works as a painter and was seeking guidance from the HCAC explained with embarrassment that he couldn't pay his rent because his employer had refused to pay him for a month of work. Thompson explained that even if the man filed a blank answer to the eviction notice, he could stay in his home for another two weeks. This information gave the man an immediate sense of relief and a better understanding of his legal options.

Sharing simple information about the law and the eviction process can help tenants buy time to relocate or to negotiate a different outcome with their landlords. Tenants like the painter and the mother who received a complicated eviction notice proceed in their housing disputes with more complete information that can put them and their families on a path toward justice.

Darcy McLean Meals is the assistant director of the Georgia State University College of Law Center for Access to Justice.