Developing an Equity-Centered Approach to Enforcing Housing Laws
Project Overview
Tenants, landlords, government officials, lawyers, judges, and law enforcement all complain about the inequitable enforcement of housing laws. This project highlights gaps in the enforcement system and provides promising practices to fix the system.
Purpose
The project sought to understand gaps in the equitable enforcement of eviction laws, including illegal lockouts, for 5 cities, and to provide best practices for addressing these gaps.
Gaps
- Public data does not capture all evictions
- Eviction laws are unclear
- Housing stakeholders lack familiarity with the laws
- Landlords, judges, and law enforcement inconsistently apply the laws
Call to Action
Using the Health Justice Framework, legal stakeholders should work in partnership with tenants and tenant advocacy groups to illuminate the inequitable enforcement of housing laws, support community-driven change, and provide financial supports to tenants. Our Health Justice Impact Tool© can be used to guide this process.
Scope
- Detroit, Michigan
- Jackson, Mississippi
- St. Louis, Missouri
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Seattle, Washington
Project Outcomes
Housing Injustice By Design: A Multi-Stakeholder Analysis of Eviction Data, Processes, and Experiences
Legal Summaries of Eviction and Illegal Lockout Laws in Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Washington
A guide for legal stakeholders to follow when creating an Equitable Housing System
Policy briefs
Featured Grant Team
Grant Partners
Street Democracy is building a better legal system, one rooted in community and centered on opportunity.
Tenants Transforming Greater St. Louis demands safe and dignified housing for all marginalized communities.
Additional Eviction Resources
Street Democracy — in partnership with the Ohio State University and Professor Ruqaiijah Yearby of Temple University Beasley School of Law — created this platform for community activists and legal aid attorneys to easily advocate for best practices in landlord tenant law with a focus on due process protections during the eviction process.
The SECURE project, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is rooted in HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT and BLACK LIVES MATTER! The purpose of this study is to quantify the magnitude and severity of court-ordered and illegal residential evictions and their relationship with the health of Black families in Metro-Detroit, Michigan.