Central Virginia Legal Aid Society

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Organization website

Primary geographic focus: Virginia
Organization type(s): Provider
Lists: LSC

CONTENT MENTIONING/INVOLVING THIS SOURCE

News Story

In 83 Million Eviction Records, a Sweeping and Intimate New Look at Housing in America

Emily Badger, Quoctrung Bui
New York Times (NYT)
April 7, 2018
Mr. Desmond’s team found records for nearly 900,000 eviction judgments in 2016, meaning landlords were given the legal right to remove at least one in 50 renter households in the communities covered by this data.

News Story , Video

‘Richmond is a Pandora’s box’ of factors to explain high eviction rate

Melissa Hipolit
WTVR (Richmond, VA)
April 9, 2018
According to a recent article in the New York Times, Richmond has the second highest eviction rate of all large cities in the country.

News Story , Video

Richmond landlord reacts to city’s eviction rate

Gretchen Ross
WRIC (Richmond, VA)
April 9, 2018
Martin Wegbreit, of Central Virginia Legal Aid Society, believes an overhaul of state laws and clear court proceedings could help tenants.

News Story

Study finds ‘stunning’ justice gap in Virginia civil cases

Frank Green
Richmond Times-Dispatch
May 3, 2018
The high volume of cases moves efficiently through courtrooms that often are largely empty - in large part because usually only the plaintiffs have a lawyer and often even the defendants do not appear and represent themselves.

News Story

Study shows large justice gap in Virginia civil cases

Associated Press (AP)
May 4, 2018
A new study shows that just 1 percent of more than 500,000 civil cases handled in Virginia's general district courts each year have lawyers representing people on both sides.

News Story

As Virginia policymakers begin studying high eviction rates, a sharp debate emerges over root causes

Graham Moomaw
Richmond Times-Dispatch
May 7, 2018
A state housing panel has started studying ways to bring down high eviction rates found in several Virginia cities in the hopes of finding legislative fixes that the General Assembly could take up next year.

News Story

Housing and advocacy groups launch campaign to lower Virginia’s high eviction rate

Ned Oliver
Richmond Times-Dispatch
May 22, 2018
The effort, dubbed the Campaign to Reduce Evictions, begins a little over a month after Princeton University’s Eviction Lab, led by sociologist and author Matthew Desmond, found that half of the 10 large U.S. cities with the highest eviction rates are in Virginia.

Audio , News Story

Affordable Housing Advocates Hold First Meeting To Reduce Evictions

Megan Pauly
Community Idea Stations
May 23, 2018
A big focus of the meeting was data, what’s currently available, and what still needs to be collected and analyzed. The group has obtained a decade’s worth of court files from Virginia’s Supreme Court.

News Story

How does Richmond move forward after high eviction rate

Eric Perry
WWBT Richmond (local NBC, VA)
October 8, 2018
Months after a report ranking Richmond number two in the country for high eviction rates, many people are trying to figure out a solution.

News Story

Eviction isn’t just about poverty. It’s also about race — and Virginia proves it.

Terrence McCoy
November 10, 2018
New research, however, is complicating that picture of eviction in America. It’s not only a matter of poverty. It’s also a matter of race.

News Story

Virginia Looks To Volunteer Attorneys To Boost Access To Strained Legal Aid Programs

Whittney Evans
Community Idea Stations
April 17, 2019
The legal community in Virginia is using a new online tool to better connect volunteer lawyers with low income people who need their help.

News Story

New Program Provides Tenants With Attorney In Eviction Court

Whittney Evans
Community Idea Stations
May 14, 2019
Richmond tenants who are in court for housing-related issues now have an attorney dedicated to helping them resolve their cases.

News Story

Tenants facing eviction almost never have lawyers. Now, an attorney trawls a courthouse lobby handing out free advice

Ned Oliver
Virginia Mercury
May 15, 2019
Tenants facing eviction in Virginia are almost never represented by lawyers. But that’s about to change as a flood of cash begins to flow to legal aid groups around the state.

Audio , News Story

Attorneys Available By Phone, Day Of Court To Help Richmond Tenants Stop Evictions

Whittney Evans
Virginia Public Media (VPM)
August 21, 2019
When a tenant in Virginia is faced with an eviction, they almost always lose their case. But with an attorney on hand to offer legal advice or represent them, they’re more likely to successfully fight their eviction. Now there is a new program in Richmond to help tenants do just that.

News Story

Dozens of families saved from evictions due to city program

Karina Bolster
WWBT Richmond (local NBC, VA)
January 7, 2020
The Richmond Eviction Diversion Program was officially established in October and came about following The New York Times article stating “The River City” was the 2nd-worst city in the nation for evictions.

Feature

Legal help offers children healthier futures

Jeremy M. Lazarus
Richmond Free Press
February 14, 2020
“Imagine a child living with asthma and there is a mold problem. This could be life-threatening,” she said. “We now have legal partners to help take care of the whole child and family.

News Story , Video

The hidden health costs of eviction

William Brangham
PBS News Hour
January 13, 2020
Research increasingly shows housing insecurity takes an enormous toll on people’s health. William Brangham reports from Richmond, which has the nation’s second-highest eviction rate.

News Story

Job losses, evictions and utility cutoffs: Being poor amid COVID-19 outbreak

Ned Oliver
Virginia Mercury
March 13, 2020

News Story , Video

Richmond Judge Halts Evictions

Jasmine Turner
NBC 12 On Your Side (Richmond, VA)
March 23, 2020
"What people need to know is they don't have to move. Based on what the judge ruled today, they don't have to move. I think that is the key message we need to get out," said Central Virginia Legal Aid Society Litigation Director Marty Wegbreit on March 23rd after he successfully persuaded a judge to grant the Richmond sheriff authority to not carry out evictions during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Op-Ed

CONTENT MENTIONING/INVOLVING THIS SOURCE

In 83 Million Eviction Records, a Sweeping and Intimate New Look at Housing in America

‘Richmond is a Pandora’s box’ of factors to explain high eviction rate

Richmond landlord reacts to city’s eviction rate

Study finds ‘stunning’ justice gap in Virginia civil cases

Study shows large justice gap in Virginia civil cases

As Virginia policymakers begin studying high eviction rates, a sharp debate emerges over root causes

Housing and advocacy groups launch campaign to lower Virginia’s high eviction rate

Affordable Housing Advocates Hold First Meeting To Reduce Evictions

How does Richmond move forward after high eviction rate

Eviction isn’t just about poverty. It’s also about race — and Virginia proves it.

Virginia Looks To Volunteer Attorneys To Boost Access To Strained Legal Aid Programs

New Program Provides Tenants With Attorney In Eviction Court

Tenants facing eviction almost never have lawyers. Now, an attorney trawls a courthouse lobby handing out free advice

Attorneys Available By Phone, Day Of Court To Help Richmond Tenants Stop Evictions

Dozens of families saved from evictions due to city program

Legal help offers children healthier futures

The hidden health costs of eviction

Job losses, evictions and utility cutoffs: Being poor amid COVID-19 outbreak

Richmond Judge Halts Evictions

Martin Wegbreit column: COVID-19 and evictions

Her case helped halt evictions in Richmond. She still isn’t sure how she’ll save her home.

Unable to evict, some landlords accuse tenants of abandoning homes they’re still living in

What Happens When the Eviction Bans End?

Landlords Across the Country Can Start Evicting Tenants Again. Many Have Nowhere to Go.

Landlords Can’t Evict Their Tenants, So They’re Shutting Off Utilities and Threatening Them Instead

Will Evictions Pick Up When Courts Reopen Monday?

The Eviction Crisis Is Already Here and It’s Crushing Black Moms

As COVID-19 Safeguards End, Eviction Wave Begins

Trying to enjoy the holidays with eviction looming in the new year