Cleveland seeks to fight poverty by balancing the scales of justice in evictions

Cleveland City Council and the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland are is the verge of providing the kind of help to people in poverty that can be life altering: free lawyers to help people fight evictions.

Interview (Ohio)

Chris Quinn
Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH)
June 1, 2019
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Tags: Housing: Eviction, Housing: Right to Counsel

Organizations mentioned/involved: Legal Aid Society of Cleveland


DETAILS

The evidence is clear about how devastating eviction is. It removes children from their schools, creating greater hardships in their education. It depletes the limited funds families have. It launches people on to downward spirals that make getting out of poverty ever more challenging.

Without lawyers, people facing eviction have the odds stacked against them. They almost always lose in court. But when people facing eviction have a lawyer by their side, they win more than they lose, and the landlords often are forced to be more responsible and fair.