STAGE 2, CONCEPT 4 | Table of Contents

Gathering the Data You’ll Need

To advance eviction RTC, you’ll need to gather data that will help determine the scope of the program and the language of the proposed law, as well as information that will enable you to make the case to different audiences. Such data includes: 

  • the extent of the eviction crisis in your city, county, or state; 

  • the degree to which legal representation has already helped tenants in your area; and 

  • the costs and benefits of providing an eviction RTC.

Where to collect data

Approaching the courts for data

There is no centralized source of information for eviction data in the U.S. Instead, each court system operates differently and maintains records differently (some still keep paper records). You might be able to obtain records from the court about eviction filings, representation rates, or case outcomes by requesting those records of the court clerk, looking at available public records online, looking at the records obtained by other organizations that are analyzing evictions (like The Eviction Lab), or by filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Generally, the city, county, or state website will include information about filing a FOIA request.  

Approaching legal aid and related providers for data

There may be confidentiality issues that prevent a legal aid provider or other related services provider from disclosing client data. In these situations, it’s important to have representatives from these organizations as part of your coalition, as you might be able to obtain anonymized, general information about representation or outcomes. Alternatively, you can look for prior reporting or testimony from the provider that might include this information.

Collecting data about tenants and landlords

Tenant demographic information

Tenant demographic information refers to race, ethnicity, gender, disability, housing subsidy, income, request for emergency rental assistance, neighborhoods with high levels of evictions, etc. This data helps determine where the help is needed the most and also helps with messaging to stakeholders.  

Landlord information

This information refers to whether a particular landlord or company is responsible for a majority of the filings, how often the public housing authority is filing cases, etc. This data can help determine priorities for the eviction RTC. 

Representation statistics

These are statistics about often landlords and tenants are represented. This data is important both for messaging as well as for determining the size of the representation gap that the eviction RTC will have to fill.

Tenant eviction experiences

This information can not only help to strengthen the reasons to support eviction RTC, but also highlight common issues tenants in the area face and shape decisions about what types of cases or areas to prioritize.

Collecting data to estimate the cost of the proposed eviction RTC

Key considerations when gathering cost data

  • Costs will change over time, especially as eviction RTC begins to roll out. For instance, eviction RTC may reduce the filing rate, which should reduce the program's cost because there are fewer cases where representation is required. Alternatively, eviction RTC might decrease the default rate, which will mean more tenants are participating and needing counsel, which will increase costs.

  • You may need to look at a variety of data sources.  For example, court data will provide information about formal eviction cases, but not administrative proceedings to terminate subsidies. In that case, the local public housing authority might have and be willing to share this information. For illegal or informal evictions, there is no centralized record for this data. However, legal aid providers might be able to help provide an overall number of clients who allege a wrongful eviction, or a local non-profit providing homelessness intervention services might be able to offer information about people receiving services who were locked out without a formal court eviction.

  • If there are multiple legal services programs that will serve the eviction RTC, they may have very different estimates of cost. It can get very tricky when one program thinks it can do representation for $800/case and another says it will take $1,600/case. This situation can lead to big questions about what “full representation” means to each program, and what they believe are reasonable caseloads for attorneys. It could also lead to a situation where the government seeks to contract with the lowest bidder, which can be very problematic. 

  • Legal aid providers are accustomed to a) negotiating “starvation budgets”, meaning not getting anywhere near enough to run their programs; and b) providing primarily cheaper limited legal services. Because of this, when they are asked how much eviction RTC will cost for them to provide, they may try to lowball the number out of fear of not being taken seriously.  It is important that providers understand eviction RTC requires full representation for all eligible individuals and that you really want to hear their true assessment of how much that will cost.  

  • Understating the cost of eviction RTC will have serious ramifications. As discussed in Section 4.5, if legal aid attorneys are forced to take on high caseloads because there is not enough funding to hire more attorneys, this will lead to high attorney turnover rates, and as word spreads about those high caseloads it will be even harder to hire new attorneys. If things get bad enough, it might even require considering an amendment of the eviction RTC law to scale back who is eligible.

Key cost data points

Number of court cases that will be covered by the RTC. Start with the total number of known eviction filings, and make sure that number is not out of line from historical averages in your jurisdictions (because some jurisdictions have seen lower-than-normal eviction rates due to federal rental assistance, but that assistance is winding down or already gone). And be aware that even if your number is within normal averages, filings are unpredictable: for instance, Washington State saw a record number of eviction filings in 2024, which placed a strain on the eviction RTC program. So you might want gauge whether there is any reason to believe the filings will increase or decrease substantially in your jurisdiction in the near future so that you can make necessary adjustments on your estimate of total number of filings.

Once you have that filings estimate, you’ll need to adjust that number for the following:

  • The goal for eviction RTC programs is to have all tenants participate in the eviction process, which would bring the tenant default rate to zero. However, as previously discussed in Section 1.4,, most jurisdictions see a default rate of around 40-80% of all eviction cases, and it will take time for the eviction RTC program to bring that number down (i.e., as tenants actually learn about the program and believe in its benefits). Therefore advocates should take the high default rate into account in estimating the cost of the program for Year One. For years following Year One, you’ll need to estimate how much the default rate will decrease, and adjust the program’s annual cost.

  • Some tenants may refuse legal representation even if it is offered to them for free for a variety of reasons (such as distrust of lawyers or a belief that “nothing in life is free”).  It can be very difficult to predict the take-up rate, but in any case it should increase as time goes by.

  • If there are any eviction RTC eligibility restrictions (income, the presence of children, etc.), those factors will reduce the total number of eligible cases. Legal services providers may be able to help with these data points based on their existing client data, but it may also be necessary to look at other sources (Census data, data from social services providers, etc.)

  • Even though tenant representation rates are very low everywhere, they are not zero.  If tenants get legal representation through programs non-eviction RTC programming (ex: existing civil legal aid programs providing eviction defense, law firm pro bono programs, law school clinics, etc.) and if these programs are expected to continue operating even if eviction RTC is implemented, this will reduce the total number of cases that need to be served.

Legal services representation costs

There is no “national average” for how much an eviction case costs: there is a wide variety amongst the jurisdictions and even between legal services programs. 

However, once you know the number of cases your program will cover, relevant factors include:

  • This includes information like the case type (nonpayment of rent, breach of lease, or lease nonrenewal) as well as the average amount of alleged unpaid rent, as these factors can affect how much time the attorney spends on the case.

  • This can be hard to figure out: a nonpayment case may require a different number of hours than one where a breach of the lease is alleged, and also it may be difficult to estimate how many cases will involve filing motions, going to trial, filing an appeal, or taking other steps that involve more time. In addition, you might not have enough information about the number of hours legal aid attorneys currently spend on a full representation case because legal aid programs provide far more brief services/advice than full representation. But because eviction RTC requires providing full representation in all cases, this must be estimated. Also, there may be other important factors that affect the hours a case takes, including the nature of the landlord/tenant law and available defenses, and the way the local housing courts operate.

  • Attorneys often need the assistance of intake staff, social workers, paralegals, supervisors, and others when they work cases, so this must be factored in.

  • Once you figure out how many hours a case takes on average, you must figure out how many of those cases an attorney can take.  The key is that eviction RTC must provide effective, full representation, so the caseloads must be low enough for the attorneys to accomplish that.  The good news is that legal services programs are the only ones who can provide the caseload estimate, so they can ensure they select a figure that allows their attorneys to provide effective, full representation.

  • Once you know the hours each full representation case will take, and what a reasonable caseload is, you can figure out how many attorneys, supervisors, and non-attorneys are necessary and what the expected costs of those hires will be.

  • As eviction RTC is implemented, there are indirect costs associated with hiring more staff, such as expanding office space, increasing technology, building out training, etc. 

Outreach costs

Eviction RTC cannot succeed unless tenants know it exists.  It is not enough to simply include language about the existence of eviction RTC in the court notices received by tenants. As programs have implemented eviction RTC, they have continually re-assessed outreach efforts. Some types of outreach include:

  • Efforts to reach out directly to tenants who have been served with notices;

  • Outreach by community groups that work with tenants; and

  • Public messaging such as radio and TV.

Program oversight costs

There will likely be costs to the government entity that is overseeing the program.  That may come out of their existing budget or it may need to be factored into the overall cost.

Program evaluation costs

Eviction RTC laws should (and typically do) require public reporting on the program’s progress, successes, and challenges.  Some jurisdictions opt to do this analysis in-house with existing government staff, while others hire an analyst.  Whichever path is chosen, it is important to know that this cost has been accounted for.

Collecting data about the impact of tenant representation

Gathering information about tenant outcomes in eviction cases, particularly where tenants receive full representation, helps set the stage for why eviction RTC is important and how it helps tenants. It is especially helpful if there is data comparing the outcomes for represented vs. unrepresented tenants.

Specific outcome data points can include: 

  • How many continuances are granted;

  • How many cases are settled;

  • How many eviction judgments are granted vs. dismissed;

  • How many granted eviction judgments are executed; 

  • How many tenants who want to stay in their unit get to do so;

  • How long tenants who must relocate are given to move;

  • The amount of any monetary awards to or against the tenant; 

  • Whether the eviction attaches to the tenant’s record;

  • Whether any repairs are ordered to be made;

  • How many tenants avoid homelessness.

We’ve collected and analyzed the studies exploring the impact of legal representation in eviction cases.

Collecting data to estimate the economic benefits of RTC 

Many studies have estimated that eviction RTC will save far more money than it costs [see cost-benefit and economic benefit studies]. However, estimating the economic benefits can be a costly and time-consuming process.  Before you go down this road: 

  • Make sure that cost/benefit information will actually persuade some or all of your audience.  Even if you determine a study like this would be helpful, consider whether a prior cost/benefit or economic benefit study, especially if there is one done about a jurisdiction similar to yours, would suffice for the stakeholders that need to see it. 

  • Remember that the branch of government you’re asking to enact / fund the eviction RTC may not be the same one that will realize the economic benefits of it.  For instance, a city may pay for eviction RTC but it may be the county or state (or some mixture of the two) that pays for homeless shelters and will see the cost savings if eviction RTC reduces shelter use.  If this is the case, it is a perfect opportunity to argue for the different levels of government to share the financial burden.  For instance, a Stout report on Detroit estimated that the foster care costs related to evictions are nearly $2 million, but only 1% of that cost ($19,000) is paid by the City of Detroit.  However, after Detroit enacted RTC, the State of Michigan put $2.5 million of general revenue towards the program.

  • Consider the messenger. If this report is done by a legal services program, it may be given less weight because they are considered to be partial.  This is why many programs have used Stout, an independent financial analysis company, to do their cost/benefit reports.  Then, once the report is ready, you might consider who provides the report to key stakeholders: for instance, a Mayor may be more persuaded if they receive the report from their housing department than from an organizing group. 

  • Make the most of the report. Besides the cost savings, consider what data influences your legislators that could be included in the report, including impact on certain demographic groups, the impacts of eviction on issues like foster care or employment, etc. Additionally, consider the potential cost savings that can’t be quantified and see if any of those are ones of particular interest to your policymakers. You can find these types of unquantifiable costs in the Stout cost-benefit studies.  And above all, put the key points in the executive summary. This is likely the only thing that many people will read. If you’re working with an external evaluator, you can work together on what significant points should be noted in the summary.  

Should you decide such a report is necessary, here is some of the data your report author will need:

  • Costs specific to homelessness: This can include information about homeless shelter and transitional housing services use, arrest/incarceration/prosecution of unhoused individuals, and emergency medical treatment.

  • Health costs: Even tenants who do not experience homelessness can still experience increased health costs due to the trauma of eviction, some of which are paid for by Medicaid.  

  • Foster care: If children no longer have a stable home, they may be removed from their parents and placed in foster care, which has a high daily cost.

  • Unemployment: Displaced tenants who cannot find new housing in their area may have to move substantially far away, putting their employment at risk in situations where they lack sufficient transportation or cannot commute in time for work. As a result of losing employment, people may apply for unemployment benefits.

  • School costs: If children are made homeless by eviction, the government may have costs to transport students to their school pursuant to the McKinney-Vento Act.

  • Case outcomes for represented tenants: This information will help you better understand the potential number of tenants, if represented, who would avoid the risks outlined above and associated costs. 

  • Tax revenue: some of the cost/benefit reports have looked at whether evictions cause city or state populations to shrink, which in turn can erode their tax base.

Locations for these kinds of data include

  • court and government reports;

  • legal services providers client databases;

  • existing housing and eviction studies or reports; 

  • news reports or stories;

  • local tenant forums;

  • testimony from prior housing legislation;

  • information from local community groups that work on housing; 

  • information from government departments that can help build out housing information (such as local health organizations); and 

  • policy papers or white papers.

Assessing whether you have the data you need to proceed with your campaign

You may determine you don’t have certain kinds of data you need to advance eviction RTC. For instance, if you don’t have enough data to figure out the costs of eviction RTC, you won’t know how much funding you’ll need or whether you need to adjust the RTC’s scope or timeline. Or you may not have good outcomes data. If that’s so, there are a few different paths you can take to get the data:

  • Pilot projects: This is where legal services are provided to tenants (generally a subset based on eligibility criteria) and studied for a certain amount of time.  If the decision is made to run a pilot project, it’s critical that a data analyst is brought on board at the beginning to design the pilot and ensure that data is being properly collected.  Examples of pilot projects that gathered data that helped with a later enactment of an eviction RTC include:

  • Pilot creation year: 2014 (expanded representation)

    Pilot report year

    • 2016 (Office of Civil Justice). Key report highlights: Evictions by marshals down by ¼.

    • 2016 (Stout). Key report highlights: RTC will save $320 million

    RTC enactment year: 2017

  • Pilot creation year: 2012 (ordinance: ”civil right to counsel city” + pilot)

    Pilot report year: 2014 (Stanford Law School).

    Key report highlights:

    • Estimated cost savings > $1 million.

    • Tenants more likely to stay in homes when provided full rep as opposed to limited scope

    RTC enactment year. 2018

  • Pilot creation year: 2017 (Philadelphia Eviction Prevention Project)

    Pilot report year: 2018 (Stout) 

    Key report highlights: Tenant disruptive displacement drops from 78% to 5% with representation

    RTC enactment year: 2019

  • Pilot creation year: Pre-2017 (King County Housing Justice Project)

    Pilot report year: 2018 (Seattle Women’s Commission)

    Key report highlights: Tenants w/counsel 2x likely to remain n homes, and positive settlement rate tripled

    RTC enactment year: 2021

  • Pilot creation year: 2016 (Eviction Representation Project)

    Pilot report year: 2018 (Mid-Minnesota legal Aid & Volunteer Lawyers Network)

    Key report highlights: Represented tenants:

    • Win/settle 34% more often

    • 4x less likely to use homeless shelter

    RTC enactment year: 2021

  • Pilot creation year: 2017 (Tenant Assistance Project)

    Pilot report year: 2018 and 2021 (Legal Aid Society of Columbus), 2024 (Stout)

    Key highlights from the reports:

    • $6.1 million investment would yield $24.4 million in benefits

    • Represented tenants received adverse judgment only 1.1% of time, compared to > 50% of unrepresented tenants

    RTC enactment year: 2024

  • Court watch: If courts won’t provide the data you need (sometimes they will ask for a lot of money to run data reports, or just say it doesn’t exist), you can collect at least some of the data by running a court watch program staffed by volunteers.

SPOTLIGHT

Other ways RTC advocates have used data to advance eviction RTC