The SF Eviction Defense Collaboration released its 2013 Eviction Report today. Read the whole report here: evictiondefense.org/ [The report shows: San Francisco’s Black community continues to be disproportionally displaced by eviction lawsuits -- Black households represent 29% of all those evicted, while city-wide only 6% of San Franciscans identify as Black or African American. Just over half (51%) of tenant households sued for eviction included at least one person with a disability – tenants with disabilities are particularly at risk during the fast-tracked legal eviction process, which only provides 5 days for the tenant to respond a lawsuit or be summarily evicted. Most (88%) of tenant households sued for eviction were very low-income – living off of $36,950/year or less for a single person. Many of these low-income tenants faced eviction from landlords who receive funding from the City – 26% of all cases in 2013. The 2013 EDC Eviction Report also highlights how the eviction process is abused through “low-fault” evictions. A low-fault (or pre-textual) eviction is a case where the landlord claims to have a valid legal reason for evicting the tenant – but where the grounds for eviction are speculative or untrue. While tenants may have strong defenses to bogus low fault eviction cases, they are forced to defend themselves from a highly technical, fast paced civil suit just to dispute allegations that are often untrue or speculative at best. The facts alleged in low-fault cases border on the ridiculous. Last year, tenants were sued for eviction for: Parking outside the parking lines Cooking late at night Having a documented service animal These questionable, pre-textual evictions continue to escalate the displacement of San Francisco’s historically diverse communities – especially when tenants do not have legal representation. The vast majority of tenants sued for eviction must represent themselves, unable to afford an attorney. The EDC exists to provide historically marginalized communities equal access to the law to fight back against eviction cases of all kinds - especially in the illegal, low-fault cases so rampant today.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 20:16:39 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015