Pilot projects on the right to legal aid secure funding to combat forced evictions

OKLAHOMA CITY – Two right to counsel pilot projects have helped prevent more than 3,000 evictions in Tulsa and Oklahoma City in 2023.

Their success convinced the Oklahoma Impact Investing Collaborative to provide funding to Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma, Inc. to support the program. The Collaborative pools impact funding from multiple funders to maximize impact. The LASO funding is in partnership with the Inasmuch Foundation, MetaFund, and another local foundation.

“When I thank the Oklahoma Impact Investing Collaborative, I speak for the approximately 35,000 families in Tulsa and OKC who are at risk of eviction in the next 12 months. Evictions are preventable. Access to civil legal services to save a family's home is the cure,” said Michael Figgins, executive director of LASO.

A 2016 study by Eviction Lab found that Tulsa had the 11th highest eviction rate in the U.S. among large cities, with 7.77 percent of rental units vacated, while Oklahoma City ranked 20th with a rate of 6.19 percent of rental units vacated. With the availability of funding, LASO's eviction attorneys can continue to serve the Oklahoma City and Tulsa zip codes with the highest need.

These evictions impact renters and taxpayers. A 2023 survey conducted by Oklahoma City-based nonprofit Shelterwell found that 63 percent of landlords would not rent to a tenant who has already filed for eviction. This often leads to the renter becoming homeless and other destabilizing effects on the individual and family.

Shelterwell examined the 17,868 eviction cases filed in Oklahoma County in 2023, of which 8,602 families were evicted. Using the University of Arizona's Eviction Cost Calculator, they estimated the financial impact of these eviction cases on the public sector at $45,979,459, including:

• USD 19,946,851 – Accommodation costs
• $10,373,846 – Inpatient medical costs
• $6,242,195 – Emergency room costs
• $6,161,611 – Foster care costs
• $3,247,916 – Juvenile delinquency costs

Tenants who have legal representation tend to fare better in eviction proceedings. Open Justice Oklahoma, a program of the Oklahoma Policy Institute, conducted a statistical analysis of eviction cases in Tulsa County from 2010 to 2020. They found that tenants with legal representation were 75 percent more likely to stay in their apartments. However, Shelterwell's study found that only 8 percent of tenants facing eviction in Oklahoma County in 2023 had legal representation. A study by the RTC Oklahoma City/Tulsa pilot program found that over 96 percent of tenants with representation were able to stay in their apartments.

A recent opinion from the Oklahoma Attorney General makes it possible for Oklahoma cities to award municipal funds to a nonprofit to fund eviction prevention services because they serve a public purpose. According to the opinion, these services help address housing shortages and reduce homelessness, which reduces the burden on governments, including the police and courts, or otherwise serve the public good.

By enabling LASO to employ attorneys to protect tenants, funding from the Collaborative will allow services and data collection to continue as LASO seeks to sustain the program through opportunities such as municipal contracts.

“LASO attorneys support our neighbors in a critical situation where a missed opportunity or lack of knowledge of their legal rights can significantly alter the trajectory of their lives, turning a current financial obstacle into years of seemingly insurmountable obstacles to finding work, housing and health,” said Ed Long, president and co-founder of Collaborative. “We are grateful for the opportunity to support Right to Counsel in Oklahoma City and Tulsa and look forward to seeing the program expand to support even more of our neighbors in need.”

For more information about the Collaborative, visit metafund.org. For more information about LASO and its services, visit www.legalaidok.org. Tenants who wish to inquire about eligibility for free legal assistance may call (405) 554-4636.