Preventing Evictions: The Role of the Social Sector

Every year in Baltimore City, approximately 150,000 eviction cases are filed by landlords. And nearly 7,000 families—mostly female-headed, mostly African American—are evicted from their homes, according to a recent study from the Public Justice Center.

In his book, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, Matthew Desmond writes, “If incarceration had come to define the lives of men from impoverished black neighborhoods, eviction was shaping the lives of women. Poor black men were locked up. Poor black women were locked out.”

What are the existing interventions and services for low-income tenants facing eviction in Maryland? How do people typically access these interventions?  What services are not available or lacking? What might be done to reform the eviction/rent court process?

At this program, Zafar Shah, Staff Attorney in the Human Right to Housing Project at Public Justice Center and principal author of Justice Diverted: How Renters are Processed in the Baltimore City Rent Court, will share key findings of this report and related studies and recommendations.

Dudley Greer from Health Care Access Maryland will address the front line experience of staff and clients administering eviction prevention funds.

Greg Countess, Director of Advocacy for Housing and Community Economic Development at Maryland Legal Aid will address the rent court process and client experience; findings of a study around district court practices and some initiatives identified by a recent study group to addresseviction process and interventions.

This program follows up on the July 2016 Book Discussion: Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City and is for Maryland Philanthropy Network members only. Lunch will be served.