RICHMOND, Va. — As the U.S. continues to grapple with an affordable housing crisis, Virginia is approaching pre-pandemic levels of eviction filings.
According to a report by the RVA Eviction Lab, Hampton and Virginia Beach exceeded the number of evictions filed in the final quarter of 2023 versus the same time period in 2019-- by about 17% and 9%, respectively.
Last year, there were more than 146,000 evictions filed across the state, about 37% of which resulted in judgments. Those are the highest numbers that Virginia has seen since 2019 when landlords were permitted to evict in about 44% of the nearly 156,000 filings.
100,000 Virginia families face the threat of losing their homes each year
Annika Schunn is a housing advocacy paralegal with the Virginia Poverty Law Center (VPLC), the not-for-profit state support center for legal aid. She said about 100,000 Virginia families face the legal threat of losing their homes each year.
"All kinds of different people can fall on hard times or have a, you know, a situation arise where there's, like, a misunderstanding or a disagreement with their landlord or, you know, rent is just late one month," Schunn said. "And, you know, that can spiral out of control really quickly for very ordinary people, middle-class people."
"If you're evicted, that can really have far-reaching effects on your life," Schunn said. "Because it can affect your credit report, it can make it harder to find you housing, and what often happens is that people who are evicted are then forced into lower-quality and more expensive housing, actually. And, so I think it's really in everybody's best interest to keep families housed."
VPLC works to remove systemic barriers that keep low-income Virginians in the cycle of poverty. The organization's efforts include providing information and legal advice to tenants facing eviction.
"Virginia made national headlines as being one of the worst evictors in the country. And I believe that was in 2018... That led to the launch of our Eviction Legal Helpline, which I worked on for three years running intake," Schunn said. The helpline can be reached by calling 833-NOEVICT (833-663-8428).
The free resource was launched in January 2019 and offers legal advice and support to tenants facing eviction to help them better understand their rights and navigate the eviction process.
But Schunn said while the helpline "was an attempt to fill the justice gap of folks who either do not qualify or are not able to access free legal services through legal aid," the overwhelming number of cases across the state proved to be a problem.
"Over the course of staffing the helpline, we realized that that model just wasn't going to ever possibly meet the need," Schunn said. "Over the course of three years, it just became clear that there were just way more people than we could ever possibly advise."
The Eviction Defense Center online tool helps tenants during eviction proceedings
That prompted VPLC to create the Eviction Defense Center (EDC), a self-help website designed for low-income Virginians who cannot afford an attorney and plan to represent themselves during eviction proceedings.
The tool officially launched May 1, coinciding with Justice Day. The 24-hour fundraiser commemorates the founding of VPLC in 1978.
"Completely without having to talk to an attorney, they can get real, specific, tailored information based on the facts of their situation that they can use to not only understand the eviction process and their rights, but also to help them articulate arguments in court and talk to the judge and figure out what options they have to avoid eviction at any given step in the process," Schunn said.
One of the website's features is basic legal orientation, such as an explanation of the eviction process.
"You can understand, you know, worst case scenario, how much time may I have, you know, if I do ultimately need to move," Schunn said. "There's also information about different notices you may get and court forms and learning how to read and understand those and what they mean and, you know, what the legal significance of each of those may be."
The center of the website is a decision tree-based tool.
"Folks can answer just a handful of short questions about their living situation, the reason for the eviction-- the possible eviction, and some questions to help us understand where they are in the eviction process," Schunn said.
"There are many, many reasons why someone may face eviction besides unpaid rent. But even if you are behind on rent and you're facing eviction, you may still have defenses. There are some limited protections under the law. And so, really, you know, don't give up hope, learn your rights, and do your best to understand the resources and tools that are available to you. And, you know, it's a fight worth fighting."
People are able to download forms and documents for free from the site, which is also available in Spanish and accessible via a computer or smartphone.
Schunn said VPLC's goal is to make EDC as easy to use and understand as possible as people prepare to argue their case.
"Courts really are not designed for people who don't especially understand the law, right," Schunn said. "When you go to an eviction hearing, it's like a game of volley between, you know, the landlord's attorney, if there is one, and the judge, right? They're just going back and forth, and it's like a foreign language."
"We just want to give tenants, you know, a fighting chance to even participate in the legal proceedings against them, because that is something that tenants lack if they do not have a lawyer," Schunn said. "Because it's not that judges don't want to help tenants who are representing themselves. It's just tenants just aren't saying the right words sometimes."
And she said EDC is just the beginning as VPLC continues to seek civil justice for Virginians.
"People who are living in poverty or people who have very little income, they're usually impacted by multiple crises at once," Schunn said. "We hope to eventually have a real, comprehensive suite of tools that... folks in general can use to address the multiple, intersecting crises that they may be experiencing in their lives. And the EDC is, sort of, the first, like, fully built out one that we're putting out there."
A $1 million grant to VPLC in March from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott through her charitable organization, Yield Giving, helped launch EDC.
VPLC does not typically provide direct legal representation. If you need help with an eviction matter beyond what EDC provides, VPLC recommends contacting your local legal aid office. You can call 866-534-5243 to find a program in your area.
The not-for-profit plans to roll out similar tools over the next few years, as additional funding becomes available, to "help people address other civil legal problems they may be having, like consumer debt issues or access to public benefits," Schunn said.
VPLC also has other tools and resources available to Virginians, including a Senior Legal Helpline that launched in May 2017 and a SNAP Calculator to help estimate eligibility and benefits.