Eviction “Answers” Reveal Renters’ Struggles
This article is from New Haven, Connecticut about their surge in evictions. What’s most poignant is the statement, “In the “Answer” forms that tenants are asked to fill out when they respond to an eviction filing, three blank lines are allotted for ‘additional reasons why I should not be evicted.’” In Indiana, not only do we not ask that question, but our system also actively avoids engaging with it. Since most of the “additional reasons” listed in the article are irrelevant in a purely legal sense and eliciting such stories would slow down the eviction assembly line quite a bit, most judges and landlord attorneys don’t want to hear these sad tales.
So not only are tenants not asked, if they try to explain their backstories many judges will shut them down saying, “Are you behind on your rent or not?” I’ve heard from attorney’s representing evictees that, “… even we attorneys on the tenant’s side don’t systemically ask why either, because we are focused on potential legal arguments, a legitimate answer could be a very long one, and there are a lot of clients and hearings set all at once.”
In Indiana, no one ever asks, “why are you facing eviction?”
We offer these stories for those in Indiana who never get to tell their stories. These are real people, with real lives, who are losing their homes, their security, and in many cases their futures.