Pro Bono Center Supports Proposed Measure to Seal Tenant Eviction Records
May 21, 2021
The D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center is supporting proposed legislation in the District of Columbia that would seal eviction records for tenants to help promote future access to affordable housing for low-income people.
Pro Bono Center housing initiative attorney Lauren King, in testimony before the D.C. Council Committee on Housing and Executive Administration on May 20, said eviction records “create an additional and significant barrier to affordable housing” for D.C. tenants living in poverty who already face extraordinary challenges in obtaining safe and affordable housing.
Citing data from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, King said there are about 50 affordable units available in the District for every 100 renters that qualify as “extremely low income.”
The Housing Committee, chaired by At-Large Councilmember Anita Bonds, is considering two proposed bills affecting tenants — the Eviction Record Sealing Authority Amendment Act and the Fair Tenant Screening Act. The first bill would require the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to seal eviction records where the court did not find for the landlord or the landlord withdrew their claim. The bill would seal all other eviction records after three years and would authorize the court to seal certain eviction records upon motion by defendants. The Fair Tenant Screening Act would prohibit housing providers from inquiring into a prospective tenant’s source of income and credit history.
“Large landlords in D.C. often use eviction court as a tool for collecting unpaid rent, not to actually evict their tenants,” King told the council. “That this is standard practice for landlords is demonstrated by the high filing rate of the city’s larger landlords compared to the rate of actual evictions.”
King gave an example of a mother of two children who fell on hard times and was forced into a homeless shelter. She was placed in housing with a voucher and later evicted over $150, returning to a homeless family housing facility. King said the woman was repeatedly denied access to an affordable apartment due to her eviction record.
“[She] is one of many tenants in the District who are denied housing because of an eviction case on their rental record,” King said. “Passing permanent eviction record sealing legislation will help more tenants . . . obtain safe, affordable housing.”
The woman turned to the Pro Bono Center for assistance, and King helped her seal the record of her eviction case by filing a motion with the court because her case was not old enough to qualify for automatic sealing. “The court granted [her] motion, and now she and her children have a clean slate,” King said.
Councilmember Bonds said, “Temporary hardship should not put a permanent mark on a person’s record.”
Dean Hunter, CEO of the D.C. Small Multifamily Owners Association, told the committee the proposed legislation was “excessive” and “unnecessary.” Hunter said the bill “is not good legislative policy” that will have “a very adverse impact on provision of affordable housing.”
Hunter said small landlords would work with D.C. realtors and the Apartment & Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington “to really try to get rid of the most harmful provisions of this bill.”
Evictions are a problem for tens of thousands of people living in Washington, D.C., with as many as 30,000 eviction claims filed annually by D.C. landlords. Data shows that between 20 percent and 25 percent of people living in the predominantly African American neighborhoods of Wards 7 and 8 east of the Anacostia River have been the subjects of eviction claims.
“A long history of racial inequity means that even when there is no cause, the District’s Black residents are more likely to have an eviction or arrest record than white residents,” said Elissa Silverman, an at-large councilmember and member of the Housing Committee.
The proposed eviction record sealing measure is supported by other tenant advocacy groups, including Bread for the City, the D.C. Tenants’ Rights Center, the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia, and AARP.
The D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center, the largest provider of pro bono legal assistance in the District, serves approximately 20,000 individuals each year through its legal clinics, resource centers at D.C. Superior Court, and other programs. King is manager of the Pro Bono Center’s Housing Right to Counsel Project, a collaborative effort among the Pro Bono Center, legal services providers, and law firms.
