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Home My WebLink About05-13-25 Public Comment - A. Hull - Public comment on Tenants' Right to CounselFrom:Amy Hall To:Bozeman Public Comment Subject:[EXTERNAL]Public comment on Tenants" Right to Counsel Date:Tuesday, May 13, 2025 12:03:30 PM Attachments:MLSA public comment final .pdf RTC fact sheet flier BZN.pdf CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Dear City Commissioners: Montana Legal Services Association provides the attached written comments concerning tenants' right tocounsel. Also attached is a flyer/fact sheet. Thank you for your consideration.-- --Amy HallSupervising Attorney she/her Montana Legal Services Association616 Helena Avenue, Suite 100Helena, MT 59601Phone: (406) 442-9830 x 1114 (NOTE: Amy's extension has changed from 114 to1114) Fax: (406) 442-9817Email: ahall@mtlsa.org Montana Legal Services Association (MLSA) provides these written comments concerning tenants’ right to counsel, in Q&A format. 1. Can’t a tenant already get a free lawyer through MLSA? • MLSA represents people in poverty. For a one person household, if you make more than $31,300 per year, you make too much to qualify. That’s an hourly wage of $15.05. According to 2023 census data, 10.2 percent of Gallatin Co. residents are poverty-level, and 48.7 percent are rent-burdened. https://civilcourtdata.lsc.gov/data/eviction/montana/gallatin/ • MLSA is a statewide law firm. MLSA has 19 attorney positions (some currently unfilled), and 3 of those are housing attorneys. When we look at the number of Montanans who qualify for MLSA’s assistance based on income, that’s one attorney for every 9,529 eligible Montanans. But as of October 1, when a housing grant with the Montana Department Commerce ends, we’ll have 1.5 housing attorneys to represent renters, for the whole state. Without more funding to hire more housing attorneys, there’s no way MLSA can assist every renter who contacts us with a landlord-tenant issue, in Gallatin County or in other Montana counties. • The Commerce grant to MLSA is funded with federal funds provided to Montana in 2020-2021 at the height of the pandemic. The funds are not HUD-related. That pandemic-related funding stream ends September 30, 2025, with no option of renewal. MLSA has used those funds in part to contract with private attorneys to assist Montana renters. As of October 1, MLSA will no longer have the benefit of those private attorneys, so that will further reduce MLSA’s capacity to assist Montana renters. 2. Will enacting a Tenants’ Right to Counsel (TRC) negatively impact landlords? • Cities that have enacted TRC report that landlords’ initial concerns were later reversed once they started working with TRC attorneys. (See attached fact sheet) • Benefits for landlords include reduced court costs and attorney fees where court eviction filings are avoided after a TRC attorney gets involved, reduced turnover of rental units when a tenant remains housed – turnover of units is costly to landlords because the unit often remains vacant for days if not weeks, before a suitable replacement tenant is found. 3. Is it fair/reasonable to provide tenants with an opportunity to have a free lawyer if the landlord is not provided that same opportunity? • A landlord who is unrepresented reaps benefits from TRC. Often, communiciation has broken down between landlord and tenant. The tenant’s TRC attorney can help with communication. For various reasons, it can be easier for a landlord to talk with the tenant’s attorney rather than with the tenants themselves. Also, the tenant’s attorney can speak frankly with a tenant who’s in violation of the rules – such as, telling the tenant that they cannot have a pet if they signed a contract agreeing to a no-pets rental. • In cases where MLSA represents a tenant, and the landlord is unrepresented, the parties are often able to reach a settlement. Example: Tenant had not paid rent for several months because Landlord had not made repairs. The parties could not communicate themselves. MLSA negotiated a settlement whereby Landlord got paid the rent, made the repairs, and Tenant agreed to move out in 90 days. The court case was dismissed after Tenant moved out. 4. Gallatin County court data shows that most tenants face eviction for nonpayment of rent. How would TRC play out in that situation? • The TRC attorney would help the tenant access resources to pay the rent. From now until October 1, the tenant may be able to access MERA (Montana Emergency Rental Assistance) through MLSA. (The MERA funds are part of the pandemic-related federal grant from Commerce to MLSA.) After October 1, the tenant may be able to access other resources, including through HRDC and other nonprofits. If no financial help is available, the TRC attorney can negotiate with the landlord for a payment plan for the tenant to pay monthly toward the arrears, in addition to paying their current monthly rent. • If the tenant stopped paying the rent due to landlord not providing heat in the winter (for example), the tenant’s lawyer can negotiate with landlord for a reduction in the rent owed, pursuant to § 70-24-408 (1)(b), MCA. • MLSA recently represented two clients where nonpayment of rent was issue, and reached a settlement with the landlord in both cases: o Tenant was one month behind in rent, because of an unexpected car trip to Arizona to pick up her kids who were in danger with the other parent. Landlord had refused HRDC help with rent. MLSA represented Tenant, and Landlord ended up agreeing to accept MERA for the rent and for attorney fees and court costs, and Tenant remained housed. The court case was dismissed. o Tenants husband and wife contacted MLSA after being evicted by court for nonpayment. The wife was not served, and knew nothing about the lawsuit until she and husband were removed from their home by the Writ. She borrowed money from a relative to pay off the judgment, then contacted MLSA. Landlord did not want to accept the funds. MLSA filed a motion for relief from judgment, which was granted by the court. End result is that Tenants were allowed back into their home (after being forced to stay weeks in a local motel), the court ordered landlord to accept the funds paid by Tenants, and the court case was dismissed. 5. Does representation for tenants really affect the ultimate outcome of an eviction? • Research consistently shows that tenants with counsel achieve better outcomes than unrepresented tenants. In Boulder, Colorado, which has enacted TRC, as of Jan. 2025, only 4% of represented tenants got an eviction on their record, compared to 42% of unrepresented tenants. https://civilrighttocounsel.org/resources/organizing_around_right_to_coun sel/?utm_source=chatgpt.com#impactdata. An eviction judgment on a tenant’s record makes it harder for the tenant to find housing in the future. • When MLSA represents a tenant, about 90 percent of those cases resolve by agreement, with no court hearing. That saves the landlord time and money, as well as the court system. 6. Aren’t cities prohibited by the State of Montana from passing any ordinances related to landlord-tenant rights? • Section 7-1-106, MCA, provides: “The powers and authority of a local government unit with self-government powers shall be liberally construed. Every reasonable doubt as to the existence of a local government power or authority shall be resolved in favor of the existence of that power or authority.” Thus, Montana policy is to liberally allow a city to exercise authority in any given area, including TRC, unless the State has specifically prohibited a city from acting in that area. • The State has not specifically prohibited a city from enacting TRC. Section 7-1-111 (13), does not specifically prohibit a city from providing for an option for counsel for renters. That section states that a city “is prohibited from exercising “any power that applies to or affects landlords... when that power is intended to license landlords or to regulate their activities with regard to tenants beyond what is provided in Title 70, Chapters 24, 25, and 33, or any power to deviate from or add to” the existing Montana landlord-tenant laws. o With TRC, the City does not seek “to license landlords or to regulate their activities...,” and enacting a TRC does not “deviate from or add to” the existing Montana landlord-tenant laws. Montana’s landlord-tenant laws, as contained in Title 70, Chapters 24, 25, and 33 would apply to Bozeman tenants who have lawyers through TRC just as they do to any other Montana tenants. The same quick statutory deadlines would still apply to TRC tenants -- 5 business days to file an answer after being served with landlord’s court complaint, and hearing to be set within 10 business days after the answer is filed. TRC tenants would not be entitled to any extensions of those deadlines, just because of the TRC program. ( § 70-24-427 (3) allows the parties to agree to postpone the hearing date, but such postponement is not guaranteed.) o A city’s TRC program would not govern or regulate landlord- tenant relationships because it does not confer any legal rights or obligations on either party, and does not exert any power over the relationship. Such city action would be prohibited by § 7-1- 111(1), MCA, which prohibits a city from exercising “any power that applies to or affects any private or citil relationship...” The landlord and tenant under TRC would still governed by the same Montana statutes that apply to all landlord-tenant actions. The fact that the tenant has counsel would only help to level the playing field where the landlord is represented, and the tenant is not. (Bozeman Tenants United went through Justice Court eviction case numbers for 2023, and found that 79% of landlords had counsel, while only 7% of tenants did.) o The Legislature has not specifically denied a city the authority to fund a TRC program, and therefore, a city possesses the power to do so. The Montana Supreme Court has held that, based on the Montana Constitution, Art. XI, § 4, a city can exercise any power, such as establishing a TRC program, that is not specifically prohbited by statute. State ex rel. Swart v. Molitor, 190 Mont. 518- 522 (1981) (validating Madison County ordinance requiring a certificate inspection fee, even when land use and planning was governed by state statute). Tenant’s Right To Counsel in Bozeman Montana Indirect Economic Benefits and Avoided Costs Represented tenants are less likely to use homeless shelters The age group most commonly experiencing eviction0-19 years old Rate of return for city-wide RTC programs across the nation Detroit Los Angeles Baltimore Cleveland $3.52 $3.48 $3.06 $2.46 Civil Legal Aid for People Experiencing Eviction Economic Impact Annual community cost of homelessness per evicted family 16,800 - 24,000 2,000 - 2,500 Average cost of providing representation in an eviction case, nationally Average economic return for every $1 invested in reviewed city RTC programs$3.13 Reduced municipal expenditures on social services and public support systems Enhanced workforce readiness and academic performance Lower use of high-cost physical and mental health services Improved child health and developmental outcomes Greater family and community stability Decreased pressure on overburdened court systems VS FOUR TIMES Percent of those impacted by eviction each year who are children Average number of people immediately impacted by every eviction 2.440% “Legal aid is, dollar for dollar, more effective than all other anti-poverty interventions” 1 3 4 6 2 5 7 8 8 8 9 6 [1] Stout Risius Ross. The Estimated Economic Impact of an Eviction Right to Counsel in Detroit. 2022. [2] Stout Risius Ross. Cost-Benefit Analysis of Providing a Right to Counsel to Tenants in Eviction Proceedings. 2019. [3] Stout Risius Ross. The Economic Impact of an Eviction Right to Counsel in Delaware. 2021. [4] Stout Risius Ross. Stout’s Independent Evaluation of Cleveland’s Eviction Right to Counsel Annual Report for the Period January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024. 2025. [5] Stout Risius Ross. The Financial Cost and Benefits of Establishing a Right to Counsel in Eviction Proceedings Under Intro 214-A. 2016. [6] Legal Services Corporation, Office of Data Governance & Analysis. The Effect of State and Local Laws on Evictions: Cost to Provide Representation to Low- Income Tenants Facing Eviction. 2023. [7] Fuehrlein, Brian S., et al. “Deriving Costs of Service Use among an Urban Homeless Population.” 2014. (multipled by average of 2.4 people immediately impacted by each eviction) [8] Graetz, Nick, et al. “A Comprehensive Demographic Profile of the US Evicted Population.” 2023. [9] Open Door Legal. The Anti-Poverty Effect of Legal Aid: A Report. 2018. [10] The Network for Public Health Law. Legal Representation in Eviction Proceedings. 2025. [11] Legal Services Corporation. Civil Court Data Initiative. 2022. (accessed 5/1/2025). [12] Hicks, Isabel. “Can Bozeman Find Relief from Its Burgeoning Rental Market?” Montana Free Press, 9 Sept. 2024. [13] MLSA Case Data [14] MLSA. Montana Eviction Impact Report. 2023. [15] Stout Risius Ross. The Estimated Cost of Universal Access to Eviction Counsel in Pennsylvania. 2021 [16] Legal Services Corporation, Office of Data Governance and Analysis. Beyond Eviction: Landlords as Essential Partners in Housing Stability. 2025 Landlords and RTCs Percent of represented tenants who avoided eviction or achieved a favorable outcome in a city RTC program New York San Francisco Los Angeles Kansas City 78% 67% 89% 80% evictions were filed in Bozeman in 2024 55% of Bozeman residents rent their homes Nearly half are cost-burdened, paying more than 30% of their income on rent The percentage of Montana households that experienced homelessness as a result of their eviction18% Judges’ and landlords’ initial concerns were later reversed once they started working with RTC attorneys RTCs and Potential Landlord Outcomes Faster and easier resolution 11 Average percent of tenants who appear in court without representation 12 14 13 Civil Legal Aid for People Experiencing Eviction 10 Collaborating landlords and RTC programs have reduced financial losses for landlords, improved stability for all parties and lessened the costs and disruptions of eviction 16 15 Sources: Decrease financial loss Tenant’s Right To Counsel in Bozeman Montana 97% Increased community stability 15 188 Number of MLSA housing attorneys serving the entire state 6