Our Summer in Eviction Court

Anna Findley, Samantha Gutcho, and Hannah Mays

October 15, 2021

Introduction

We are William & Mary students who spent the summer of 2021 observing eviction court hearings in Richmond, Newport News, and Alexandria, Virginia. Our main goals were to time the length of eviction hearings and observe how the presence of attorneys for either landlords or tenants might shape the proceedings. From June through August of 2021 we observed almost 600 eviction cases. What follows is a brief account of what we observed and what we learned from the experience.

Going to Court

Going into the research, we had no idea what to expect. We initially saw the courthouse as a very intimidating place. When you arrive at a Civil General District Courthouse, you wait in line to go through a metal detector. Bailiffs are there to make sure everyone who enters the courthouse is following the rules. These rules range from a dress code to restrictions on what you can and cannot bring inside (no phones or water bottles!). Heading into court that first day, we knew about these rules from training sessions with our faculty advisor and a legal aid attorney, but we still felt anxious and out of place. Over time we became more comfortable with the logistics of attending court and even became a regular enough presence that some judges and attorneys would personally greet us.

The courtroom itself can be an intimidating environment even though many of the judges we observed were very engaged and helpful. It was not the more formal and removed presences we expected from television and movies. We always checked the online dockets a day in advance of attending court so we would know what cases to expect, when to arrive, and what specific courtroom to attend. But sometimes the dockets changed at the last minute,  and it can be confusing to navigate, especially. This was particularly challenging for those who are not used to being in the courthouse and feel out of place.

For us there was not much at stake in whether we arrived a few minutes late, perhaps because we got lost in the hallways or were initially turned away at the metal detector. But we know it would have been very different if we were not attending court as researchers, but rather as tenants trying to avoid being displaced from our homes. Eviction cases go by so fast! Around half of the cases we observed took less than one minute in total, and more than two thirds were less than 5 minutes long.

What did we learn? 

For the cases we observed, less than 10% of tenants facing eviction were represented by attorneys. Many cases were default judgments against tenants who were not present. Oftentimes the tenants who were in court would stand up in front of the judge and barely say anything, while the lawyer for the plaintiff stated all the facts of the case. We saw many tenants who were unaware of their rights, which in the summer of 2021 included a path to avoid eviction and have the balance of rent they owed paid by the Virginia Rent Relief Program (RRP).

Judges, landlords and their attorneys, and tenants all struggled to keep up with changing pandemic-related eviction restrictions, which were in flux during our observation period; there were lots of questions about time limits and other restrictions associated with the RRP. Many cases were dismissed or non-suited because of insufficient eviction notices. However, this just meant that the cases would be refiled with proper notice, bringing the parties back to court at a later date.

In the absence of attorneys for most tenants, landlords’ attorneys and judges sometimes shared relevant legal information with tenants. Some judges consistently informed tenants of the RRP, and sometimes they would even have clerks give them a flier on how to file for it. When discussing the RRP, some judges would make it clear that the information they gave was relevant to anyone who was in the courtroom for an unlawful detainer case. On one occasion we even saw a landlord’s attorney direct a group of tenants who had never heard of the RRP to a clipboard in the courthouse that had program information on it and then discuss their rights with them. Another time a judge asked a legal aid attorney observing the proceedings to speak with a tenant who was having trouble understanding their options despite the judge’s efforts to explain. But in many cases tenants did not get the legal information or advice that could have made a difference in their cases.

Most of the cases we observed were based on nonpayment of rent, but proof of nonpayment was seldom requested and judges rarely asked tenants whether they owed rent or had a defense. In two separate cases that we observed tenants consented to a judgment against them, but these tenants were not informed that a judgment would have long term consequences and could make it more difficult to find housing in the future because other landlords would be aware of this judgment. We think these situations demonstrate a need for universal tenant representation.

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During the summer of 2021 the authors worked together with fellow William & Mary students Kathryn DeBusk, Jillian Honig, Sony Siddalingaiah, and Aidan White to observe eviction cases in the Richmond, Newport News, and Alexandria Civil General District Courts. The students worked with faculty advisor Caroline Hanley, Associate Professor of Sociology at William & Mary. The research was supported by the William & Mary Sharpe Community Scholars Program. The data they collected will be part of forthcoming collaborative reports with the RVA Eviction Lab on legal representation and eviction in Virginia.