This report examines the costs associated with eviction in the City of Richmond and the benefits from providing a Right to Counsel (RTC) for tenants. While a right to counsel is constitutionally recognized in criminal proceedings, there is no equivalent federal constitutional right for civil cases, including eviction. In Richmond, nearly all landlords are represented by attorneys while almost no tenants have counsel. In other cities where a right to counsel has been implemented, represented tenants were frequently able to remain housed or secure another favorable outcome that provides them with the time and resources to find other stable housing. Furthermore, RTC reduces the public costs of eviction, which are significant. While tenant-landlord disputes are commonly understood as a private matter, when such disputes result in the threat of eviction and involuntary displacement, a private debt is transformed into a cascade of public expenses. While ultimately the full public costs of eviction are incalculable, in this report we estimate selected costs incurred through eviction related to health, public safety, and welfare. The report also estimates the costs of implementing a RTC program in the City of Richmond and the costs avoided from implementation

In summary, we find that for the City of Richmond, each year:
● The public costs of eviction and involuntary displacement is $35 million,
accounting for only emergency shelter, inpatient care, emergency room care, foster care,
and juvenile detention costs, which is more than $2,500 for each eviction filed.
● The cost of providing a right to counsel is between $1.5 and $11 million,
depending on the expansiveness of the right to counsel offered. We present three
scenarios for RTC implementation that vary in scope.
● Right to Counsel would keep about 1,200 to 8,400 households housed or
otherwise achieve a positive outcome that avoids involuntary displacement, depending
on the program scope, that would not have been possible without RTC.
● For every $1 spent on RTC, at least $2.00 would be avoided in public costs,
based on an estimated RTC cost of $1,000 for each eviction case and an 80% success rate
in avoiding involuntary displacement.