Although the feeling that a place is home can be powerful, Jana Hobbs knows how fragile the ability to stay in a home can be.

From an unsettled childhood to part of her young adult life spent homeless and addicted to drugs to dealing with mental health issues, Hobbs has had to overcome obstacles to create the sense of home she has today in an apartment on Richmond’s north side with her long-term partner, grandson and puppy.

Hobbs says she and her neighbors could be at risk of losing their homes due to a medical emergency, family crisis or job loss. That’s one reason she’s “excited” about how local and state governments can help people, and she’s started getting involved with the advocacy group New Virginia Majority.

She praises the city for allocating $500,000 in its recent budget for a pilot program on the Right to Counsel (RTC) — which would provide a tenant facing eviction with a lawyer if they cannot afford one — and she hopes it can become a permanent solution.

“There is a right to legal representation in criminal proceedings. Why shouldn’t there be a right to legal representation in civil cases as well?” she asked.

Richmond City Council member Andreas Addiston proposed the program after witnessing the eviction proceedings in Richmond. According to a RVA Eviction Lab report from Virginia Commonwealth University, 40% of evictions in the city take less than 60 seconds in court and Richmond’s eviction rate is the second highest in the country.

“When you see an eviction notice on your door, you essentially have two options: either pay the debt or leave,” Addison said.

However, he believes that the “third option” – contacting legal counsel – could help settle matters out of court or at least ensure that residents are represented in court by professionals with a deeper knowledge of the law.

For example, Addison said he saw someone he knew from high school in court during an eviction hearing. She had set up a separate savings account specifically for her rent payments, which she had been holding back because of maintenance issues. Addison said she provided the judge with receipts for correspondence about her apartment renovations in order to “take her landlord to task on this matter.”

“I thought, ‘Wow, why is this the solution to this problem?'” he said. “My old classmate had read up on what to do and how to deal with things, but not everyone can do that.”

Hobbs agrees.

“We’re not lawyers,” she said of some tenants. “People aren’t always able to represent themselves.”

Addison believes that legal counseling can also help residents become more informed about existing city resources available to them, such as assistance in paying utility bills or the ability to resolve outstanding payments with their landlords out of court.

“Unfortunately, there are a lot of people in our city who live paycheck to paycheck,” Addison said. “We need to understand what’s really going on.”

Funds allocated for next year

Richmond’s program can serve as a test bed for use in other Virginia localities or for testing a statewide program. John Pollock of the National Coalition for Right to Counsel worked with Addison on Richmond’s pilot project.

“The pilot project does not create a right per se,” Pollock said. “It will expand representation in the hopes of collecting data on how effective that representation is, which would then enable the enforcement of an actual right.”

In the meantime, the city must set up the program. Funding is planned for next year.

A spokesman for Richmond’s mayor said the city will hire a yet-to-be-determined nonprofit to provide legal advice rather than hiring or reassigning lawyers to City Hall.

“This will not happen internally,” the spokesperson said. “We support a nonprofit organization that provides these services.”

Similar measures have already been tested nearby. Equal Justice Works, a nonprofit based in Washington DC, worked with local nonprofits, with 7 out of 10 cases successful for tenants, according to a Report 2022.

While the RTC pilot project sponsored by the City of Richmond is new, 17 municipalities nationwide have enacted the right to counsel for tenants facing eviction, including Cleveland, Ohio; Baltimore, Maryland; and Louisville, Kentucky.

In New York City, where the first program was launched six years ago, 84% of the households represented in court were able to remain in their homesThere is currently a bill before the New York State Parliament that Participate in the program nationwide by creating the Office of Civil Representation in New York, which would be responsible for filling attorney positions. Senator Rachel May, who supports the bill, says there is no guarantee it will pass.

“A bill is implemented first in New York City, but if we then want to implement it across the state, it can be more difficult,” May said.

In Virginia, Democratic Rep. Mike Jones of Richmond said the state’s budget committee would have to examine the financial implications if lawmakers pursued a statewide RTC program in any form. Jones previously served on Richmond’s city council. As Richmond’s own pilot project gets underway, it could be interesting for state lawmakers to watch, he said.

Hobbs is excited to see how the pilot project turns out, as housing policy is a major issue in this year’s Richmond city council and mayoral elections.

In the meantime, Addison said it’s crucial to get the word out about the pilot project once it’s up and running in Richmond. Although he initially hoped for more funding, he’s excited to see how things play out.

And he said, “I think this is a good step in the right direction.”