Preventing a Crisis

Volunteer lawyers fight to prevent an eviction crisis

With the expiration of the eviction moratorium, VLB works to keep low-income residents in their homes

Tasha Jones (name changed for privacy) was facing two major life events when she sought help from volunteer Grace Murphy (Maynard Cooper & Gale) at a virtual Help Desk.

The first was happy news: Jones was expecting her first baby.

The second was keeping Jones awake at night. Her landlord was trying to evict her, making Jones one of thousands of low-income residents of Jefferson County at risk of losing their homes because of income lost during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Preventing evictions has long been a top priority for Volunteer Lawyers Birmingham (VLB), but the economic fallout of the pandemic has turned the threat of eviction into a community crisis. VLB’s response has been an all-hands-on-deck effort, including virtual eviction-prevention training seminars and Eviction Help Desks to help clients remain safely in their homes.

As early as June 2020, the Urban Institute based in Washington, D.C., was already reporting that the pandemic was hitting low-income, Black, and Hispanic families especially hard. These families were more likely to lose work-related income and less likely to be able to work from home, compounding the strain on their finances as they struggled to find childcare when schools and daycares closed (https://www.urban.org).

Volunteer Ken Lay (Hood & Lay), who has helped dozens of eviction clients to remain in their homes, says the eviction moratoriums bought people time but couldn’t make them whole. He was eager to step up and help VLB prevent evictions during this critical time.

“It’s important that volunteers are there to help fill in the gaps to help fight From left: Ken Lay, Grace Murphy and Mary Caroline Wynn.

eviction, because our courts are not set up for litigants who are representing themselves,” Lay said, adding that many are in a race against time as they wait for rental assistance while landlords grow impatient.

“People are afraid. But I’ve talked to several tenants who have been waiting for the rent-assistance program to pay some of the rent, and we’ve been able to stop the evictions until the money could go through. That’s a win-win for everybody in that the people can stay, and the landlords get their rent as well.”

Murphy says her client’s main concern about being evicted was having a stain on her record that could affect future housing options.

“Because she is expecting, it was especially important that she figure out her living situation,” she said. “My goal was to make sure she got her paperwork filed, preserve her rights and try to work on a negotiation so she could make a plan moving forward. Where we left it, I’m hopeful they’ll be able to reach a resolution.”

Volunteer Mary Caroline Wynn (Maynard Cooper & Gale) says in other cases, fighting evictions can be as simple as clearing up miscommunication between tenants and landlords.

“I think frustration is the predominant emotion for many clients — frustration with trying to deal with landlords, frustration at the situation, feeling like there’s no good alternative.

“I explain there are ways of handling it that can solve the issue, because a lot of times issues just come down to misunderstandings,” Wynn continued. “It feels good to be able to assist in breaking through that. It’s not difficult to do, but definitely it’s helpful for the client. So it’s rewarding.”

Lay echoes that sentiment. “Honestly,” he said, “it doesn’t require a lot of time for a lawyer to help somebody in this situation and make a real difference in their life.”

To sign up for free, virtual Eviction Prevention training or volunteer for an Eviction Help Clinic, email Michelle

Horn Brown at mbrown@vlbham.org

or call 205-250-5198.