A Housing Lifeline for Low-Income Residents

"Anyone who's ever watched a TV cop drama knows about Miranda warnings and a citizen's constitutionally protected right to an attorney when accused of a crime.

But what you may not learn on television is that when it comes to civil cases, including housing and eviction disputes, there is no right to counsel in a system that favors landlords.

The Housing Justice Alliance, an initiative led by the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, aims to restore balance for low-income residents who could never afford an attorney on their own.

If successfully established, it could make Cleveland just the fourth city in the country — behind New York City, San Francisco and Newark, N.J. — with a guaranteed right to counsel, something that stands to benefit not just the individuals and their families facing eviction, but the wider community and, perhaps counterintuitively, even the real estate market itself..."

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