密歇根新闻广播 备受争议的赶走租户问题

Tenants¹ who try to fight an eviction² can quickly get caught up in bewildering legal issues. According to recent reporting from The Detroit News's Christine MacDonald, only 4.4% of renters show up in court with a lawyer. That's compared to the 83% of landlords who have legal representation in eviction cases.

That has some housing advocates calling on the city of Detroit to provide attorneys to renters who have been evicted³.

Ted⁴ Phillips is the executive director of the United Community Housing Coalition⁵, an organization that supports people experiencing housing issues.

He says that eviction cases tend to move through the legal system fast. Without an attorney, tenants may end up with a hearing that only lasts around a minute.

It's very difficult to get your rights heard when you're in a situation like that. Everybody's moving quickly [and] having an attorney gives you a chance to step back, look at the legal issues, and try to get things resolved, Phillips explained.

The United Community Housing Coalition prioritizes cases that involve low-income tenants or those that live in subsidized public housing. Phillips says that's because tenants who are evicted risk losing their right to access subsidized housing, which can result in long-term homelessness.

Phillips is optimistic that Detroit officials recognize how providing tenants with legal representation could ultimately save the city money. In addition to addressing homelessness, helping⁶ tenants stay where they are could cut costs for homeless shelters and permanent supportive housing programs, Phillips says.

There's a whole slew⁷ of costs that are very, very calculable [and] that can be saved if you can prevent somebody from getting evicted on the front end, Phillips said.

Bill Morris says it's important to also consider how landlords are impacted by delays in the evictions process. Morris owns and rents 31 houses in and around Battle Creek⁸. He says evicting⁹ tenants is already a drawn-out, costly¹⁰ process, particularly when legal aid gets involved.

Morris says the worst eviction he's ever gone through lasted around 9 months and cost him $15,000. He doesn't think that equipping tenants with legal representation will change anything about the final outcome in these cases.

The person simply can't pay. If you don't want them to move out, then society needs to pay money so that they don't move out. It shouldn't just be all me. Why should I pay for somebody to live free for seven months all by myself?

Morris says that it's unfair to force landlords to continue renting to people who can't pay. Instead of making evictions more difficult for all landlords, Morris says that tenants whose landlord won't keep their property safe and functional¹¹ should sue.

This post was written by Stateside production assistant Isabella Isaacs-Thomas.

1 tenants   

n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。

2 eviction   

n.租地等的收回

参考例句：

• The family have won a temporary reprieve from eviction.这个家庭暂时免于被逐出。
• He claimed damages for unlawful eviction.他要求对非法驱逐作出赔偿。

3 evicted   

v.（依法从房屋里或土地上）驱逐，赶出( evict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• They had evicted their tenants for non-payment of rent. 他们赶走了未交房租的房客。

4 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

5 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 slew   

v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多

参考例句：

• He slewed the car against the side of the building.他的车滑到了大楼的一侧，抵住了。
• They dealt with a slew of other issues.他们处理了大量的其他问题。

8 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

9 evicting   

v.（依法从房屋里或土地上）驱逐，赶出( evict的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Money spent on evicting sex offenders cannot be spent on treating them. 花在打击性侵犯者上的钱并不能花在治疗这一社会问题上。 来自互联网
• Money spent on evicting sex offenders cannot be spent on treating them. Does this matter? 钱被花费在驱逐性犯罪者而不是用做教育他们，这样做真的好么？ 来自互联网

10 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

11 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。