Editorial: Tenants need help in landlord disputes

Many landlord-tenant disputes will end inevitably in eviction. There are some problems that no amount of mediation will solve, and homeowners-investors have the right to recover reasonable rental revenue from their property.

But the fact that the disputed- eviction rate is so high is indeed a problem for Hawaii. There’s no justifiable reason that 85-95 percent of all lawsuit-dispute cases end in eviction, but that is where a report from Lawyers for Equal Justice (LEJ), released this week, places the rate for Hawaii.

The repercussions of that are felt not only by the renter — most landlords end up losing money in such legal disputes. Further, many of these evicted families soon join the ranks of the homeless. The social costs of that are now plain to everyone in the islands, especially in urban Honolulu.

This is not an issue unique to Hawaii, of course. The U.S. Census Bureau recently added the subject of evictions among the topical supplements to its American Housing Survey, but national data currently is spotty. However, the online rental service Apartment List has done studies on rental insecurity.

Nationally, about a fifth of all renters reported a recent struggle to pay their rent, according to Apartment List, with about 3.7 million renters experiencing an eviction in their lifetime as a renter.

While this is a problem with broad application, the local report makes it plain that it’s especially acute in Hawaii, underscoring the need for a local response.

Attorneys represented landlords in about 70 percent of cases, according to the LEJ report, compared with just about 5 percent for renters. If Hawaii follows national patterns, families with less education may not be aware of resources available to them, regardless of household income.

It’s the job of government agencies that work with the disenfranchised, and the nonprofit sector, to seek ways of closing this information gap. Better outreach to low-income families about legal resources available to them is essential. There are organizations such as Legal Aid Society of Hawaii and Volunteer Legal Services Hawaii, but many people who need the help simply don’t know about them.

Locally, programs have begun focusing on helping at-risk families from falling into homelessness. And to enlist more landlords to rent to low-income tenants, the state has offered help in cases when rent payments are missed.

Advocacy about the landlord- tenant code could enlighten them about tenant rights in a dispute. According to LEJ, in nearly half the cases landlords won, it was because the tenants failed to show up in court.

Sometimes this is because they don’t know when to appear, so LEJ rightly urges the state courts to revise the District Court Summons Form to make that clear, as well as what possible defenses may be.

Among other reasonable recommendations:

>> Include plain-language brochures with the summons explaining how a written response can be filed in lieu of a court appearance, which may be difficult for some.

>> Instructions that judges give to renters in a dispute should be standardized, similarly to the guidance “script” that California and other states provide to judges.

>> Many landlords will offer repayment plans for missed rent, preferable to an eviction. Further, tenants should be guided to programs geared to preserve their tenancy through short-term aid.

>> Courts should expand what non-lawyer “lay advocates” such as paralegals can do to include helping tenants with eviction proceedings. The Judiciary and the Legislature could create a training and licensing program for advocates who could help tenants who are short of a lawyer’s fees.

Tenants certainly bear responsibility for maintaining their housing, but providing the information they need to get back on track should be an imperative.

A 90-percent eviction rate in landlord-tenant lawsuits? Hawaii must do better than that.