Evictions can kill: how US communities are trying to break the cycle of violence

EIn 2022, Dr. Yan Li, a Yale graduate with a PhD in biostatistics, found herself suffering from the effects of bipolar disorder and unable to pay the homeowners' association fees for her San Diego apartment. Instead of receiving support and resources, Li was fatally shot by law enforcement officers while being evicted from her home.

“It was an unnecessary escalation in the execution of a very simple deportation order, a simple procedure,” said Chenyang “Sunny” Rickard of the Alliance of Chinese Americans San Diego. “In our opinion, this death could have been prevented.”

Li's case stands out while being unremarkable: although this is rare video evidence Her death underlines the manner in which she died and itself reflects the violent reality faced by many involved in the deportation process. On March 3 last year, officers came to her home to serve her an eviction notice and remove her from the apartment. Their tense argument escalated, after which Li attacked one of the officers with a knife and stabbed him. She was subsequently shot several times. Li's ex-husband said police failed to recognize that she was in the midst of a mental health crisis and failed to properly diffuse the situation.

Although no national data exist on the violent or fatal consequences of the deportation process, Princeton University's expansion laboratory has been monitoring news reports of such cases in the US since July 2021. Within that time frame, there have been more than 80 deaths from evictions, and more than 30 fatal cases have occurred so far in 2023.

Other forms of violence occur several times a month, including physical altercations between tenants and landlords, incidents of violence involving law enforcement officers, and cases of arson. While this study did not examine the circumstances of each incident, in total these events tell a systemic story about the physical, emotional, and economic violence that evictions entail.

These cases illustrate one of the many ways the US uses punitive measures to manage social crises. Incarceration and deportation have become parallel processes that trap people in cycles of poverty and instability. The violence of the eviction process is more than symbolic: eviction can and does lead to physical violence, incarceration, and even death for tenants, their families, landlords, and law enforcement. Similar incidents happen throughout the year across the country, although solutions are well within reach if these cases are thoroughly investigated and resources allocated preventively.

Earlier this year, Philadelphia saw that three eviction-related shooting incidents in just four months, causing the city to temporarily halt eviction proceedings. Near Cincinnati, a mother shot and killed three members of her family and subsequently died by suicide just before officers attempted to remove her from her home. And in Pittsburgh, an eviction evolved into one fatal standoff of four and a half hours between a tenant and the police.

“We believe the suspect was neutralized during the shootout,” Pittsburgh Police Chief Larry Scirotto told local media.

Violence during the deportation process also endangers law enforcement officers. A deputy sheriff in a suburb outside Portland, Oregon was injured but survived July shooting, where the tenant died. In August 2022, a Pima police officer suffered a less fortunate fate in Tucson, Arizona: a tenant being removed from their home opened fire on her and an apartment complex employee, and later on a neighbor. All four people involved in the incident were killed.

No two evictions look the same. Because the process of legal eviction is governed by state law and determined by the rules of individual courts, the process of removing someone from their home can look very different in the US.

Nevertheless, a landlord must generally first warn the tenant in writing that he is violating the lease agreement. Some states require landlords to give tenants a few days' notice before filing, while others require no notice at all. After this warning, the tenant has a certain number of days to pay the rent due or move out voluntarily; this can vary from three days to two weeks, depending on the state. If a tenant moves out without first paying the rent, the landlord can still claim the rent due. After that period, a landlord can file an eviction with the court. At that time, a judge will review the case and refer the case to mediation or make a ruling. The final step is the removal of the tenant and his belongings from the property by the local police, usually no more than 10 days after the judge's ruling. In states with few or no notice requirements, a landlord can just as quickly remove a tenant from a unit by force like a few weeks.

In a normal year, American landlords file 3.6 m cases of deportation. In 2016, Seven evictions were filed every minute. The process has been criticized by legal scholars Deborah Eisenberg and Noam Ebner as an “expedited, state-sanctioned collection process for landlords.” Black and Latino households in particular are disproportionately affected by eviction Black women and Latinas face higher deportation rates than men in these groups.

Systemic injustices require systemic solutions. Both tenant lawyers and alternative dispute resolution professionals have long envisioned many interventions – known as deportation programs – that could help reduce the possibility and stress of losing a home, reduce violent outcomes, and increase overall housing stability.

Eviction diversion programs are intended to intervene in eviction cases, provide tenants with resources, and divert cases from a lawsuit or foreclosure. According to a report by the American Bar Association and Harvard Law School's Dispute Systems Design Clinicis the best way to avoid eviction by connecting tenants to a holistic set of services, combining rental or cash assistance, access to legal representation, high-quality mediation, and self-help resources for those without legal representation. Many of these services can be provided by justice workers, non-lawyers who are adept at navigating the legal system and can connect litigants with targeted resources and support. Eviction diversion programs are generally most successful when they intervene for A landlord takes legal action against a tenant. Such programs often result in a payment plan for past due rent, an agreement between tenant and landlord to continue their relationship, or a voluntary relocation plan that connects the tenant with alternative housing – all without the involvement of law enforcement.

A community in Sarasota County, Florida took several recent incidents of eviction violence as a call to adopt some of these practices. After a fatal shootingthe sheriff's department collaborated with the local United Way chapter to build a program that connects tenants with the potentially life-saving support of case managers, mediators and legal aid attorneys. If the program cannot achieve an outcome for the tenant with these resources, the United Way will help them transition to a temporary housing solution while they work toward a permanent plan. These types of interventions slow the otherwise nearly automatic process of removing a tenant and support them in ways that can help them avoid homelessness, long-term poverty, and even death.

Unfortunately, these types of initiatives are still very rare. Instead of receiving support, tenants are often confronted by heavily armed officers as they are removed from their homes. The violence that comes with evictions is not just economic or symbolic: when tenants are removed from their homes, people are harmed and some die. Their tragic stories are underreported; With investments in preventing evictions, they do not have to be inevitable.