One day last fall, Bryant Woods’ rotted-out flooring opened up beneath his 11-year-old daughter. Major leaks in the rental home had allowed mold to thrive and rot to set in. In the winters, he was forced to use space heaters or his electric oven to stay warm since the heat didn’t work.
For years, Woods’ relationship with his longtime landlord has been deteriorating. About nine months ago, the two men agreed he could withhold rent until repairs were made, he said. In the meantime, he started looking for a new place to live. But, his landlord’s unwillingness to cooperate with rental history checks by property management firms made finding a new home for his family of five extremely difficult.
Then, recently, his landlord caught him by surprise and filed for eviction. He couldn’t prove his missed rent payments were part of a verbal agreement, so the judge granted the property owner’s request and told Woods his family had 10 days to move.
He left the courthouse without much hope.
It’s a common story. And by the time these disputes make it to General Sessions Civil Court, there is little to be done to keep tenants in Woods’ position housed, given state law, tenants’ lack of lawyers and the court’s norms.
To reduce such evictions, one of the court’s judges, Deborah Henderson; Shelby County Commissioner Erika Sugarmon; and Cindy Ettingoff, then-CEO of Memphis Area Legal Services, last summer secured $240,000 in the county budget to pilot a pre-litigation mediation program for landlord-tenant disputes.
After major delays, the pilot program is finally getting off the ground.
The initial goal was for MALS to use the money to hire a few employees — including a former code inspector since property conditions almost always drive the disputes. The nonprofit would then find tenants and landlords who seemed headed toward eviction and prevent at least 300 evictions — all in a year. The founders hoped this type of impact would prove the need for a specialized housing court in Shelby County, where judges could take a property’s condition into account when deciding eviction cases — as opposed to simply whether a tenant was behind on rent.
But receiving the money from the county turned into an adventure. The cash didn’t make it to MALS until February 2024, due to problems with how the County Commission resolution was originally drafted, Henderson said. By then, Ettingoff was no longer with MALS, and the interim executive director, Loyce Lambert Ryan, was dealing with the fallout of a major cyber attack. Ultimately, MALS wasn’t able to launch the program in earnest until June.
But Henderson has been happy with the results since then.
Interested in applying for Memphis Area Legal Services’ new landlord-tenant mediation program? Call 901-432-4663.
Recently, MALS worked with a woman who was living in a house that “should not be lived in by anyone” and was starting to fall behind on rent, Henderson said. It seemed like a case headed toward an eviction for the tenant, a code violation for the landlord or both. But with MALS’ help, the landlord is making repairs, and the tenant is using some leftover rental assistance funds to catch up on rent.
Though the program has only helped a couple of tenants so far — not 300 — Henderson believes it’s already proving its value.
To drum up more business, Henderson and MALS attorney Cedric Harris, who is leading the program, have been spending a few nights and weekends this summer speaking to churches, on radio shows and at other events.
“There are no income limits or income requirements,” Henderson told a WLOK-AM audience earlier this summer. “If you’re a tenant who is having trouble with your landlord, you need to give us a call. … If you’re a landlord and you have a troublesome tenant … give us a call.”
Nicole Grida, the new MALS CEO, said her team has started creating marketing materials for the program, building partnerships with local nonprofits and screening folks who call in for other services to see if they will fit the program’s criteria, which has resulted in many promising leads.
For the program to succeed, Grida said raising greater awareness will be key, as most Memphians it could help don’t yet know it exists.
Woods’ case, for instance, sounded like a perfect fit for mediation, Henderson said, if only they’d found him before the eviction was filed.
“We could have drafted a document that ensured the landlord (followed the verbal agreement),” she said.
Instead, Woods was left with 10 days to find a new home. Thankfully, he found something just in time — a three-bedroom townhouse in Whitehaven with an “undesirable” exterior but is “fairly nice” inside.
Though the mediation program just launched, it’s going to have to quickly prove its impact. Its leaders are scheduled to present to the County Commission at the end of 2024, in hopes they can receive additional county funding after this first $240,000 runs out in February 2025. Meanwhile, Grida said MALS is looking for other funders interested in backing the effort.
Henderson believes the program will require a much longer pilot period before it’s able to produce the proof necessary to create a housing court. But, despite the rough start, she remains “very hopeful” for its future.
Jacob Steimer is the housing and development reporter for MLK50: Justice Through Journalism.
This story is brought to you byMLK50: Justice Through Journalism, a nonprofit newsroom focused on poverty, power and policy in Memphis. Support independent journalism by making a tax-deductible donation today. MLK50 is also supported by these generous donors.