Should city pay for tenants to have an attorney in eviction cases? Advocate says it would actually save Tulsa money

A year ago, the idea of granting attorney rights to tenants in eviction proceedings might not have gotten very far.

Tulsa already had one of the highest eviction rates in the country, and local officials were discussing ways to address it. But the sense of urgency wasn’t the same, Michael Figgins said.

“Now times have changed,” said Figgins, executive director of Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma. “Now the situation is a lot worse.”

Local and state officials seem more willing to consider new ideas for averting a huge wave of evictions that could sweep across Tulsa later this year, when federal moratoriums on eviction cases could be lifted, Figgins said.

Read more.