Researchers from Tulane University and the Jane Place Neighborhood Sustainability Initiative examine a new study on whether access to knowledge about eviction court procedures affected tenants’ eviction case outcomes. The quasi-experimental study focuses on tenant outcomes in eviction proceedings for 267 eviction cases in New Orleans. Local non-profit volunteers conducted direct outreach via in-person visits, telephone calls, and mailings to tenants whose landlords recently filed for an eviction.
Researchers posit that offering tenants facing eviction information about the legal eviction process, court procedures, and resources available to them (i.e., accessible legal services and rental assistance programs)--and providing this information as quickly as possible--would allow tenants more time to be better prepared for their court date. By monitoring eviction cases for the observation and control groups over three months in Summer 2021, the study finds that tenants provided with information had a 13% lower probability of receiving a rule absolute judgment or eviction. In addition to providing legal information to tenants early in the eviction process, the report concludes that procedural knowledge of housing court is critically important to favorable eviction outcomes.