Rep. Rosa DeLauro has introduced the Eviction Prevention Act, which is designed to provide low-income individuals with access to legal counsel if they are being evicted.
DeLauro modeled the legislation on a Connecticut program that provides free legal representation to low-income tenants facing evictions. According to the congresswoman, the program saved the state “millions it would have otherwise spent on emergency shelters.”
“My home state of Connecticut has already enacted a Right to Counsel and in just a short amount of time, we have kept people in their home,” said DeLauro, whose 3rd Congressional District spans Fairfield and New Haven counties. “The Eviction Prevention Act would build on this success and expand this critically needed program nationwide.”
DeLauro added that she understood the trauma of eviction because “my family and I were evicted when I was growing up. Eviction turned our world upside down, and I know all too well how it can completely upend someone’s life.”
A companion bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA). DeLauro cited support for the legislation by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel, National League of Cities, Public Justice, A Way Home Aerica, Community Legal Services Philadelphia, the Connecticut Fair Housing Center, and True Colors United.
