City Council has declared evictions without legal representation a public crisis. Council members unanimously approved Monday evening a resolution that also outlines the council’s support for programs providing counsel for those facing evictions.

“This is our effort to make sure we respond to these calls to action,” said Andreas Addison, 1st District, who introduced the resolution in July. “This is an important step in the right direction.”

While City Council cannot alter the General District Court’s approach to legal representation in eviction cases, they can allocate funds to support organizations offering assistance. An allocation of $500,000 was previously set aside in the city’s budget as part of a pilot right-to-counsel program.

Richmond’s issues with evictions have been a long-standing problem, gaining more attention and scrutiny in 2018 after a study of high eviction rates ranked it second in the country.

The resolution notes the impact evictions can have on residents, not just in terms of housing but also “a loss of mental and physical health, child custody, education, employment, public benefits and personal property.”

Members of the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society, whose work raising awareness of and addressing Richmond’s eviction issues are cited in the resolution, voiced their support during public comments. They also made clear, however, that more will be needed to ensure all facing eviction in Richmond have legal counsel.

“When added to the resources now devoted by CVLAS to Richmond eviction defense, about 900 tenant families a year facing eviction will have an attorney,”CVLAS Attorney Marty Wegbreit said. “The other 94% will not. We hope for a yearly expansion of right to counsel until it assists all tenants.”

The funding council added to the city budget, according to Wegbreit, will help them hire three new housing attorneys and one new housing paralegal who will assist about 450 families a year.

Council members also expressed concern about not doing more to address this issue and related ones such as homelessness and affordable housing, as well as worries over the sustainability of this initial effort.

“It’s a start, we have to start somewhere, but I don’t want the start to stop there, by just championing a paper that is going to run out when the money runs out,” Nicole Jones, 9th District, said. “We have a long way to go.”

Council members also unanimously approved seven affordable housing development projects that would create over 740 new units across the city through grants as part of their consent agenda.