Tempe, Arizona: Setting up Bilingual Legal Clinics and Conducting Targeted Door-to-Door Outreach

Blog Post
April 18, 2022

Partnered with: Exchange for Resilience Center at Arizona State University on Displaced in America and Displaced in the Sun Belt, and the City of Tempe on the development of FEAT.

“The data you’re supplying us with has such direct connections to outreach and to offering resources to those who might not be aware.” – Tempe Councilmember Lauren Kuby

In addition to mapping evictions and foreclosures in Maricopa County in Displaced in America and Displaced in the Sun Belt, we also assessed which communities were most at risk of housing loss. We found that neighborhoods with a higher percentage of non-citizen households and neighborhoods that were predominantly composed of Latinx households tended to experience higher rates of housing loss. Language barriers, predatory rental practices, and a reluctance to engage with the legal system could all contribute to this dynamic. Between 2014 and 2018, we also found that less than 1 percent of tenants (defendants) had legal representation, while the vast majority of landlords (plaintiffs) were represented.

After presenting these findings to the Tempe City Council in August 2020, they suggested conducting targeted and bilingual outreach campaigns to high risk areas through door-to-door outreach and mail hangers, in close partnership with neighborhood associations. The City Council also suggested setting up pro bono legal aid clinics to deliver direct financial and legal aid assistance to tenants. Tempe Council Member Lauren Kuby advocated for a “more full-throated approach” to preventing pandemic-era evictions, and using the housing loss data allows for a “more direct and human touch to residents who are facing a crisis not of their own making.”

Other resources

  • “Metro Phoenix's eviction and foreclosure rates double U.S. average, new report says” Arizona Republic
  • Interview with Displaced in America co-author, Tim Robustelli by Lauren Gilger from KJZZ, a local NPR affiliate in Phoenix
  • A Cronkite News article on displacement in Arizona, re-syndicated in The Arizona Daily Star, a major newspaper in Tucson
Related Topics
Foreclosure and Eviction Analysis Tool (FEAT) Eviction and Foreclosure Data