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Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly a million Americans each year lost their homes due to eviction, including tens of thousands of Hoosiers.

If Indiana leaders do not take urgent action, there is likely to be an alarming spike in Hoosier evictions this summer, imperiling both public health and the state’s still-fragile economic recovery, according to a report released July 28, 2021, from the Health and Human Rights Clinic at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, the Indiana Justice Project, and the Economic Justice Clinic of the Notre Dame Clinical Law Center.

The report, “How Indiana Courts Can Prevent Evictions: Responding to a Looming Public Health and Economic Crisis,” outlines the scope of the challenge facing Indiana in the coming months, including the significant harm that flows from a mere filing of an eviction court action—what the report calls “The Scarlet E” reflecting its practically indelible mark that harms tenants for years after court proceedings have concluded.

“Evictions can be prevented, and Indiana has multiple options to do so by enacting policies that would benefit Hoosier tenants and the communities where they live,” said Katie Whitley (pictured above), an IU McKinney Law student in the Health and Human Rights Clinic, and a co-author of the report.

Recent economic analyses show that over a quarter-million Hoosier families are at risk of eviction. The report identifies key conditions contributing to Indiana’s eviction crisis:

· Although pandemic tenant assistance funds have been made available in Indiana, many landlords are choosing not to participate in the programs and government agencies have not yet distributed tens of millions of dollars that are available.

· Even modest rental units in Indiana come with a rent that takes up an unsustainable percentage of many Hoosier workers’ wages. Statewide, almost two of every three Hoosier renters below the median renter income were “cost-burdened” for housing, meaning they were paying more than the recommended percentage of their income for rent.

· Indiana’s laws and court procedures do not yet include some of the eviction prevention measures other states and cities have adopted, such as mandatory mediation before evictions, right to counsel for tenants, and restricted access to past eviction records.

“Indiana courts have been quick to evict families compared to other states, with Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, and South Bend all ranking in the top 20 cities in the U.S. for eviction rates,” said Adam Mueller, executive director of the Indiana Justice Project. “This practice has a disproportionately harmful impact on Black families and families with children.”

With a focus on options available to Indiana courts, the report summarizes several potential reforms, including:

· Mandated steps to facilitate landlord-tenant settlement pre-filing

· Revising and mandating the eviction notice

· Restricted access to eviction court filings

· Limited uses of eviction court records

· Right to counsel in eviction proceedings

· Limitations on eviction court requests and expansion of defenses

· Eviction diversion programs

· Supporting research into the causes and effects of eviction

“Although some needed responses—such as a significant expansion in the supply of subsidized housing vouchers—is most likely to come from the federal government, important proposals for increased rental assistance have been issued from within our state. Beyond much-needed additional rental assistance, Indiana courts have multiple procedural opportunities to adopt meaningful reforms to help Hoosiers facing eviction,” said Fran Quigley (above), IU McKinney clinical professor and director of the Health and Human Rights Clinic.

“We are continuing to learn about the negative consequences of eviction. However, a statewide commitment to gathering and sharing data around eviction cases is necessary if we are ever to truly understand the causes of this serious social problem,” said Judith Fox, Notre Dame clinical professor of law and director of the Economic Justice Project.

The work has caught the attention of Indiana media members statewide including:

ABC 57 in South Bend on July 30

WISH in Indianapolis on August 1