In 2021, Washington lawmakers transformed the legal process of eviction when they passed a groundbreaking “right-to-counsel” law meant to ensure legal representation for tenants who receive public assistance or who have very low incomes. But nearly five years later, eviction court in King County and other parts of the state remains deeply inaccessible — and thousands of tenants are still losing their homes without ever speaking to a lawyer.
Evictions have continued to surge even with the right-to-counsel program in place. I have been studying this program in depth since 2022, building on work led by professors Rachel Fyall and Karin Martin at the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Policy & Governance. Since then, I have interviewed more than 50 tenants who received help from the program and analyzed hundreds of thousands of case documents. As evictions have climbed above pre-pandemic levels, I’ve observed how our broken eviction system has prevented this new program from working.
Using the term “right to counsel” to describe this program is a misnomer. Unlike the right to legal assistance in criminal cases protected by a U.S. Supreme Court decision, Washington’s Senate Bill 5160 did not fundamentally alter anyone’s legal rights. It simply layered another government program onto the already complex eviction process.
In most parts of the state, tenants must submit a response to their landlord (and the court) when they receive an eviction summons. If they can do that, they must also attend a hearing that is scheduled without any consideration of tenants’ actual availability. After the hearing, they can be screened for eligibility for the right-to-counsel program. If they don’t complete these steps, they can face an immediate eviction judgment.
Although this may not sound like much, tenants are often experiencing some of their worst moments as they face eviction. Interviews with tenants show that some people are going through medical emergencies, job loss, domestic violence and other trauma before they are evicted. These are precisely the moments when access to legal help matters most — and when the current system is least forgiving.
Quantitative analysis of case documents also sheds light on tenants’ experiences with eviction. Court data shows that only about one-third of tenants ever submit a response. Those who do are far more likely to attend a hearing and connect with an attorney. Tenants who have access to virtual hearings are also much more likely to connect with the right-to-counsel program, even if they never filed a response. When tenants miss these procedural steps, landlords typically request a “default judgment” authorizing the sheriff to evict them without a hearing.
Nearly three years after the implementation of the right-to-counsel law, about 40% of eviction cases still ended in default judgments. This has serious equity implications: The tenants least able to navigate the process are often those facing the most severe crises.
The problem was not caused by the right-to-counsel program itself. It’s the fact that Washington created the program without fixing the eviction process.
In order to make sure that more tenants get the help they need, we should use data and evidence to create a more accessible legal process. Research on criminal courts, for example, has shown that proactive outreach and clearer information can improve defendant participation. I recently conducted a small experiment in Pierce County with Crystal Hall, a professor at the Evans School, and found that sending a postcard to tenants before a hearing increased their attendance and access to legal help. County and state policymakers could take simple steps to increase outreach and test other policy reforms.
To improve access to the right-to-counsel program, policymakers also need better data. Today, there is no precise statewide measure of how many tenants actually connect with the program. The necessary information exists, but it is buried in court documents. With modern data science tools, the state could work with courts to turn this information into actionable evidence and use it to unpack the “black box” of eviction court.
Legal representation can prevent displacement and homelessness, but only if tenants can actually obtain it. Until Washington fixes the eviction process itself, the promise of a right to counsel will remain out of reach for many of the people who need it most.
