LEGAL HELP
In the mid-Atlantic state of Maryland, several government housing reforms have been passed, such as providing a lawyer to those who cannot afford one if they face a tenant-landlord dispute.
Many in the state’s most populous city of Baltimore struggle to find and maintain employment amid high housing and rental prices, said Katie Davis, director of the Courtroom Advocacy Project at the Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland.
“Baltimore is a city with a lot of poverty … there’s often a huge disparity between income and rent,” she added.
The programme that Davis runs provides pro bono representation to consumers and tenants in Baltimore.
She noted that when some residents pay rent, it goes into the back rent they missed. They also have to pay court fees and costs, causing them to be stuck in a vicious cycle.
“A lot of times, what we can do is we can negotiate with the landlord. They just need a little bit of time, maybe some sort of agreement that can get them caught up,” she added.
While the overall number of eviction cases has gone down in Maryland in recent years, there were still 400,000 failure-to-pay-rent notices filed in the state last year alone.
Francis, the mother-of-two, is just one of many Americans struggling to make ends meet.
“It’s very hard to stay employed and receive help. I’ve been a working woman and not have been able to pay my rent and feed my children,” she said.
“So where do you go from there? You start to feed your children, and then it results in you not having a place for them to eat or sleep.”
Despite these challenges, Francis said she remains determined to do what she can to get things in order – and keep a roof over her family’s heads.
