To the Editor:
Re “Evictions Soar in Hot Market; Renters Suffer” (front page, Aug. 29):
The lack of sufficient affordable housing and the rise in evictions take an especially hard toll on subsidized housing residents, who pay a reduced rent equal to a percentage of their income. When these tenants get evicted, they lose not just their apartments but also the rental assistance that comes with their units.
Since any family financially eligible for subsidized housing cannot afford market rent, a family evicted from such housing will probably become homeless or move into an overcrowded apartment.
Most of these families include minor children and/or people with disabilities, and many are the victims of unfair evictions who could preserve their subsidized tenancies if they had a lawyer. But a family that cannot afford market rent cannot afford a lawyer, and the demand for free legal assistance far exceeds the number of legal services lawyers.
So while it is important to increase the number of affordable units, it is also important to provide sufficient funding for legal aid groups that can help ensure that no family is unfairly evicted from such housing.
Chicago, Aug. 29, 2014
The writer is director of the Housing Practice Group at LAF, formerly the Legal Assistance Foundation.