Study says changes to Oklahoma state law could help prevent evictions
OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — The federal eviction moratorium expires next week and some are concerned about a spike in people losing their homes.
A recent study by researchers at the University of Tulsa argues that changes to state law could help the situation.
On Tuesday, there were more than 100 eviction cases on the docket in Oklahoma County and more than 140 Monday.
Five years ago, Oklahoma City was ranked 20th and Tulsa 11th for highest eviction rates in the country, according to Princeton University's Eviction Lab.
This month's study from the Terry West Civil Legal Clinic at the University of Tulsa College of Law says some law changes in Oklahoma could help both tenants and landlords.
“I think certainly we’ve seen increases in the numbers of people who are susceptible to homelessness and to evictions because of the pandemic, but the moratorium has also been very helpful in preventing some of those evictions," said Roni Amit, the program's director.
The report points out that landlords in Oklahoma can send an eviction notice after five days of unpaid rent, and a court hearing can be as soon as two weeks later. That's faster than some neighboring states.
It says the current law doesn't provide tenants many rights compared to landlords and doesn't protect tenants from retaliation.
Amit says it also doesn't regulate late fees for rent. She argues that larger, out-of-state landlords can profit off evictions and fees.
“They’re able to really use the eviction process as a debt collection mechanism and really make money by collecting late fees," Amit said.
The report says changes could take some strain off Oklahoma courts.
The high number of evictions also creates adverse childhood experiences for those who lose their homes.
Amit worries about what will happen when the national moratorium ends.
“I think we are going to see big increases in evictions and homelessness if we don’t take action," she said.
There is still help available for people having trouble paying rent from Community Cares Partners and legal help from Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma.
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