When you’re incarcerated, being present at hearings for your criminal case is required, with serious penalties incurred for non-appearances. To ensure attendance, jails, prisons and courts collaborate closely.
That same level of urgency and collaboration does not exist for incarcerated individuals also facing eviction, however, with unknown numbers being evicted without any knowledge of the case or ability to defend themselves. These tenants may leave jail or prison only to find their apartment emptied, their belongings gone, and an eviction judgment on their record.
This is in large part due to eviction proceedings in Dane County taking place in small claims court, not criminal court, and a dearth of communication between the small claims court, jails/prisons, and landlords. It’s rare for a tenant to be served a summons and complaint for an eviction while incarcerated, and often an incarcerated tenant first learns that an eviction has been filed against them when Tenant Resource Center staff contacts them about it.
“It’s not prioritized enough,” said Mya Simms, the Project Manager on TRC’s Eviction Diversion and Defense Partnership who has spearheaded this effort.
Criminal records are common for tenants facing eviction in Dane County: 4 in 10 tenants who have faced eviction since 2024 have a criminal record, according to internal TRC data.
Improved Communication is Critical
The TRC has prioritized improving collaboration between courts, jails/prisons, and tenants, so that incarcerated individuals can access housing resources and avoid default judgments, which are automatically awarded when a tenant does not appear at their eviction hearing. TRC staff regularly compares jail rosters with a list of tenants currently facing eviction in Dane County, for instance, and communicates with jail staff when there’s a match.
Crucially, TRC staff have created lines of communication with jails/prisons and built relationships with staff in these institutions. Consequently, defaults for incarcerated individuals happen much less frequently now.
Incarcerated Tenants Face Additional Barriers
Still, incarcerated individuals who are being evicted face added challenges which can be difficult to resolve. A tenant in jail has greater difficulty negotiating with their landlord than a non-incarcerated tenant would, for one, since they are without income, often unsure of when they will be released, and facing the stigma associated with being incarcerated. With the wind-down of rental assistance, a landlord will be even less likely to agree to a payment plan, since they won’t want to wait for the tenant to be released, regain employment, and pay them back. We fear these landlords will push for trials, win judgments for eviction, and leave an incarcerated person without a home to return to.
Limited forms of communication, lack of outside support to help with paying rental arrears or moving, and no right to legal counsel for evictions are additional barriers facing incarcerated tenants.
Housing Foundational to Successful Reentry
Formerly incarcerated people face major barriers to housing. Low vacancy rates, limited affordable housing, stigma, and housing policies which exclude individuals with criminal records from private and public housing contribute to much greater housing instability for this population. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, formerly incarcerated persons are nearly 10 times more likely to be homeless than the general public. And 3 times as many of the formerly incarcerated are housing insecure, meaning they live in temporary, unstable housing such as rooming houses and hotels.
Housing is a fundamental factor in successful reentry. It is the foundation for a person’s efforts to secure employment, reestablish familial and other social links, access physical, mental and behavioral health treatments, and comply with requirements of parole. Studies show that a someone who is unable to secure stable housing after being released from jail or prison are more likely to be re-incarcerated.
For incarcerated persons who already are at great risk of housing instability and homelessness, improved collaboration between small claims courts and jails/prisons, expanded rental assistance programs, and increased legal representation for incarcerated tenants facing eviction is necessary.