By Jo Mathis
Legal News
Landlords and tenants in Jackson County have saved money, time and angst thanks to a program that recently celebrated its one-year anniversary.
“It’s a completely innovative, unique method of using resources to keep people in their homes,” said Marc Stanley, executive director of Southeastern Dispute Resolution Services (SDRS) of Jackson, Lenawee, Hillsdale and Monroe counties.
In 2011, Legal Services of South Central Michigan and SDRS began a series of informal discussions to determine how they could best serve the clients both agencies saw on a regular basis.
“We discussed the missions of both agencies and housing-related issues seemed to have the most overlap,” recalled Erica Zimny, managing attorney, Legal Services of South Central Michigan. “We were regularly seeing lots of eviction cases at Legal Services, and SDRS was seeing lots of small claims cases that were filed after the eviction process for money damages.”
She said the goal was to see if they could involve both agencies at the court level in an effort to reduce the judges’ eviction caseload; resolve cases more amicably, thus preserving housing and preventing homelessness; and to allow the attorneys to focus on the more egregious cases.
The result was the Jackson County Mediation/Eviction Diversion Program, which changed traditional local court proceedings by allowing landlords and tenants the chance to mediate a case in a forum where they can fashion their own agreement prior to proceeding in front of a judge.
Since its inception, the project has mediated more than 220 cases, maintaining an 87 percent agreement rate and including nearly $108,000 in back rent claims.
Although the project was initially viewed with confusion and skepticism, now landlords, tenants, and their attorneys have embraced the project, Zimny said.
Local landlord attorney Kevin Thomson of Abbott, Thomson, Mauldin, Parker & Beer, PLC said in a statement to the press that he was initially hesitant to accept the program as he viewed it as an unnecessary step to only delay the eviction process.
“After having worked through the process a few times, I realized it is actually much more efficient to resolve potential issues before appearing before the Court—it actually streamlines the process and is helpful to have the public funding sources available as well.”
There are savings on both sides when a landlord doesn’t have to pay to clean up a unit and re-rent it to another tenant, and when a tenant doesn’t have to pay a new security deposit and money to move their family, Zimny said.
“Obviously, the costs of eviction run much deeper than the move itself when viewed in terms of family impact,” Zimny said.
Stanley said the process eliminates several hearings and lots of hassle for tenants and landlords alike. There are just a few similar programs like it in the state, but none have a mediation component as far as he knows.
The program has the added benefit of allowing the opportunity for individuals to seek legal and/or financial assistance on-site prior to proceeding.
Stanley noted that the vast majority of the 90 participants who filled out evaluation sheets were positive, and tenants particularly liked having DHS and Legal Services on site to answer questions. They also appreciated the fact that during their sessions—which typically last 15 to 30 minutes—they got the chance to be heard, face-to-face, by their landlords, in the presence of trained volunteer mediators.
What started as a one-judge pilot program in April 2013 has expanded to include all four district court judges, who take turns once a week overseeing the sessions. The project removes many cases from the judges’ regular civil docket and places them on the mediation docket.
The presiding judge reviews cases that reach an agreement, but that requires less time than a traditional hearing. Where mediation is unsuccessful, the parties attend a hearing in front of a judge that same day, so there is no delay in the process.
District Judge Joseph Filip said that the program has mostly worked well for all involved, as the landlords receive the judgment they seek; the tenants receive financial assistance—when qualified; and the court can provide attention to the more difficult cases.
The program has also grown to include additional community collaborators including the Jackson County District Court, the local Department of Human Services, Community Action Agency, Salvation Army.
The Weatherwax Foundation and the Jackson Community Foundation provided initial financial support, and LSSCM receives federal funding, state funding and funding from United Way of Jackson County.
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