Last Updated on December 11, 2022, 2:57 AM | Published: December 11, 2022
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma is facing an unprecedented wave of evictions statewide, with Oklahoma County leading in historically high numbers.
The state saw more than 65,000 eviction notices filed in court from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 through April 2022, with 37% of those – roughly 24,000 filings – in Oklahoma County alone according to Open Justice Oklahoma’s Court Tracker tool, examining statewide court filings.
Oklahoma saw a number of temporary programs designed to protect against evictions and widespread housing instability throughout much of 2020 and 2021 as overwhelming financial burdens of the COVID-19 pandemic had devastating effects on work and wages.
But, those protections have now ended, with the Community Cares Partnership, the last major rental assistance program in the state, having closed at the end of August.
Though the Oklahoma Court Tracker only contains searchable data up through April of this year, some concerning recent trends in the eviction data are already clear.
Eviction filings in March 2022, for example, topped 1,600, an all-time high even though March normally sees eviction filings drop as tenants commonly turn to tax returns to help pay housing costs.
Easy to File
“Several counties are seeing record high levels of evictions, and it’s been particularly evident in Oklahoma County,” said OK Policy Institute Senior Policy Analyst Sabine Brown, “and that’s part of a nationwide crisis of both affordable housing and evictions.”
Much of this continued spike in filings, according to Brown, can be attributed to the ease of filing in Oklahoma and the state’s comparatively lax landlord-tenant laws.
“Filing an eviction is fairly easy in Oklahoma and the process is pretty quick,” she said. “Our filing fees are relatively low compared to the rest of the nation. So it’s easy for a landlord to file an eviction and then the tenant simply choose to leave.”
This makes it especially easy for a landlord in Oklahoma to file an eviction as a retaliatory measure against a tenant that the landlord would like to push out of a property.
“Oklahoma needs some updates to our Landlord-Tenant Act,” Brown said. “We are one of only six states that do not have anti-retaliation protections for tenants. So a tenant can be evicted or lose their lease for simply asking for repairs in their rental unit.”
Right to Counsel
Evictions are filed in small claims court, which is traditionally used for complaints without professional legal representation, but more and more, landlords are coming to eviction courts in Oklahoma with lawyers, something that is difficult for low-income renters to match.
“Increasingly, you have landlords that do have legal representation, whereas tenants most often do not,” Brown explained. “One thing we know from research is that when tenants have access to legal representation, they are much more likely to be able to stay in their homes.”
This same consideration for a “right to counsel” law in Oklahoma eviction cases was made by Ward 2 City Councilperson James Cooper.
“Renters should have access to legal representation at the city level,” Cooper told me. “We’ve found in other cities that when a municipality offers that service, suddenly property owners and renters – not always, but frequently – find a better solution than kicking someone out.”
Housing Demand
As the city’s housing shortage continues and demand for rental properties increases, it has become easier than ever for landlords to fill a home or housing unit quickly, making it less likely for them to work with past-due tenants before filing for eviction.
“The main solution to addressing the eviction crisis is addressing our lack of affordable housing,” Brown said. “There simply isn’t enough housing to go around.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by Councilor Cooper.
“We already have 19,400 Oklahoma City residents in need of housing,” he told me. “Today’s evicted person is tomorrow’s contribution to our homelessness crisis.”
Brett Fieldcamp has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly 15 years, writing for several local and state publications. He’s also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
