Report: ‘Evicted in Hawaiʻi: Lives Hanging in the Balance’

Lawyers for Equal Justice (LEJ) has published a report entitled “Evicted in Hawaiʻi: Lives Hanging in the Balance,” which summarizes the findings of a recent study on evictions in Hawaiʻi. The study confirms the existence of a stark disparity in legal representation between landlords and tenants, and a corresponding imbalance in eviction case outcomes in favor of landlords. The full report can be found online.

Hawaiʻi continues to be plagued by disturbingly high eviction rates, and our communities suffer myriad ills as a result. Fewer evictions—and fewer eviction cases—are in everybody’s best interest. In addition to the often-irreparable harm done to families who are evicted, the broader community suffers adverse impacts from widespread evictions as well. Courts are overburdened and cannot give every case its due; landlords lose money looking for new tenants instead of receiving a steady stream of i come from long-term renters; society at large is burdened with ever-higher rates of homelessness, unemployment, crime and mental and physical illness. Eviction isn’t just a tenant issue—it implicates all of us.