MEMPHIS & SHELBY COUNTY

EMERGENCY RENT ASSISTANCE

ACCESSIBLE COURT DATA

Neighborhood Preservation, Inc. | SJI Roundtable | March 16, 2022
1. Emergency Rental Assistance 

(ERA) court data tools

○ Relied upon by five tenant attorneys to 

represent over 7,000 ERA applicants 

facing eviction.

2. Evaluation of eviction 

proceedings in Shelby County

○ Court watch to track representation in 

court and outcomes across 4,400 

cases over four months when the 

courts reopened.

3. Scaling the court data tools

○ Scaled to help other legal and social 

service providers triage and find 

immediate court information.

COMPONENTS 

OF SJI 

PROJECT
ERA COURT DATA 

TOOLS
Background on ERA Relationship 

● Began SJI grant with Cares Act 

Eviction Settlement program to 

understand outcome of providing free 

legal representation with Cares Act 

dollars.

● Jan 2021: NPI became community 

partner on Emergency Rental 

Assistance program.

● SJI project shifted to understand 

ERA eviction diversion needs. Team 

of 5 full-time ERA attorneys hired to 

represent ERA applicants and 

negotiate settlements.
SJI Court Data Tools 

● We identify who of ~26,000 local 

ERA applicants has a court hearing 

and provide free legal representation.

● Since March 2021, 6,258 households 

facing eviction have received free 

legal representation.

● 70% of households who receive 

representation are represented with 

bulk settlements. Made possible 

through ongoing relationships with 

landlord attorneys.
Tenant 

applies at 

home901.org

Court data tools 

identify eligible 

tenant has an 

eviction, alerts 

program 

screeners and 

lawyers

Legal team 

sends offer to 

landlord lawyer 

to settle their 

eviction

Landlord works with program 

attorney to execute an 

agreement and submit ledgers 

for all tenants 

Landlords receive payment

if they agree to nonnegotiable program terms

Landlord receives 

payment in the form of 

one check for all tenants

Tenants receive payment 

if landlord denies offer. 

Tenant signs to use funds 

for housing stability

IF NOT 

Individual Tenant Eviction Settlement Process 

Bulk Settlement Process 

Screening team 

verifies which tenants 

have applied and are 

eligible for assistance
Court Data Accessibility 

1. How we use public court data to flag 

evictions among ERA applicants.

2. How we share this public court data 

with ERA applicants.

 
1. Public Court Data to Flag Evictions 

1. How we use public court data to flag 

evictions among ERA applicants.

● Matched to all ERA applicants to 

give ERA attorneys case information.

● In the first four months, the court 

data tools identified 2,000+ ERA 

applicants with evictions who did not

self-identify that they had an 

eviction.
1. How we use public court data to flag 

evictions among ERA applicants.

● Matched to list ERA applicants to 

give ERA attorneys case information.

● Displayed in a low-cost database to 

show information about courtrooms, 

plaintiff attorneys, and to triage 

upcoming cases.

● Made possible through partnership 

with U.S. Digital Response.

1. Public Court Data to Flag Evictions 
2. How we share public court 

data with tenants.

● Postcards alerting all tenants 

with FEDs about the ERA.

● Email and text notifications to 

ERA applicants.

 

2. Sharing the Data with Tenants 
2. How we share public court 

data with tenants.

● Postcards alerting all tenants 

with FEDs about the ERA.

● Email and text notifications to 

ERA applicants.

● Explaining backlog in local 

courts to tenants.

2. Sharing the Data with Tenants 
EVALUATION OF 

EVICTION 

PROCEEDINGS
Eviction Proceedings Evaluation

● U of M law students observed and 

recorded outcomes from 4,400 cases

between March and July to understand 

current court processes and ERA 

impact. 

● Research found 32% of all cases were 

being dismissed or dropped from the 

docket and 27% of all cases were being 

continued. Only 41% of judgments 

were going to landlords.

 
Eviction Proceedings Evaluation

● 65% of tenants did not appear for 

hearings

● 87.4% of landlords were represented 

by legal counsel

● 13.7% of tenants were represented by 

legal counsel (nearly all ERA attorneys)

● 71% of cases less than 1 minute long

less than 0.5% of tenants had a case 5 

min or longer.

 
THANK YOU

 margaret@npimemphis.org