the intersection of DV and eviction, the role of the legal aid agencies, and the Right to Representation in Evictions Law
Written by Nick Beard, staff attorney, CLASI and Margaretta Kroeger, Director of Communications, CLASI
One of the major barriers that domestic violence survivors face is housing insecurity and homelessness, with domestic violence being a leading cause of homelessness for women and children in the United States. In fact, studies show that 38% of all domestic violence survivors have become homeless at some point in their lifetime, while more than 90% of homeless women have experienced abuse.
Delaware’s three nonprofit legal aid agencies have had a longstanding commitment to supporting domestic violence survivors with housing challenges. Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. (CLASI), Legal Services Corporation of Delaware (LSCD), and Delaware Volunteer Legal Services (DVLS) provide free legal help to low-income individuals and families statewide who are facing eviction, termination of affordable housing subsidies, or housing discrimination.
The Intersection of Domestic Violence and Eviction
Delaware legal aid agency data show that more than 30% of the women they represent in eviction matters in have experienced domestic violence and too often they are being evicted for reasons directly related to the abuse.
For example, in one CLASI case, the client was a victim of a violent crime at the hands of a former partner, which severely injured her and damaged the front door of her rental unit. The client got behind on rent after having to miss work to attend many medical appointments related to her injuries, and also couldn’t afford to repair the door, so the landlord threatened to evict. CLASI successfully advocated to prevent the eviction and to secure funds to fix the damage to the unit, keeping the client housed.
In another case, a DV survivor reached out to CLASI after her landlord tried to evict her because she installed a Ring camera to help her stay safe. Her abuser was harassing her at her apartment complex, including slashing her tires when her car was parked in front of her home, and the local police advised her to install a security camera. The landlord then sent her a lease violation notice, stating that she was not allowed to have a camera, and moved to terminate her lease. A CLASI attorney stepped in, arguing that under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), the survivor was entitled to an accommodation to help keep her family safe. As a result, this young mother was allowed to keep the camera, and she and her daughter could stay in their home.
Other times, a DV survivor may need to break a rental lease early to escape abuse. However, this kind of lease violation can lead to their housing subsidy being terminated or to an eviction judgment on their record, making it much harder to afford and secure other housing, leading to homelessness. For example, CLASI represented a survivor client where the abuser and his relatives were making serious threats to the client’s life and to her children; although she got restraining orders, they didn’t stop the threats, and she was desperate to move to a new, safe location. However, the landlord wouldn’t allow her to break her lease early, despite threats being made to her life. CLASI advocated for her and successfully secured a reasonable accommodation for an early move-out date for the client because of the domestic violence, avoiding eviction and preserving her Section 8 voucher so she could find a safe place to live for herself and her children.
Meeting the Need: Delaware’s New “Right to Representation” in Evictions Law
Unfortunately, the need for assistance in eviction cases like these has far outstripped the legal aid agencies’ available resources. As Delaware’s eviction rate continued to rise coming out of the pandemic, coupled with an increasingly severe shortage of affordable housing, a coalition of organizations including the Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence (DCADV), CLASI (a DCADV member agency), the ACLU of Delaware, and the H.O.M.E.S. Campaign came together to advocate for new legislation that would create a right to free legal representation in eviction actions for low-income renters, to help more Delawareans, including DV survivors, avoid homelessness and maintain stable housing.
At that time, in 2020, only 2% of Delaware renters had representation in court eviction proceedings compared to 86% of landlords, greatly increasing the likelihood that they would be evicted and leading Delaware to have one of the highest eviction rates in the country. These evictions then caused a cascade of damaging long-term effects for Delaware families, including poorer physical and mental health, increased risk of homelessness, loss of employment, academic problems for children, and greater difficulty finding future housing.
Thanks to the coalition’s advocacy and support from lawmakers including Sen. Bryan Townsend and Rep. Melissa Minor-Brown, in 2023 the Delaware General Assembly passed SS 1 for SB1, a historic “Right to Representation in Evictions” law providing representation to Delaware renters facing eviction whose household income is lower than 200% of federal poverty guidelines, and also creating an eviction diversion program. With its passage, Delaware became just the fourth state in the U.S. to provide this critical right to renters in both public and private housing.
Under the law, Delaware landlords and housing authorities must now provide notice explaining a renter’s right to free legal representation when facing eviction, if they meet the income guidelines and eligibility requirements. They must provide notice of this right when renters enter a rental agreement and on the first renewal or modification of the rental agreement, and when they issue a notice of nonpayment of rent, lease violation, least termination, or a notice to terminate a renter’s housing subsidy.
Since 2023, CLASI, LSCD, and DVLS have partnered to implement the new law, increasing the number of housing attorneys on staff, expanding an innovative Qualified Tenant Advocate program to provide broader representation to people facing eviction, and conducting community outreach and training for partner organizations.
The program is making a real difference across Delaware. The most recent Right to Representation in Evictions status report, reflecting the program’s first full year of implementation (July 1, 2024–June 30, 2025), shows:
● Record levels of service, with legal aid providers assisting 1,726 households, benefiting more than 6,000 Delawareans, including nearly 2,000 children.
● Improved outcomes for renters, as representation helped prevent at least 792 evictions, facilitated 480 negotiated settlements avoiding eviction judgments, secured financial relief for 141 households, and preserved 103 housing subsidies, significantly reducing displacement.
Legal Tools to Support Domestic Violence Survivors Facing Eviction
Under the program, legal aid attorneys and advocates are now able to represent more DV survivors facing eviction, and they continue to use all of the legal tools available to support them.
Advocates are often able to use provisions in the federal Violence Against Women Act for renters in federally subsidized housing, which protects survivors from being evicted due to factors directly related to the domestic violence. There are also protections under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Fair Housing Act, for example, for those who have experienced domestic violence and may have PTSD or other mental health symptoms related to the abuse. Finally, in some cases, legal aid advocates are also able to show that financial abuse played a role in a survivor’s eviction case, for example by preventing them from being able to access funds to pay their rent or from fully understanding their financial situation.
Learn More and Get Help
To learn more about the Delaware Right to Representation in Evictions program, to request help with an eviction or housing subsidy termination, or to refer a client who may be at risk for an eviction, please visit the Delaware Legal Help Link “Eviction Help” page.
