Doctoral Dissertation Research: Examining Case Outcomes in Housing Court

驱逐房客会给房客带来毁灭性的经济、心理和社会后果。然而，许多面临驱逐的房客选择不出席住房法院的听证会，结果是他们的案件自动败诉，被驱逐的可能性更大。这部分是因为许多租户不知道他们的司法选择。该项目将研究向面临驱逐的租户提供及时的信息提醒是否可以克服阻止租户参加听证会的障碍。 本研究将探讨信息在驱逐的司法过程中的作用，在这种情况下，信息不对称和诉讼当事人对租户的法律的权利的困惑问题特别突出。为此，该项目将衡量时间压力和信息对住房法院面临驱逐房客的影响，方法是向随机分配的面临驱逐房客提供一个自助邮件，该邮件链接到一个载有可查阅和可采取行动的信息的网站。接受信息的治疗组患者的病例结局将与对照组患者的结局进行比较。在这项混合方法的研究中，将收集定量数据并进行定性访谈。检查的结果将包括治疗组的租户是否更有可能出席听证会，提交答案类型的文件，并在审判前解决，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值进行评估，被认为值得支持和更广泛的影响审查标准。

Title: Examining Case Outcomes in Housing CourtAbstractEviction can have devastating economic, psychological, and social consequences for tenants. Yet, many tenants facing eviction choose not to attend their hearing in Housing Court, resulting in automatic loss of their case and a much greater likelihood of being evicted. This occurs in part because many tenants are unaware of their judicial options. This project will study whether providing tenants facing eviction with timely informational reminders can overcome the barriers that keep tenants from attending their hearing. This study will explore the role of information in the judicial process of eviction, a context in which the problems of informational asymmetry and litigant confusion about tenants' legal rights are particularly pronounced. To do so, this project will measure the influence of time pressures and information on tenants facing eviction in Housing Court, by providing randomly assigned tenants facing eviction with a self-help mailer that links to a website containing accessible, actionable information. Case outcomes of those in the treatment group receiving the information will be compared against those of the control group. In this mixed methods study, quantitative data will be collected and qualitative interviews will be conducted. Outcomes examined will include whether tenants in the treatment group are more likely to show up to hearings, to file an answer-type document, and to settle before trial, and whether tenants in the treatment group are less likely to be evicted and to have a subsequent eviction action filed against them.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.