A coalition of local advocates known as Keep Gate City Housed urged the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, on Thursday, May 1, to take several steps to reduce evictions and homelessness in the county.

Speaking at the board’s regular meeting, members of the group called for, among other things, expanded legal representation for tenants and long-term county funding for rental assistance programs.

The group, which formed in early 2024, has been meeting with city and county officials over the past year – as well as with service providers, volunteers and hundreds of Greensboro residents affected by housing insecurity.

Their message to the board was this: Without legal support, tenants are at a major disadvantage in eviction court – and that imbalance, they say, is driving homelessness in the county.

Reverend Fritz Ritsch, who was the lead speaker for the group, painted a stark picture of the current eviction landscape in Guilford County.

“This past year, 16,000 Guilford County families faced eviction,” Ritsch said. “Only 10 percent of tenants had lawyers, while 90 percent of landlords showed up in court with legal representation. Eviction is a primary and direct cause of homelessness.”

Ritsch said most of the eviction cases he’d observed involved tenants who were only behind on one month’s rent.

“Can you imagine if the power company or water department cut you off after one missed payment and made sure you couldn’t get service again for 10 years?” he asked.

 “That’s the impact of an eviction record,” he added, noting that it can trap families in poverty and homelessness for years.

Ritsch credited Guilford County’s past support for the Tenant Education Advocacy Mediation Services program – known as TEAMS – and said that the program has been making a measurable difference in the county.

The program has provided legal aid and mediation services for tenants facing eviction. The Tenant Education Advocacy Mediation effort in Guilford County provides free legal representation, mediation, and aid with rental assistance applications to help tenants avoid eviction. It also helps negotiate payment plans between tenants and landlords – aiming to prevent cases from going to court.

TEAMS operates tables at the county courthouses in both Greensboro and High Point.

“In case after case, I’ve seen legal aid lawyers change everything,” Ritsch said. “Suddenly, the tenant isn’t alone. They have someone to make the system work the way it should—for everyone, rich or poor, strong or vulnerable.”

The coalition is asking Guilford County to make that program permanent.

The commissioners didn’t take any action on the matter at the May 1 meeting.

“This program drastically reduces evictions, saves taxpayer dollars, and gives Guilford County renters the dignity and chance they need to pull themselves up,” Ritsch said.

According to members of the group, tenants almost always show up alone in court, while landlords almost always have attorneys. Sometimes the hearings last under three minutes and tenants don’t always understand what’s happening – nor do they know how to defend themselves in court.

On the other hand, when tenants do have representation, group members say, the outcome is often very different: Defenses are raised, payment plans are arranged and families remain housed.

One advocate spoke of the “systemic imbalance” of the current situation and said it’s putting hundreds of families at risk every week.

He said: “We’ve been able to intervene in a few cases by connecting tenants with emergency help, but volunteers can’t close this gap alone. A fair and stable housing system requires policy and public investment.”

Group members told the board that helping those about to be evicted can keep the county from having to pay out to protect the homeless – which, they said, can cost the county $25,000 to $40,000 in shelter, healthcare, foster care and other services each year.

 Legal representation for tenants, on the other hand, only costs about $1,300 to $2,500 per case. Preventing thousands of evictions each year could save the county and the cities millions, they argued, even factoring in the legal costs.

Emma Davis, an 18-year-old advocate, gave a personal account of the importance of housing assistance programs. She said that, when she was 14, her family’s house burned down and it took six months to find stable housing.

“That’s why these programs matter,” she told the commissioners. “They help families hold on before everything falls apart.”

Davis noted that, since March 2021, Greensboro’s emergency rental assistance program has helped over 3,000 households, distributing $13 million in back rent payments.

When those funds ran low, Guilford County stepped in with an additional $10 million.

“That partnership kept families in their homes, and it worked,” Davis said. “But let’s be clear – it didn’t happen by accident. It happened because people got organized.”

Davis said that nearly 250 households avoided eviction last year through the TEAMS program and she argued that temporary programs aren’t enough.

“The need is still urgent,” she said. “Over 15,000 eviction filings were made in Guilford County last year. Most landlords came with lawyers. Most tenants came alone. The pandemic funds that supported families like mine have dried up, but the crisis hasn’t.”

She called for the county to invest in a permanent right-to-counsel program and she emphasized its potential to transform lives.

 “We have a choice: to be reactive or proactive,” she said. “Prevention is compassionate, it’s expected—and it saves money.”

She concluded by urging the board to keep pushing forward.

“Let’s make housing stability a right, not a privilege,” she said. “We’ve already seen what’s possible. Now let’s keep going—together.”

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