Poor Tenants Face Uphill Battle In Rent Court

05:06

March 31, 2016

The Landlord and Tenant Branch of Superior Court for the District of Columbia is where landlords in the city sue tenants, usually for not paying their rent. (Josh Kramer for NPR)

Most low-income renters in the United States spend more than half their income on housing. That means an unexpected expense can leave nothing left over, and it means hundreds of thousands of tenants each year in court facing eviction.

NPR's Pam Fessler talks with Here & Now's Meghna Chakrabarti about challenges poor people face in these courts, as well as the issues that lead to them facing eviction at all.

Guest

Pam Fessler, correspondent on NPR's National Desk. She tweets @pamelafessler.

This segment aired on March 31, 2016.

Poor Tenants Face Uphill Battle In Rent Court

Guest

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