(The Center Square) – Litigation is traumatic for everyone. A landlord-tenant dispute can be financially devastating for both parties, and alternative dispute resolution services have proven to be a valuable alternative to a courtroom showdown.
Many mediation services started or expanded during the pandemic as part of the Eviction Resolution Pilot Program, known in the housing industry as ERPP, a mandatory, statewide program that ended on June 30, 2023. It was aimed to help landlords and tenants resolve housing disputes before resorting to eviction lawsuits by offering mediation and other resources.
The Bellingham, Wash.-based Whatcom Dispute Resolution Center is one of those mediation service providers.
Mia Gover, the center’s housing stability program coordinator, emphasized that the goal of the organization’s work is to stabilize the relationship between tenants and landlords for the benefit of all parties.
Gover recently spoke at the Northwest Dispute Resolution Conference, held at the University of Washington School of Law.
“Most problems arise out of some kind of communication issue,” she said. “Our goal is to increase understanding, share information, listen, and be heard.”
The center’s mediation work focuses on both intervention and prevention.
Their services seek to resolve specific issues and train landlords and tenants to have better conflict-resolution skills in the future.
About half of the cases handled by the Whatcom Center are related to behavior issues and half to non-payment, with an overall resolution rate of 78%, according to Gover. More than two-thirds of cases – 67% – result in a payment plan without having to battle it out in court.
Tenants have a right to counsel in disputes that might lead to eviction, but a record of litigation can follow them for years, to their detriment. Gover and others in the mediation field would like to connect with more landlords.
“One of the barriers was how to get the word out that it’s not a landlord service or a tenant service but an independent service,” Lauren Novack, a conflict intervention specialist with Housing Connector, a Seattle-based nonprofit, said at the conference. “Evictions are a horrible way to deal with issues for both sides.”
Early conflict resolution not only creates more stable housing for tenants but also helps smaller owners and managers, who are at a particular disadvantage in terms of being able to afford an attorney. Many of these smaller property owners are members of the Rental Housing Association of Washington.
“RHAWA is on excellent terms with Housing Connector,” RHAWA spokesperson Daniel Klemme said in an email. “I haven’t heard direct feedback from our members who’ve used the Whatcom program, but the work Mia Gover is doing sounds promising.”
According to Klemme, mediation was often mandated during the pandemic, but reduced funding post-pandemic may have caused some centers to cut back.
“We would love to see more regions invest in high-quality housing mediation programs that remain neutral, timely, and truly voluntary,” Klemme said. “Mediation can be an effective tool when it’s grounded in a clear respect for the legal framework and the rights of both parties.”
Novack is hoping data currently being collected on the long-term success of durable settlements will help make it so.
“It’s a paradigm shift for low-income housing providers” to use this type of services “and now some referrals are coming from them. Once we have the data we can show how this really works for both sides.”
Gover would also like to see more such services as part of the response to homelessness.
“My goal is to have the landlords come to us first” and reduce the pressure on the court system, a win for all parties involved.
