Harris County program decreases automatic evictions when tenants don’t come to court

Tecorya Davis shuffled inside the courtroom. Head down, shoulders slumped, tears silently streaming.

“I just can’t believe I got here,” she said in late October. After sustaining a concussion on the job, Davis quit working for Ventex, a subcontractor for telecommunications company Xfinity. She fell behind on rent and an eviction notice slid through the crack of the door of her Braeswood apartment on Oct. 5.

The amateur boxer has faced eviction before in Harris and Montgomery counties but never went to court.

“It was surreal for me. I was embarrassed,” Davis said. “I didn’t want to call and ask for help.”

This time, however, Davis’ landlord filed a petition in Harris County Precinct 1, Place 2, one of two Harris County eviction courts that received a grant from the $11.5 million National Center for State Courts (NCSC) initiative to implement eviction diversion programs in 24 courts across the U.S.

The initiative started in Judge Steven Duble’s court last year. As of Nov. 30, the number of default judgments, when a tenant automatically loses their case to a landlord by not showing up, in Duble’s court, decreased by 44% since January 2023, according to a Houston Landing analysis of court records.

The grant program funds an eviction coordinator, whose main priority is to contact tenants before their hearings and connect them to resources. That simple act has made a significant impact, Duble said.

Nearly a third of all cases in Duble’s eviction court were won by landlords through default judgement from January 2021 through December 2023. Over the past year, only 19% of cases resulted in a default judgement.

“The Texas Supreme Court is concerned if your default rates are high,” Duble said. “If people have the perception that they’re not getting justice then people lose faith in the justice system.”

Default judgements are not just a Texas problem, the judge said. According to the NCSC, it is not uncommon for 50% of eviction cases across the country to result in a default.

A text makes a difference

Davis is a fighter.

“I box when I’m broke and I box when I have money,” she said.

The U.S. Army veteran served in the military from July 2010 through October 2012 and drove a truck for several years. She’s had contracting jobs here and there, but boxing has remained her passion.

But after suffering from a concussion and quitting a job Davis said wasn’t paying her fairly, she had to turn down a contract to fight semi-professionally in Alabama. By the time the eviction notice for her Kirby Drive apartment arrived she felt hopeless.

Loreta Kovacic, Duble’s eviction coordinator, texted Davis ahead of her court date emphasizing how important it was that she attend her hearing.

“Miss Loreta advocated on my behalf,” Davis said. “It was definitely a sign that let me know … a realization I was about to lose my spot.”

She showed up to court on Oct. 29 owing over $1,600 in back rent.

“What I’m hearing is you need time, right?” Kovacic asked Davis. “A job and time?

Davis nodded.

The 33-year-old nervously tapped her foot and glanced at her phone, where she was logged into a job training session on Zoom about how to “Dress for Success.”

Kelly Young, Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County’s CEO and president, said diversion programs are important because many people facing eviction think all is lost when they receive a notice to vacate.

“You assume, what difference will it be if I go to court?” Young said. “Sometimes people don’t understand there can be a process of reconciliation. Contact, in general, helps with people across all social services.”

Court's intervention creates opportunity

As part of the diversion process in Duble’s court, tenants who financially qualify are paired with Lone Star Legal Aid attorneys who offer their services.

Evan Wright, a lawyer with Lone Star, represented Davis during her hearing in late October.

Duble ordered Wright and Davis’ landlord to seek mediation with Fred Kransy, a volunteer facilitator and attorney, who negotiated an agreement between Davis and her rental management property to come back to court on Nov. 26 — giving Davis a month or so to make up her rent.

“We’re dealing with a bureaucracy here,” Kransy told Davis’ landlord during the meeting.

Davis had been in contact with the Texas Veterans Commission, which told her they could process her intake forms and approve rental assistance up to $3,000 in a few weeks.

But without the court’s intervention to delay the hearing that day, Davis could have been on the hook to pay her rent immediately, Kransy said.

Samira Nazem, a principal management consultant for the NCSC, said the diversion program takes the burden off of a tenant and puts it onto the program.

“You usually need to call 20 places for rental assistance,” Nazem said. “All of the sudden it's a logic puzzle: Call around this church on the third Wednesday of this month. And that’s a big ask we make of people who are in crisis.”

"Dismiss this case"

On Nov. 15, Rubi Ayala-Mercado, the assistant community manager for Davis’ apartment complex, emailed Duble.

“We would like to dismiss this case, as Tecorya paid October and November rent,” she wrote.

The judge signed an order to dismiss that same day.

“I’m proud to say I’m in a position to be blessed,” Davis said.

She secured rental assistance through the Texas Veterans Commission, found a new job as a warehouse production supervisor and has aspirations to start her own business in the new year.

The goal, Davis explained, would be to launch Beast Mutt Rescue Academy, a company she hopes to turn into a nonprofit with the goal of teaching kids, ages 6-14, boxing fundamental but also mental fortitude.

“I’m not just preparing you to be a boxer,” she said. “I’m preparing you to fight life every day.”

That fight continues for Davis in new ways. She was accepted into an apprenticeship program to train to become a child development associate with the Texas Workforce Commission that begins in February 2025.

Interventions in eviction courts are critical, Kovacic said, but not every case is a success story and it can be hard to know when diversion works.

“I have no way of knowing if I send someone to a certain place if it will work out,” she said. “One way I measure success for now is these daily thanks texts from people who say, ‘Thank you, this worked.’”

Overall, as Duble has implemented more time, information and resources in his court — from Kovacic to an eviction mediation team made up of volunteer lawyers like Kransy, a resource center with access to legal information and an option for hybrid court, allowing tenants to appear via Zoom — there has been progress.

“It’s a scale,” he said. “Sometimes just slowing down the process … that’s a win.”

Disclosure: Texas Veterans Commission has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.