Eviction Court Disruption Recap
On Jan 13, 2021, activists with Don’t Evict PDX disrupted the Landlord/Tenant court proceedings in Multnomah County. After months of court observation, in which we have seen how the system is designed to fail tenants at every opportunity, we were moved to direct action and took aim at the people and the systems which process and enforce evictions. Our goals included “throwing sand into the gears of the system” on that day, testing the limits of the court’s commitment to its role in the violent removal of people from their homes, and putting those who benefit from this oppressive system on notice of the power of tenants in solidarity with one another.
The “virtual sit-in” took place using the court’s online platform, which was put in place for the express reason of being able to continue to process evictions during a pandemic. The action lasted for the length of the morning’s court proceedings, as activists refused to be quieted or deterred. Our primary tactic was to overwhelm the court’s dial-in system with our calls for justice. Instead of putting the court into recess or delaying the proceedings, as we have seen done for a leak in the building and by judges in other cities, Judge Zusman attempted to carry on with business as usual, revealing his commitment to procedure over justice. In their efforts to silence the protest, the court hung up on callers, haphazardly muted phone lines, and held callers in virtual waiting rooms indefinitely without an opportunity to identify themselves.
Under these conditions, Judge Zusman decided that tenants were at fault for not appearing, and issued five default judgments of eviction. There was another choice he could have made. At the time of the action, an on-the-ground court observer was told that no default judgements would be entered that day, and that the cases would be rescheduled. However, we later learned that Judge Zusman took the most punitive position he could.
A default judgment is issued when one party doesn’t show up for the hearing. The party that is present, most often the landlord or their lawyer, gets a favorable judgment without ever having to present their case at trial or have the tenant offer their defense. These swift judgements allow the landlord to hire the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office to physically remove the tenant and their possessions after 24 hours. Notably, two days after the action, we observed the same judge take it upon himself to call a landlord’s lawyer from the courtroom, to avoid having to issue a default in favor of the tenant, who was present.
On the day of the action, the judge was forced to delay the defaults by seven days to allow tenants who may have been present but were muted, disconnected, or otherwise unable to be heard to request a new first appearance hearing. Instead of having the court arrange for rescheduled hearings, the entire burden of scheduling was placed on tenants. The notices were presumably sent by mail, so tenants likely had an even narrower window in which to act.
In our best efforts to prevent harm to tenants, Don’t Evict PDX followed up with all five affected tenants the next day to explain how to reschedule their hearings and offer our support. As of the release of this statement, we have not heard back from them. At a minimum, they all had an additional seven days in their housing before the courts were able to authorize the eviction and send the sheriffs to their doors.
The court took extreme measures to prevent the public from attending the two trials that were scheduled for that afternoon by changing courtrooms and blocking observers. Generally, landlord/tenant proceedings are open to the public in Multnomah County. This allows us to watch what the courts are doing and have a chance to hold them accountable for how they apply the laws that affect our lives. The swiftness and ease with which the judge and the court removed this access is disturbing and worth noting.
Activists across the USA, in New Orleans, Kansas City, and Ithaca to name a few, are participating in similar court disruptions and blockades, calling for the end of evictions and rent relief. The tactical and strategic lessons we have learned from this action and Don’t Evict PDX’s ongoing work, coupled with the skilled organizing and mutual aid efforts throughout our community, will help to build a more robust tenants’ rights movement in Portland.
Next Steps
Escalation - This direct action was relatively low stakes and low impact. We learned a great deal about the system, its weaknesses, and its resilience. With this knowledge and experience, we are ready and tackle larger actions with multiple points of attack. Ongoing disruption and protest is required. We are interested in building a coalition of affinity groups, organizations, and community members interested in a variety of direct action tactics.
Court Observation - The courts in Multnomah county are processing evictions every day. We also need to keep our eyes trained on the courts as observers. The data we collect through court observation continues to be extremely useful for advocating for policy changes and countering landlord narratives.
Building Tenant Power - It is not enough to inject support and solidarity after an eviction has been initiated. Site-of-eviction defense and court support are crucial to protecting tenants, but they are the tactics of last resort. Building collective power through tenants unions (within a building or within a series of properties managed by a company), through community political education, through lobbying for law changes are all also necessary.
If you are interested getting involved with Don’t Evict PDX or collaborating with us on any of these next steps, contact us at: dontevictpdx@gmail.com
Our Message to the Court, Landlords, and Tenants:
No one should be evicted. Every eviction is an act of violence. All evictions must end.
Evictions are direct violence – by forcing people out of their homes you are endangering them. People are dying from exposure. People are dying from Covid.
Evictions are police violence – by sending the sheriffs to forcibly remove folks from their homes you are endangering them, especially Black people, Indigenous people, people of color, and other people who have been persecuted by the state.
Evictions are structural violence. You are putting landlords’ profit over people. This is not due process. This is a legal system designed to serve and protect those who hoard wealth and commodify the resources that should be accessible to all. Housing is a human right
“Eviction law” inherits from the legal precedent of the dispossession and removal of Indigenous people from this land. The forced removal, by legal and extrajudicial means, of the Multnomah, Chinook, Tualatin, Cowlitz, Clatskanie, Kalapuya, and Clackamas peoples to make way for white settlers and their property must be addressed and remedied. Land Back.
To the landlords – you are not housing providers, you are parasites. Housing would exist without you.
To the tenants: this is not your fault. Everyone deserves a decent home. Together we flex our tenant power, our people power.
Judge Zusman, you are complicit with every eviction you oversee. It doesn’t have to be this way. You have a choice. End evictions now.
