Legal Aid in the Eviction Context

This pre-analysis plan evaluates Tulsa’s Right to Counsel (RTC) program, which provided free legal representation to tenants facing eviction. Beginning in September 2022, Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma offered counsel to tenants in two high-eviction ZIP codes (74105 and 74136), while two comparable ZIP codes (74133 and 74145) served as controls until the program expanded citywide in April 2024. The staggered rollout enables a quasi-experimental analysis of how access to counsel affects eviction case outcomes and local housing-market responses. Using administrative court data and public data on building permits, housing values, and rent burdens, we estimate impacts at the case, ZIP-code, and neighborhood levels using difference-in-differences and synthetic control methods. The study is conducted in partnership with the Oklahoma Policy Institute and Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma.

Tulsa’s Right to Counsel (RTC) program provides free legal representation to tenants facing eviction in Tulsa County, Oklahoma. Beginning in September 2022, Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma (LASO) offered pro bono counsel to tenants residing in two ZIP codes (74105 and 74136) with historically high eviction rates. Two demographically and economically similar ZIP codes (74133 and 74145) were not initially covered and serve as comparison areas. In April 2024, the program expanded citywide, marking the end of the pre-expansion evaluation period.

Our analysis focuses on this 19-month window (Sept 2022 – Apr 2024), when treatment was geographically limited. We examine how access to counsel affected both tenant-level case outcomes and neighborhood housing-market conditions. Primary outcomes include court appearance, dismissals, judgments, and time to execution. At the ZIP-code level, we assess changes in eviction filing rates, new building permits, property values, and rent-to-income ratios to capture potential supply or affordability responses.

Data come from the Oklahoma State Court Network and Open Justice Oklahoma, merged with U.S. Census Bureau data. The main identification strategy is a difference-in-differences design comparing treated and control ZIP codes before and after program initiation, supplemented by synthetic-control analyses for selected housing outcomes. Standard errors are clustered at the ZIP-code level.

This pre-analysis plan is registered prior to accessing post-intervention data. The study is conducted in partnership with the Oklahoma Policy Institute and Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma.

2022-09-01

2024-03-01

Primary outcomes include tenant-level eviction case results (appearance in court, case dismissal, judgment under advisement, tenant-favorable outcome, and time to execution) and ZIP-code-level housing indicators (eviction filing rates, new residential building permits, median housing values, and rent-to-income ratios). These outcomes measure how access to free legal counsel affects both immediate eviction outcomes and broader neighborhood housing-market conditions during the 19-month evaluation period (Sept 2022 – Apr 2024).

Most outcomes are directly observable from administrative data. “Tenant-favorable outcome” will be constructed as a binary variable equal to 1 if the case results in (a) dismissal, (b) a judgment under advisement (JUA) without subsequent adverse ruling, or (c) a decision in the tenant’s favor. “Time to execution” will be measured as the number of days between judgment date and execution date. ZIP-code-level outcomes—such as eviction filing rate, number of new residential building permits, median housing value, and rent-to-income ratio—will be constructed using aggregate counts or medians from court and U.S. Census Bureau data normalized by ZIP-code population or renter households.

The study evaluates Tulsa’s Right to Counsel (RTC) program, which began in September 2022 and provided free legal representation to tenants facing eviction. Two ZIP codes (74105 and 74136) were eligible for representation during the evaluation period, while two comparable ZIP codes (74133 and 74145) were not initially covered and serve as controls. In April 2024, the program expanded citywide, marking the end of the analysis window. The research design compares outcomes across treated and control ZIP codes using a difference-in-differences framework and complementary synthetic-control analyses. Treatment assignment occurred at the ZIP-code level, and standard errors will be clustered accordingly.

Tulsa’s Right to Counsel (RTC) program offers free legal representation to tenants facing eviction in Tulsa County, Oklahoma. Beginning in September 2022, Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma (LASO) provided representation to tenants in two ZIP codes (74105 and 74136) identified by the Oklahoma Policy Institute (OPI) as having high eviction rates and similar demographic profiles. Two other ZIP codes (74133 and 74145) with comparable socioeconomic characteristics were not initially covered and serve as control areas. In April 2024, the RTC program expanded citywide, concluding the pre-expansion evaluation window.

The evaluation uses administrative court data from the Oklahoma State Court Network and Open Justice Oklahoma to compare eviction outcomes between treated and control ZIP codes before and after the program’s introduction. The unit of assignment is the ZIP code, and the unit of observation varies by outcome: individual eviction case, tenant, or ZIP code. The analysis focuses on the 19-month pre-expansion period (September 2022 – April 2024), with outcomes measured at the case level (appearance, dismissal, judgment, time to execution) and the ZIP-code level (eviction filing rates, building permits, housing values, and rent-to-income ratios).

The primary estimation strategy is a difference-in-differences framework with ZIP-code and time fixed effects, comparing trends in treated and control areas before and after program implementation. For selected ZIP-code-level outcomes, we also employ synthetic-control methods to construct counterfactual trends. Standard errors are clustered at the ZIP-code level.

We limit the sample to each tenant’s first observed eviction case within the study window to avoid contamination from multiple filings. The study is conducted in partnership with the Oklahoma Policy Institute and Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma, and this pre-analysis plan is registered before accessing post-intervention data.

Treatment assignment was determined by a simple randomization procedure conducted by project partners. Among four eligible ZIP codes identified based on comparable demographic and eviction characteristics, two ZIP codes were randomly selected for treatment via coin flip, and the remaining two served as controls.

Randomization occurred at the ZIP code level.

Yes

4-ZIP Codes

Planned number of observations: 4 clusters (ZIP codes: 74105, 74136, 74133, 74145). Approximately 7,000–9,000 eviction case filings across these ZIPs during Sept 2022–Apr 2024 (19 months), estimated by extrapolating pre-intervention monthly filing rates in the same ZIPs. (ZIP-month panel: 4 × 19 = 76 post cells, plus pre-period cells for trends.)

Treatment (RTC eligible): 2 ZIP codes (74105, 74136); ~3,500–4,500 eviction cases over Sept 2022–Apr 2024 (estimate).
Control: 2 ZIP codes (74133, 74145); ~3,500–4,500 eviction cases over Sept 2022–Apr 2024 (estimate).