A new report entitled Understanding Evictions in Omaha written by Creighton University professors Pierce Greenberg and and Gary Fischer outline the devastating impact evictions have on the Omaha community.

Evictions cause a loss of “social and community capital.”  High eviction rates are related to increasing crime rates and cause poor educational performance in schools. They cause a severance of supporting relationships that exist in all neighborhoods and can set off a cycle of social destruction that is difficult to break.

Residential stability begets a kind of psychological stability, which allows people to invest in their home and social relationships. It begets school stability, which increases the chances that children will excel and graduate. And it begets community stability, which encourages neighbors to form strong bonds and take care of their block. – Matthew Desmond, author of Evicted

The report describes Omaha’s eviction scene with many statistics and observations:

  • 39,346 eviction lawsuits were filed in 8 years between 2012 to 2019.  That equals 410 evictions per month.
  • 28,226 of those lawsuits resulted in a family being evicted.
  • Omaha has a 3.66% Eviction Rate per 100 rental units per year.
  • Omaha ranks 271st out of 274 U.S. cities on a measure of racial inclusion according to data from the Urban Institute.
  • Evictions predominately occur in older areas of Omaha with higher rates of low income housing and minority populations.
  •  Many eviction “hot spots” represent large apartment complexes or public housing facilities.
  • The interconnected nature of race, income, and evictions helps illustrate how important housing and residential stability is to reducing racial and economic disparities in Omaha.
  • The number of evictions in an elementary school attendance area correlates with student learning outcomes.
  • Only 1 out of 394 defendants were represented by an Omaha attorney.

The connection between high rates of evictions and societal problems in education, crime, jobs, income and family stability is overwhelming.  And, these Creighton professors have some suggestions to combat that problem.

  • Focus on eviction hotspots.  Omaha Housing Authority represents 7% of the eviction lawsuits filed in Omaha. Focus should be given to finding alternative dispute resolutions to reduce eviction rates.
  • Right–of-Counsel-Programs.  New York City initiated a program in 2017 to appoint attorneys to represent low-income tenants in eviction proceedings.  84% of defendants who were provided counsel were able to remain in their residence.

Will filing bankruptcy stop an and eviction in Nebraska?

Filing any type of bankruptcy in Nebraska temporarily stops an eviction.

Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases are short cases completed in roughly 100 days.  There is no payment plan associated with these cases and there is no power to cure a rent default, but the filing of a case will temporarily delay an eviction for probably 30 days.

Chapter 13 cases have more power to address eviction issues.  In addition to imposing a temporary stay of an eviction lawsuit, chapter 13 plans have the power to cure a lease default.

Section 1322(7) of the Bankruptcy Code allows a debtor’s payment plan to assume an unexpired lease and cure a default, however, this right is subject to Section 365 of the Bankruptcy Code, which provides:

  • If there has been a default in an executory contract or unexpired lease of the debtor, the trustee may not assume such contract or lease unless, at the time of assumption of such contract or lease, the trustee—
    • Cures, or provides adequate assurance that the trustee will promptly cure, such default  . . .
    • Compensates, or provides adequate assurance that the trustee will promptly compensate, a party other than the debtor to such contract or lease, for any actual pecuniary loss to such party resulting from such default; and
    • Provides adequate assurance of future performance under such contract or lease.

So, an Omaha bankruptcy attorney can help tenants to stop an eviction lawsuit IF they have the ability to cure the default promptly and to make future payments on time.  How prompt must the cure payment be? There is no hard rule, but I suspect curing a default over 60 to 90 days is probably considered a prompt payment.