Evictions and housing instability among Latina and immigrant mothers in Salt Lake City

Abstract

This article investigates evictions and housing stability specifically among Latina and immigrant mothers in Salt Lake City, Utah utilizing a gender lens. This is a Participatory Action Research (PAR) project in partnership with Community Voices for Housing Equality (CVHE). Researcher-participants from CVHE, a non-incorporated community group of social workers, residents, students, and professors from the University of Utah, were concerned about the climate of hostility that was felt toward those living in west side neighborhoods where most immigrants, refugees, and people of color live. The data for the study is drawn from 20 Latinas—nine (9) one-on-one interviews and a focus group with 11 participants as well as a community workshop with the same participants where researchers invited staff from the Disability Law Center to discuss with participants’ legal questions that emerged during the focus group. The main findings of the study were that many of the participants were unsure or completely unaware of their rights as tenants. The majority of them felt they had been a victim of housing discrimination at least once, much of it stemming from difficulty with language barriers between themselves and their landlords or property managers. The absence of written contracts and tendency to search out housing where extensive background checks were not required, resulted in many participants living in month-to-month arrangements, leaving them vulnerable housing instability and fearing an eviction. Moreover, many participants expressed being powerless to law changes in eviction and tenant-landlord relations.