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After Charla's landlord failed to repair leaks that caused the ceiling to collapse in her daughter's bedroom, she withheld her rent. Shortly after, her landlord filed an eviction case against her for nonpayment.

Though she won her court case, Charla and her family had to remain in unsafe conditions as she searched for new housing and was repeatedly denied. She says she spent at least US$2,000 on unsuccessful application fees.

"When we go to find new housing, we can't because we have these [filings] on our records, and that's wrong," said Charla, a pseudonym. "I won [my] case … It's still following me. Why?"

We are researchers who study housing policy and eviction. Our most recent research documents the far-reaching collateral costs of eviction filings for 29 Pennsylvania tenants who experienced a "best-case scenario" in court.

Each of the tenants included in our study had legal representation and had their case resolved with a dismissal, withdrawal or a win. No one received an eviction order in court. We asked tenants in our study to describe the costs and losses they had experienced since their landlord filed to evict them.

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