Durham council debates extension and structure of eviction diversion program

Durham City Council spent a significant portion of its work session debating the future of the city’s eviction diversion program, including whether to extend a contract with Legal Aid of North Carolina and how to improve mediation outcomes and rental-assistance coordination.

Multiple public speakers urged changes to the current contract structure. Leah Bergman, addressing the council, said Legal Aid opened 768 cases last year but “only 11, less than 1.5% … were resolved through mediation,” and recommended separating mediation as a neutral third party through an RFP process while increasing monitoring of Legal Aid’s mediation outcomes. Other commenters emphasized "security of tenure," landlord engagement and policies that require mediation earlier in the process.

Housing Director Sarah Vinius said the proposed extension is intended to maintain eviction-diversion services in the near term while a new comprehensive affordable housing plan is completed. Legal Aid attorney Sarah Damato told council that many cases are settled through negotiation (roughly 400–500 closed cases historically by negotiation) rather than formal mediation, and that the program subcontracts mediation services to the Elning Conflict Resolution Center. Damato said some measures cited as low mediation counts actually reflect cases handled by negotiation or referrals that do not appear in mediation-only statistics.

Council members repeatedly voiced shared goals—reducing evictions and supporting the most vulnerable households—but differed on timing and funding. Concerns included duplication across city, county and nonprofit efforts; whether the program’s proposed $1.4 million, two-year total (reported during the work session) properly balanced legal assistance, mediation and rental assistance; and structural barriers such as county Department of Social Services rules that require a court filing before a tenant can receive the maximum rental assistance amount, which limits pre‑court mediation options.

Several council members asked staff to bring the topic to the next Joint City–County meeting, to provide additional data on closed cases and mediation outcomes, and to outline how rental-assistance flows (and DSS rules) affect diversion. Legal Aid and the Conflict Resolution Center said they are increasing landlord outreach and landlord education (including scheduled landlord sessions) to raise awareness of mediation as an option.

What’s next: Staff said the item will be discussed at the upcoming Joint City–County meeting, and council asked housing staff and legal services providers to return with data and recommended changes to ensure that mediation, rental assistance and legal aid operate together to reduce evictions.