From prison, convicted rapist Arlin Jordin has easily evicted tenants for decades. With Washington’s right-to-counsel laws, that’s all changing.

Jordan v Braman, an eviction trial by jury

from prison convicted rapist Arlan Jordan

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has easily evicted tenants for decades

with Washington's right to counsel laws.

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That's all changing content.

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Warning, this story contains description

of and reference to sexual assault.

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Once the owner of five Buildings,

Arlen Jordan has filed hundreds of

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evictions in the last 20 years, nearly

one for each of the 258 months of

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prison time he was sentenced to in

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Jordan used to be described as

one of the city's most eligible

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bachelors, a decorated Vietnam war

veteran, and even the man with the

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biggest feet to ever run Blooms Day.

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When he walked into Clinker dagger or

pulled into a parking lot with his gold

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Jaguar convertible, people knew him as

a man who had money, money and power.

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In 2004, news broke that multiple

women had accused Jordan of

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drugging and raping them.

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A chorus of women dating back to

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They were in need of a place to live.

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Jordan had an apartment to rent.

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He invited them over to discuss the

rental, and then they were drugged.

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Some of them described

being sexually assaulted.

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Others said they escaped.

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Jordan was arrested, tried

convicted of one count of second

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degree rape, and eventually sent

to prison, though not before.

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He was briefly released on $100,000

bond while his case was on appeal.

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He was moved to house arrest and

finally taken back into custody after

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he violated terms of his parole by

giving a potential female tenant

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alcohol he was not supposed to possess.

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He has been behind bars first

at Coyote Correctional Center

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and now a facility near Seattle.

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Since then.

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From prison.

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Jordan's tenants have stayed under

his thumb though he committed these

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crimes in his buildings using the

promise of open units to lure potential

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victims in need of a place to live.

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Jordan still kept his properties.

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There was no law saying he couldn't.

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While incarcerated, Jordan has

evicted hundreds of tenants.

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Despite not seeing the units in person

in years, Jordan set the rent prices,

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decided what to charge for deposits

and pet fees, and made the final

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call on just how much unpaid rent

should result in an eviction filing.

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When his property managers would report

unpaid rent to Jordan, he would direct

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his lawyer to file a claim typically

for unpaid rent with the court.

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Then one of Jordan's staff, sometimes

the attorney or his accountant,

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sometimes a property manager would serve

tenants with a notice to vacate if the

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tenant didn't respond to the notice.

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In court, a default judgment was

entered in Jordan's favor, leaving

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tenants owing back rent, late

fees, court fees, and lawyer fees.

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That amounted to much more than the

unpaid rent they owed to begin with.

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Within a few days or weeks, a sheriff's

officer would show up to evict the tenant.

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At least 154 of Jordan's filings have

resulted in successful evictions.

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According to the more than 314 civil case

filings range reviewed, his tenants could

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have responded to the court to legally

fight their eviction, but they rarely did.

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Lawyers are expensive and

hard to find on short notice.

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Meanwhile, Jordan is a

guy with multiple lawyers.

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His quote, most expensive lawyer told him

he shouldn't take an interview with range.

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He did anyway.

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Jordan May be a special case.

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Even.

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He told range, he evicts more tenants

than most, but his story puts the

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power difference that is undercurrent

to every landlord tenant relationship.

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In stark contrast, whoever owns the

property decides whether the person who

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lives there has a roof over their head.

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Rent burdened.

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Across the state, the

landscape for renters is bleak.

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Most tenants in Washington are

rent burdened, which means they

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have to spend over 30% of their

monthly income on housing costs.

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And Spokane is worse

than the state average.

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52.1%

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of renters were rent burdened, and 28.3%

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of renters paid more than 50% of

their monthly income on housing costs.

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As evictions continue to spike

in Washington state and local

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lawmakers have started to look more

closely at this power imbalance.

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During the COVID-19 pandemic state

legislators approved a year long eviction

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moratorium preventing landlords from

evicting tenants due to nonpayment of

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rent and requiring reasonable repayment

plans to be provided to tenants

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following the end of the moratorium.

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Then they passed the nation's first

right to Council Law guaranteeing low

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income tenants court assigned legal

representation in eviction proceedings.

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Locally, the city council

passed complimentary legislation

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in the last two years.

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Heightening requirements for landlords

before they could raise rents or evict

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tenants with newfound tenant protections.

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Evicting tenants got harder before

right to council was implemented.

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Only three of the tenants Jordan

tried to evict, had managed to

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secure legal representation.

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Now nearly every single one

of his tenants qualifies for a

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free lawyer to fight for them.

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Jordan has stopped winning his cases

in default judgments as the court

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appointed lawyers for his tenants fight

for stays of evictions, case dismissals,

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and even monetary settlements from

Jordan due to the alleged inhospitable

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living conditions at his properties.

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Range scoured court documents from

every single eviction Jordan initiated

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after 2005 when Spokane started

digitizing their court records.

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And the same year Washington

filed rape charges against him.

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We found 222 evictions 189

from before right to counsel.

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Laws were implemented.

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The cases reveal a pattern of

evictions over small sums of money.

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In August of 2012, he evicted a woman

named Danielle for $150 of unpaid

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rent and alleged drug activities.

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She submitted a paper copy of a receipt

showing she'd paid the $150 a week after

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Jordan's lawyer filed an eviction against

her, but Danielle had no lawyer choosing

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instead to represent herself in court.

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And by the end of the month,

sheriff's officers had evicted

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Danielle from her residence.

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That same year, he evicted a man

named Mike who was up to date on rent

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but hadn't paid the pet fee of $700.

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Jordan was charging.

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In April of 2013, Jordan evicted a

woman named Beverly over even less,

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just $45 of alleged unpaid rent.

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Excluding cases where tenants were evicted

for reasons besides unpaid rent and cases.

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After April of 2021, when right to

counsel laws were implemented, the

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average amount of unpaid rent Jordan

evicted tenants for was $797 and 53 cents.

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In some cases, that didn't even amount

to a full month's worth of rent.

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Almost none of these tenants had lawyers

across all his cases from before.

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Right to Counsel, we could only find three

where the tenant had legal representation.

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Two of those three tenants

got the evictions dismissed.

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This changed dramatically with

Right to Counsel when paired with

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free lawyers, tenants began to

win their cases against Jordan.

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This trend holds statewide.

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According to stats, the Northwest Justice

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Since right to counsel was enacted,

just 15% of cases with court appointed

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lawyers resulted in eviction orders.

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Data from the Washington Office of Civil

Legal Aid shows the program is helping

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create long-term housing stability for

tenants, not just stays of execution,

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with 81% of closed cases resulting

in permanent housing being secured,

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and 56% of cases ending with tenants

being able to stay in their residence.

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Locally, the Spokane City Council

has moved to pass multiple

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renter protection policies.

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A law requiring six months of

notification prior to any rent raise,

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over 3% of a tenant's total rent,

and requiring landlords to obtain a

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business license and register their

rentals on a citywide registry before

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raising a rent or evicting tenants.

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And this year, the state legislature

finally passed rent stabilization,

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capping annual rent raises

at 10% or 7% plus inflation.

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All these regulations, local and

statewide, give right to counsel

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lawyers, more tools to fight for

the best outcome for their tenant.

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Like in a recent eviction case, Arlan

Jordan v Lisa Braman across at least

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two years and six court filings.

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Jordan has tried to evict Lisa Braman,

a tenant of an old mansion on the lower

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South Hill that he'd purchased and

converted to eight units in the early

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two thousands, . And collect payment

for multiple years of unpaid rent.

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But this time the woman had

secured lawyers through the

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right to counsel program.

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Those lawyers had successfully fended

off six eviction filings from Jordan.

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After the seventh attempt, Bray's lawyer

Hannah Swenson, the managing attorney

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of King County Bar Association Housing

Justice Projects, Spokane office pushed

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for a trial before a jury, likely the

first of its kind in Spokane since

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right to Counsel was implemented.

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On Tuesday, September 2nd, following the

seventh filing, Jordan found himself back

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in front of a jury for the first time in

decades, arguing via Zoom from the Monroe

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Co Correctional Complex near Seattle, that

Brayman owed him nearly $40,000 and unpaid

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rent and needed to leave his property.

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Brant Stevens Jordan's lawyer

described the case as straightforward.

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Swenson Bray's attorney felt differently.

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If this case was as simple as Mr.

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Stevens and Arlen Jordan hoped

we wouldn't be here today.

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We wouldn't have made it all the way

to trial a literal dumpster fire.

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There are complex legal terms to

describe Swenson's defenses for

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Brayman, like equity of horrors, a

forfeiture unclean hands doctrine, and

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the implied warrant of habitability.

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But for the layperson, unfamiliar

with case law precedents, her

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arguments boiled down to this.

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Jordan wasn't fulfilling his

responsibilities as a landlord, so

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how could a tenant be expected to

hold up their end of the bargain?

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Jordan's properties, including

the one Brayman lived in,

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have habitability issues.

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Swensen argued the eight unit

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ninth Avenue where Brayman lives

had ongoing code enforcement issues.

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Code enforcement officers who

testified at the trial described

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inspecting the building in late

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Water damage, inadequate or inoperable

heating systems, overflowing

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dumpsters, a leaking water heater,

and exposed wiring among other issues.

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The property is in our substandard

building process and the owner has hired

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a new contractor to take over large scale

repairs in response to code's efforts.

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Said he spokesperson.

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Aaron Hutt wrote in an email.

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Neighbors have consistently been reporting

issues over the last two years to try and

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get it designated as a chronic nuisance

property, but that has not happened.

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There was a code enforcement

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which Jordan didn't attend.

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He was given 60 days to submit a plan to

remedy the issues, which he did, but code

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enforcement found that plan inadequate.

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By the time of the trial, almost a full

year after that hearing, Jordan had

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still not addressed the code violations.

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He made a bit of progress though in August

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began, he finally hired a licensed and

bonded contractor to conduct the repairs.

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The habitability issues at

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at a Jordan property in 2014.

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Jordan made headlines for the first

time since his case concluded when the

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Spokane Fire Department declared his

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Substandard citing inoperable fire

alarm system exposed electrical wiring,

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water leaks, inadequate weatherproofing

and defective heating systems.

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Jordan resisted paying for repairs.

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Tenants at the time, told

the spokesman review.

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It was mid-November of that year with the

average temperature in Spokane hitting

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a high of 40 degrees when tenants were

given 24 hours notice to leave Jordan's

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building, leaving some of them homeless.

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Meanwhile, tenants described Jordan

as quote, just sitting behind

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bars collecting money from the day

he was charged in his rape case.

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To present.

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Jordan has opened over 220 eviction

cases against tenants across his real

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estate holdings, nearly 50 units when

he went to prison, and now closer to 24.

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Evicting tenants isn't

just a prison cell hobby.

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Before his arrest, Jordan had

already opened civil actions

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against more than a hundred tenants.

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Most of them women.

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A landlord has duties.

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Swensen argued like the duty to keep

the premises safe and habitable.

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In the state of Washington, there

are 15 duties outlined by law that

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landlords have to meet in order to keep

the premises fit for human habitation.

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Some of those responsibilities

include maintaining the roof and

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foundations, keeping common areas

clean and sanitary, providing

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adequate locks, making reasonable

repairs, and ensuring electricity,

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plumbing and heating are supplied.

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If there is no hot water like tenants

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lock like Braman and Jordan's own

property manager testified to, or

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the dumpsters constantly overflowing

like the code enforcement officers

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observed, the landlord isn't holding up

their end of the bargain, and tenants

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may be entitled to offsets like a

settlement or a write off of rent due.

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If I had a choice from the day

she moved in, her unit had issues.

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Bra told the court, black water coming

up, the shower drain wires melted under

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her stove that prevented the oven from

turning on a leak from the building's

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roof that caused a musky smell.

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She moved in despite the unit's flaws.

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I was homeless.

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Raymond said if I had a choice, I

wouldn't have moved into this house.

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I wouldn't have exposed my

kids to this environment.

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Living in the small unit was stressful.

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One of her dogs died during a

heat wave after drinking the black

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water backed up in her shower.

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Braman said the building itself had

no locks for a large chunk of time,

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which Braman said caused break-ins

and drug use in common spaces.

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She filed a complaint to code enforcement

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the building in 2024, despite noting

major issues in the building as a

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whole, they said they found no severe

habitability issues in her unit.

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Jordan argued that because her unit

specifically had no code enforcement

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issues, Braman was not entitled to

rent offsets, though he hadn't been to

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the old mansion in almost two decades.

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Jordan maintained the property at

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I haven't seen it for a while.

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Jordan said during the

trial, everything works.

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It just needs updated.

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The city currently has active

substandard building cases open

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against all three of the properties.

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Jordan still owns 1302 West Boone Avenue,

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ninth All Star Property Management.

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While Jordan ultimately makes a decision

on whether or not to evict tenants,

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he does so based on the reporting from

his longtime accountant or his property

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manager of the respective property.

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Some of his property managers

are tenant employees living in

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his buildings and managing them.

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Many of them show up later in eviction

filings like Mike McGuire, a property

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manager evicted by Jordan in 2012,

Shelly Hagelstein evicted by Jordan in

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2014 after he claimed she kept almost

$2,000 in deposits from other tenants.

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And Tim Ru, a tenant employee evicted

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paid him in weeks RU and his response

to the court also claimed Jordan had

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cycled through five managers in four

years and was withholding the pay.

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His rent was typically deducted from

Arlen will never pay and is not truthful.

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RU wrote, I have a family, four

children and two granddaughters.

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He owes me.

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Ru's story was reflected more than a dozen

years later during Brahman's trial when

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Swensen called Jason ths to the stand.

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Th one of the two property managers at

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a handyman who lived at the building

while fixing maintenance issues.

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He also helped serve eviction notices.

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A few weeks before Brahman's trial began,

th returned home to his unit to find

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Jordan's new contractor had changed the

locks, leaving th without a job or a home.

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There wasn't any paperwork

trail eviction for me, he said.

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Jordan described it differently.

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I just told him to find

a place he liked better.

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He just didn't seem to be very happy.

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Besides high turnover, there are other

problems with Jordan's property managers.

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They aren't always honest.

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In 2014, Jordan's attorney at the time,

Neil Humphreys said that many of the

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issues with Jordan's properties were the

responsibility of managers who had stolen

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rent money and lied about doing repairs.

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People pay deposits and pay rent and it

never gets turned into the bookkeeper.

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Humphreys told the spokesman in

Bray's own case, tenant property

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manager Regina Vaughn, the sole

witness called in the plaintiff's

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case may have perjured herself.

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A central pillar of Swenson's Case against

Jordan was conflicting rent ledgers and

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14 day notices introduced during the

previous eviction cases against Braman.

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One ledger said Brahman's

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Another said 945.

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Some of the notices listed her monthly

rent at anywhere between 595 and $5,121.

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The two most commonly cited ledgers

show a rent hike of either 59% or 76%,

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both of which would've been illegal

if Washington's rent stabilization

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had passed a few years earlier.

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How could Braman actually

pay her back rent?

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Swensen argued if she had no idea how

much she was supposed to pay, and how

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could Jordan be trusted to prove she

wasn't paying to begin with if his record

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keeping and rental ledgers were so shoddy.

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In December, 2024, Vaughn testified

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$5 ledger, but during Brahman's jury

trial testified that the $945 ledger

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was accurate and claimed she couldn't

remember even testifying in December.

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She wasn't sure if she even did.

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If you can't remember what happened

in a hearing in December, how do

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you remember what happened in 2021?

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Swensen asked her.

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But perhaps the biggest red flag on

Jordan's history with property managers

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is Allstar Property Management.

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In 2023, Allstar Property Management,

which Jordan had hired to handle

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his properties at least since 2021,

was accused by multiple tenants

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of fraudulently obtaining federal

COVID-19 rental assistance dollars.

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The company was accused of seeking

funding for more than 30 tenants who

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were not eligible falsely inflating rent

amounts for tenants who were eligible,

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claiming tenants who were up to date on

rent had past due payments and filing

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for COVID-19 assistance on tenants'

behalf even after they had moved out.

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The case was brought by the Northwest

Justice Project on behalf of Crystal

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Jeffries, one of Jordan's tenants

who all star property management had

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tried to evict for nonpayment of rent.

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Two years earlier, a right to counsel

attorney had helped her settle,

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allowing her to leave on her own terms.

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I had nowhere to go.

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I had three dogs.

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A cleaned up the living area best I

could and blocked off the bathrooms.

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Jefferies wrote in a testimonial

about the building septic

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system backing up into her unit.

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After a certain point, I stopped paying

rent because the place was unlivable.

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When I complained, they served me an

eviction notice for nonpayment of rent.

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Not long after I got an email that

said Your landlord has received your

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check, Allstar had gotten a check

for $16,000 of back rent submitted

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in my name, but I had never applied

the Northwest Justice Project.

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Believed her and took up her

case against All Star and Jordan.

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Six months later, Allstar Property

Management settled with the federal

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government for more than $300,000.

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Though the settlement states, Jordan

received an overpayment of COVID-19

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funds he was not entitled to.

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Jordan maintains that he had no knowledge.

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Allstar property management

was committing fraud.

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He was ordered to pay about

$20,000, which the property

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management company agreed to cover.

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Jefferies herself received

$68,000 of the total settlement.

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I am thankful I was listened to.

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When you're low income like

me, people don't care, but

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they actually listened to me.

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They believed me, believed in me.

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Jeffries wrote, when I found out I

would get $68,000, I wanted to cry.

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I wanna put a down payment

on a forever place.

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I want to have a tree.

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I don't think that's too much to ask.

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All Star Property Management was the same

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when Braman said she began receiving

rent hike notices as a low income tenant.

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Braman herself may have qualified for

the Federal pandemic rent assistance.

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Swensen said she doesn't know for sure if

Brayman ever applied but from the stand.

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Brayman implied that was the case.

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I don't plan on staying in this

position, but that money was supposed

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to come to me to get me compensated

for my losses in displacement, she

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said however no evidence was ever

introduced to prove whether or not she

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did apply or was impacted by all star.

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Property management's fraud.

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Still because the company admitted to

falsifying back rent amounts in the

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settlement swensen both argued this made

Jordan's hands unclean a legal precedent,

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meaning Jordan would be ineligible to

recover funds from Brayman due to his own

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unethical behavior and made Bray's back

due balance suspect because much of it was

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accumulated under all stars Management.

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Everybody needs a place to live.

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Lisa Braman was not a perfect tenant.

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She has few assets and no steady income.

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After one of her dogs died, she

was depressed, so she decided to

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hatch chickens inside her apartment.

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I adopted six eggs, and in 21 days

I delivered a really cool chicken

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braman said to the court, it

gave me something to smile about.

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I don't regret it.

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When she took the stand wearing a white

T-shirt that said, Nope, not today.

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She didn't deny the fact that she had

not paid rent at Jordan's property

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for four years, even before 2021.

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Bray's rental history paints a

picture of financial instability

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with multiple eviction cases.

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Six of those were Jordan's earlier

attempts to get her out, but

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others were from prior landlords.

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In 2015, she was evicted from

a property in North Spokane

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over $1,680 in unpaid rent.

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Two years later, she was evicted

from a residence in Airway

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Heights over non-payment of rent.

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Defendants have not ever paid a full month

rent payment ever and have paid nothing

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for the months of May, June, or July.

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The landlord from that case

claimed after that eviction.

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Braman said she was left homeless.

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She had serious mental health

issues that left her unable to work.

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Her options for housing were limited.

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She was exactly the kind of tenant.

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Jordan attracts and caters to

slumlord because he does not

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require credit or background checks.

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Low income tenants with past evictions

or criminal records often find one of

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Jordan's three remaining properties,

their only available choice.

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These renters are the

classic prey for slum lords.

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Tenants have no other options and no

money to hire a lawyer to defend them.

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They're at the mercy of a landlord who

has no incentive to keep their unit

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livable and safe and who can kick them

to the curb with no recourse according

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to reporting from the spokesman review.

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A former Jordan tenant wrote an anonymous

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with Jordan titled, quote, A Tale of

My Old Landlord, the Convicted Rapist.

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She raised the class dynamic inherent

in Jordan's mini rental empire and

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his criminal activity after he was

released on a $100,000 bond following

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his second degree rape conviction,

only a rich man would be walking the

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streets after a conviction like that.

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She wrote, he likes to drug and rape young

women in his fancy South Hill apartment.

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He has made his money renting

out the crappiest apartments in

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Spokane to the poorest of the poor.

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That power dynamic has long played out

in the halls of Jordan's properties.

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In the early years before Jordan went

to prison, he would often interview

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tenants from his own apartment at 1827

West ninth Avenue, the same building.

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Braman would later live in.

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Jordan placed ads in the spokesman

review for his open rental units.

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When potential tenants would

respond, he often invited them over

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to his apartment to interview them.

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I thought this might be his way

of screening potential clients.

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A woman who would later accuse

Jordan of rape told spokesman

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reporter Thomas Klaus in 2004.

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The first night she went to his

apartment, nothing untoward happened.

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She had to leave after one

drink to meet up with friends.

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But Jordan was persistent calling

her multiple times, offering her

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tours and telling her that even

though she'd just found a different

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place to live with a friend, it

couldn't hurt to tour his units.

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After the two drinks, Jordan offered her.

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She woke up the next morning naked in

his bed after his arrest, more than

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50 women contacted the Spokane Police

Department with their own stories

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of feeling ill after taking a drink.

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Jordan offered from those reports.

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SPD identified eight women they believed

had been drugged and raped at his trial.

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His daughter said Jordan loved

to host and would routinely

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offer his guests food and drink.

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His specialty was a margarita

recipe he learned in Mexico.

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Jordan, to this day says he never

drugged any women, but he is

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never disputed that he would offer

potential women, tenants, alcohol.

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When they came to talk rentals,

sometimes he said during his trial he

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would have sexual relations with them.

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Housing advocates at the time had

identified other distressing patterns.

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In December of 2004, the executive

director of the Northwest Fair Housing

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Alliance told reporters they'd received

a number of complaints about Jordan.

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The most egregious example was

a woman who had changed her

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mind about renting from Jordan.

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When she went to his apartment to get

her deposit back, she said he met her

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wearing only a blue terrycloth robe

and made sexual advances towards her.

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In that same article, Bryce

Watson, one of Jordan's property

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managers, said he'd heard claims

from women tenants that Jordan had

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offered to let them pay with sex.

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If anybody complained, he

would threaten eviction.

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Watson said, the tenants told him,

I don't get to pick my tenants.

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After he was incarcerated, Jordan

continued to exercise his power

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over his tenants through eviction

proceedings from his cell.

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Jordan decides if his tenants will

have a roof over their heads or not.

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Since becoming incarcerated,

it's been hard because I

444

don't get to pick my tenants.

445

Jordan said.

446

Because he doesn't get to interview

tenants like he used to inviting

447

them over for drinks at his

apartment to get to know them.

448

He is more likely to end up with

tenants who are untrustworthy

449

or unable to pay rent.

450

He said he thinks he is

evicted more people than the

451

average landlord as a result.

452

It was April of 2018 when Lisa Braman

453

Avenue, the same building where Jordan

once lived, the same building where he

454

committed the rape he was convicted of.

455

If I had known who the owner

was, me and my son wouldn't have

456

stepped foot in that property.

457

Braman said from the witness stand,

but she had nowhere else to go.

458

Like the tenants who came before Braman

found herself under Arlin Jordan's thumb.

459

Being a landlord is the

perfect line of work.

460

Everybody needs a place to live,

including single women going through

461

stressful changes in their lives.

462

Wrote Gregory Newell Smith, the

husband of one of Jordan's victims,

463

whose case SPD, didn't choose to

prosecute in an unpublished manuscript.

464

Sooner or later they come to him.

465

Accomplice since becoming the managing

attorney at KCBA Housing Justice of

466

Spokane in October of 2024, Hannah

Swenson has personally taken at

467

least six breach of habitability

claims against Jordan for tenants.

468

Her firm has litigated more than

469

It is never ending.

470

She said in an interview.

471

When there are habitability issues

like at Jordan's Properties right

472

to counsel, lawyers can fight for

settlements, which Swensen has

473

been able to secure for clients.

474

In some cases.

475

Sometimes that's what someone needs

to actually get out and be able

476

to go find somewhere safe to go.

477

She said for a resident of Jordan's

478

being charged with over $16,000 in back

rent, Swensen negotiated a settlement

479

where Jordan paid her client $4,000

and gave them a month to move out.

480

In another case at the property next

481

a pair of tenants owed over $20,000.

482

There were severe habitability issues.

483

Swensen herself witnessed black mold

when she went to meet with her clients.

484

After 20 minutes, I walked

out with my lungs hurting.

485

She said, those sorts of basic undeniable

effects on your health and how you

486

can function, affect your whole life.

487

By the end of the case, Jordan had signed

a settlement agreement to pay them $3,500

488

and give them six weeks to move out.

489

These kinds of victories

aren't going unpunished.

490

It is not uncommon when I'm

litigating against Arlen Jordan to

491

receive anonymous threats or hearing

that his employees want to bash.

492

My face in Swenson said.

493

Testifying virtually at Brahman's

eviction hearing from the

494

Monroe Correctional Complex.

495

Jordan referred to Swensen

both as sweetheart and then

496

as Brahman's accomplice.

497

When asked why he chose that word,

Jordan said it was intentional.

498

He believes Swensen and other

right to counsel attorneys are

499

helping tenants steal from him.

500

The lawyers don't have to help tenants.

501

Jordan said they're choosing to do it,

and by dragging cases out and allowing

502

non-paying tenants to stay in his

units for longer, he's losing money.

503

He believes the pendulum has

swung too far in favor of renters.

504

People end up not paying rent

and getting away with it.

505

Like Lisa Braman.

506

It discourages people from

building houses and renting it out.

507

Jordan said.

508

All I have to sell is rent.

509

I'm not selling wheat or toys or

vegetables, which would be against

510

a law to steal, but she's allowed

to steal rent from me and my family.

511

He said before the new laws,

the landlord had all the power,

512

Jordan said, now the tenant does.

513

But when Swensen sees the low income

tenants who are referred to her law

514

office, she doesn't see people with power.

515

She sees vulnerable people, people

who need help, quote, telling

516

their side of what happened.

517

People who, without legal representation

could find themselves standing

518

on the sidewalk with everything

they own in trash bags after a

519

forcible eviction from police.

520

We're talking about

these vulnerable groups.

521

We're talking about people who are

potentially financially unstable.

522

She said they don't have a community

around them Who's gonna catch them

523

if they need help, and that makes

predatory landlords very dangerous.

524

Even facing an eviction

filing can be life altering.

525

Swensen told, investigate West earlier

this summer, especially for low income

526

households that receive support from

the Federal Housing Choice voucher

527

program, formally known as Section eight.

528

Getting an eviction, boots them

from the program and can make them

529

ineligible for benefits in the future.

530

And even if a tenant wins their

case, the eviction could still

531

show up on their record, making it

harder to find a new place to live.

532

The thing about housing and eviction

is it's a continuum and it's a cycle.

533

That's why we often have repeat clients.

534

You can't get out of the system.

535

Swensen said, once you're in it,

it's so hard to climb out locally.

536

Swensen and firms like KCBA Housing

Justice Project and the Northwest

537

Justice Project are looking for proactive

ways to stop people from being evicted

538

in the first place twice a month.

539

Attorneys from KCBA housing justice

project meet tenants at risk of eviction,

540

conducting pre eviction screenings and

looking for ways to avoid a filing.

541

We're trying to get to people as

soon as they have a 14 day notice to

542

provide representation at that stage.

543

Swensen said, I think we can prevent

so many filings, the verdict.

544

Freeman's case in particular, Swensen

said, has highlighted the importance of

545

the right to counsel program without right

to counsel Slumlords like Arlen Jordan

546

threaten and pursue illegal eviction

to tenants and seek to profit from it.

547

Swensen said, all while making

tenants live in deplorable conditions

548

and in fear of maintaining housing.

549

Accountability matters.

550

For three days, Swenson defended

Brayman highlighting Jordan's shoddy

551

ledger, keeping the breadth of code

enforcement issues at his properties,

552

and hinting at his untrustworthy

character in every way she could.

553

She was barred from bringing

up his past conviction.

554

None of it was enough.

555

On Friday morning, three days after

the trial began, a jury of her peers

556

voted to evict Braman and force her

to pay back rent to Arlen Jordan.

557

The pivotal moment came on Wednesday

afternoon when Judge Annette,

558

please read out loud a question

the jury had submitted in writing.

559

Why would you not find a new place

to live after seven years of poor

560

conditions because of the economy?

561

Bra answered before launching into

a meandering statement about the

562

conditions that caused her to lose her

563

taking the unit at Jordan's building.

564

It's a very human question to have Swenson

said, but in my mind it's similar to

565

when someone says, why doesn't a domestic

violence victim just go not to conflate

566

the situations, but the populations we're

talking about are often very vulnerable.

567

They don't have access to the resources

that they need, and society thinks

568

they're getting like disability or

housing benefits or mental health

569

support, or even education to know

what their rights are and what their

570

responsibilities are as a tenant.

571

The verdict wasn't a

complete victory for Jordan.

572

However, while the jury mostly decided in

his favor, they also voted that Braman was

573

entitled to a reduction of the background.

574

Jordan said he was owed because he

violated the warrant of habitability.

575

Of the $36,855, Jordan said he was owed.

576

The jury voted to write off

$21,262 at that, leaving Braman

577

on the hook for just $15,593.

578

That's about $338 in monthly rent.

579

For each of the 46 months,

Braman had lived rent free.

580

The trial was a huge culmination of

tenants rights work across the state.

581

Swensen said, revealing both gaps in

service and testing the willingness of

582

a jury to hold landlords accountable

for poor living conditions.

583

Despite their verdict quote, I got

the sense that this trial was pretty

584

illuminating for many of the jury

into the complexities of landlord

585

tenant relationships in Spokane.

586

Swensen said, I don't think anyone

felt good about evicting Braman.

587

They indicated to me that they felt

like they had to uphold what they

588

understood to be the law she added.

589

My understanding is it was hard for

them to overlook the sheer amount

590

of time we were talking about.

591

For four years, Braman has lived

rent-free in Jordan's building.

592

Now with just $200 and a 2000 Ford

Explorer to her name, Braman will

593

likely need to find a new place to live.

594

Though a writ of restitution has been

signed by pleas allowing the Sheriff's

595

Office to physically return the unit

to Jordan Braman has yet to be eVic.

596

S Swensen wrote in an email that Braman

is working to file an appeal with the

597

Court of Appeals and that KCBA Housing

Justice project connected her with

598

community organizations who may be able

to help her find emergency shelter.

599

Arlen Jordan is nearing the

end of his sentence at Monroe

600

Correctional Complex where he is

eligible for release next year.

601

In the meantime, he's

continuing to evict tenants.

602

For Swensen, the resolution of the

case highlights the fundamental gap

603

between landlords and their tenants.

604

While Braman frantically tries to maintain

housing, Jordan in prison is afforded

605

the rights he tries to strip his tenants

of swensen wrote his right to working.

606

Plumbing is upheld heat that

works and safety from harm.

607

Those basic protections are

deserved by every human including

608

and especially his own tenants.