A line of people wrapped around the building and down the sidewalk at the Homeless Alliance’s Oklahoma City shelter on a recent winter evening. Those who had them wore knit hats and heavy jackets. Others wrapped blankets tightly around their shoulders. February saw several days of single-digit temperatures.

And there are only so many beds. 

The shelters do what they can to bring in as many people out from the cold. At the Homeless Alliance, sleeping mats are squeezed between the shelter’s 300 beds, and the lobby remains full. 

Homelessness is on the rise in Oklahoma. And while there are several reasons for the upward trend, service providers cite eviction as a common catalyst.

Oklahoma has one of the fastest eviction processes in the country, with some of the cheapest filing fees. Only Alaska, Arizona and North Carolina have shorter timelines, according to a report from Shelterwell, an Oklahoma City nonprofit that collects eviction data and advocates for housing stability.

This contributed to the over 48,000 evictions filed in Oklahoma in 2024. The laws are attractive for out-of-state developers and property owners. But for Oklahoma families, swift evictions mean it can take as little as two weeks from the time the eviction was filed to be removed from their homes, rushing them to find alternative housing and pushing some into periods of homelessness.

“This starts at the eviction docket,” said Greg Beben, an attorney with Legal Aid Services. “The homelessness starts there.”

A tight timeline 

Under current law, landlords must give tenants five days’ notice to pay overdue rent. If the issue remains unresolved after that period, the landlord can file for an eviction and set a court date for as soon as five days later. 

Over 18,000 evictions were filed in Oklahoma County in 2024. Nearly 70% of those cases ended in a default judgement because the tenant was not present for their hearing, according to Shelterwell. The tight timeline makes it difficult for tenants to schedule time off work, find childcare and organize transportation to appear in court. 

Landlords are only required to give tenants three days’ notice of the court date, a period that can include weekends and holidays, according to Shelterwell’s report. 

It’s nearly impossible for a tenant to secure legal representation within that time frame. Shelterwell offers mediation services and Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma has attorneys to represent tenants in Oklahoma County district court, but the nonprofits’ resources are often stretched thin with the thousands of eviction cases that are filed each year.

For all evictions filed in 2024, 72% of landlords had an attorney, compared to just 7% of tenants, according to Shelterwell data.

“For the tenants in court who don’t have attorneys, who don’t have legal knowledge or background, it’s a maze to navigate,” said Brad Senters, Shelterwell’s director of eviction prevention. “It’s intimidating. It’s scary.”

The short window also makes it difficult for attorneys working to craft a strong defense for the tenants they represent. 

Legal Aid attorneys often only get an hour to meet with tenants on the day of their hearing. In some states, there is an initial court appearance for evictions during which another hearing is scheduled for a later date, giving lawyers and tenants more time to prepare. That’s not the case in Oklahoma.

Extending the timeline could reduce homelessness

A swift process paired with low filing fees makes filing for an eviction an attractive option for landlords looking not to get rid of a tenant, but to put pressure on them to pay rent and fees, attorneys told The Frontier. In the five Oklahoma counties with the highest eviction rates — including Oklahoma, Tulsa and Cleveland County — it can cost as little as $58 to file for an eviction. 

If the court grants the eviction, a tenant could be forced to move within 48 hours. Of the over 9,000 families evicted in Oklahoma County in 2024, nearly half were locked out of their homes within two weeks of the eviction being filed. 

Jessica Earley, an attorney and director of the eviction prevention center at the nonprofit Neighborhood Services Organization, said it’s heartbreaking to see so many people at risk of homelessness and knowing it could be prevented with just a little more time. In 2024 alone, the organization received nearly 11,000 requests for housing and eviction prevention services. 

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“The quick process that allows people to be booted from their home so quickly makes it harder for them to find housing again,” Earley said. “So every time someone is evicted from their home, they are closer on that spectrum towards homelessness.”

Meghan Mueller, CEO of the Homeless Alliance, said people frequently arrive at the shelter after they’ve been evicted. Extending the eviction timeline would directly reduce the amount of people who experience homelessness, she said.

“Every day counts when you’re in those situations,” Mueller said. “If we can get more time on the front end and push some of those interventions further upstream, ultimately we’re saving people the trauma of experiencing homelessness and we’re also providing intervention that’s more cost-effective. Everyone wins.”

Changing the system

Oklahoma lawmakers have introduced measures to change the state’s eviction process.

Representative Annie Menz, D-Norman, introduced House Bill 2098, which would increase the flat fee for eviction filings to $100. 

Menz said she hopes the bill will dissuade landlords from using eviction filings as a rent collection tool. 

“Out-of-state entities, no matter what industry it’s in, see Oklahoma laws that they can exploit for money. They don’t have any kind of interest in our communities and in our residents, and that’s who I’m sitting here to protect,” Menz said. 

Ellen Pogemiller, D-Oklahoma City, similarly introduced House Bill 1129 to increase the eviction filing fee to $100. 

Sen. Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, also introduced a bill this legislative session to extend the eviction timeline. Senate Bill 128 would require a court summons to be delivered at least seven days before a hearing, rather than the current three days. The bill would also extend the time for tenants to appear in court after a summons to a minimum of 1o days. 

Kirt introduced a similar bill last year but it never got a hearing on the Senate floor after opposition from property owners, she said. She amended this year’s bill to address some of their concerns, such as maintaining the right of a landlord to immediately evict a tenant if they’re engaging in criminal activity. 

She hopes those who opposed the bill last year will look at it with fresh eyes. 

“We can’t just increase our housing supply,” Kirt said. “We also have to deal with housing stability if we want to reduce our housing crisis in this state.”