RICHMOND, Va. (ROCKTOWN NOW) – Evictions are once again on the rise in Virginia, but a new service aims to help people on the verge of losing their homes fight back.

The Eviction Defense Center – an agency of the Virginia Poverty Law Center – says that 16,000 renters were evicted in a single month back in January 2020. Evictions were halted during the pandemic, but now, the numbers are climbing again.

Housing attorney Phil Storey says the point of the center is to give folks a fighting chance in court.

“We wanted to provide not just information about things that can bring us to the judge to try and affect what happens, but also some tools that will help them do that without having to act as if they were experienced lawyers,” Storey said.

More than 450 Virginians are facing eviction every day since the end of the pandemic.