The St. Louis Mediation Project (STLMP), a joint endeavor among Washington University Civil Rights & Mediation Clinic, US Arbitration & Mediation, and St. Louis Equal Housing & Opportunity Council, provides free mediation and counseling services to help tenants, homeowners, landlords, lenders, and courts resolve housing disputes in and out of court.

In 2020, STLMP responded to the COVID-19 crisis by assisting the St. Louis County Court to transition to Zoom mediations in housing court and by providing pre-filing eviction mediations and application assistance in the community, as well as the continuation of post-filing eviction mediations in the courts.   

STLMP has engaged the DSD clinic to provide strategic negotiation advice for how to advance the use of pre-filing eviction diversion and/or mediation among tenants, landlords, and in St. Louis, MO and beyond.  

Preliminary approaches and deliverables:   

• Interview stakeholders (tenants, landlords, community organizations) to understand perspectives on and interests in pre-filing mediation and counseling;   
• Develop strategic negotiation advice on persuading stakeholders to establish and participate in pre-filing mediation/eviction diversion in St. Louis; and   
• Create a stakeholder map of St. Louis housing ecosystem, identifying possible partners and obstacles to achieving the aforementioned goal.