RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Protecting the Most Vulnerable: Policy Response and Eviction Filing Patterns During the COVID-19 Pandemic
JF RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
FD Russell Sage Foundation
SP 186
OP 207
DO 10.7758/RSF.2023.9.3.08
VO 9
IS 3
A1 Hepburn, Peter
A1 Haas, Jacob
A1 Graetz, Nick
A1 Louis, Renee
A1 Rutan, Devin Q.
A1 Alexander, Anne Kat
A1 Rangel, Jasmine
A1 Jin, Olivia
A1 Benfer, Emily
A1 Desmond, Matthew
YR 2023
UL http://www.rsfjournal.org/content/9/3/186.abstract
AB The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic crisis exposed the U.S. rental housing market to extraordinary stress. Policymakers at the federal, state, and local levels established eviction moratoria and a number of additional direct and indirect renter-supportive measures in a bid to prevent a surge in evictions and associated public health risks. This article assesses the net efficacy of these interventions, analyzing changes in eviction filing patterns in 2020–2021 in thirty-one cities across the country. We find that eviction filings were dramatically reduced over this period. The largest reductions were in places that previously experienced highest eviction filing rates, particularly majority-Black and low-income neighborhoods. Although these changes did not ameliorate racial, gender, and income inequalities in relative risk of eviction, they did significantly reduce rates across the board, resulting in especially large absolute gains in previously high-risk communities.