Rising Rents, Meager Aid Fuel Evictions In U.S. Cities

Eviction filings are more than 50% higher than the pre-pandemic average in some cities, according to the Eviction Lab, which tracks filings in nearly three dozen cities and 10 states, Michael Casey and R. J. Rico reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: Landlords file around 3.6 million eviction cases every year.

Landlords file around 3.6 million eviction cases every year. Among the hardest hit is Houston, where rates were 56% higher in April and 50% higher in May.

In Minneapolis/St. Paul, rates rose 106% in March, 55% in April and 63% in May. Nashville was 35% higher and Phoenix 33% higher in May; Rhode Island was up 32% in May.

The latest data mirrors trends that started last year, with the Eviction Lab finding nearly 970,000 evictions filed in locations it tracks — a 78.6% increase compared to 2021 when much of the country was following an eviction moratorium.

By December, eviction filings were nearly back to pre-pandemic levels. At the same time, rent prices nationwide are up about 5% from a year ago and 30.5% above 2019, according to the real estate company Zillow.

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