Before, During, and After: Lessons from State and Local Eviction Prevention Policies

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

Evictions are a symptom of housing insecurity that lead to adverse financial, health, and other consequences for millions of American households each year. In the wake of the pandemic and amidst widespread reductions in federal housing assistance, evidence-based eviction prevention strategies remain a high priority for housing advocates and policymakers at the local and state levels. This panel will present evidence about a diverse range of policy interventions focused on eviction prevention – and in doing so, will foster a discussion about the varied effects of these interventions. The panel will present evidence from academic, government, and community-based research studies that assess a broad spectrum of policies and programs.

Although eviction is commonly described as a single event, it is more accurately understood as a process that can take place over the course of several weeks or months. The four papers will jointly demonstrate how different policies and programs can target housing-insecure tenants at each stage of the eviction process. While some interventions may help prevent eviction filings in the first place, for example, others provide support for tenants who have already had a case filed against them. This panel explores how and why these divergent policy approaches may produce different results.

The first two papers focus on how local governments and community-based partners collect and use administrative data to prevent eviction filings. Data analysts from King County, Washington will provide a local perspective on their efforts to generate precise, timely data on evictions in the region and leverage that data for policy impact. A pilot study of an informational intervention from Harvard’s Access to Justice Lab and the University of Houston Law Center will also demonstrate how a collaboration between community-based organizations and local government agencies can reduce eviction risk. This study suggests that providing information about available housing resources prior to an eviction can help reduce the likelihood of a case ever being filed.

The second set of papers contribute to a growing body of academic research on eviction prevention after a case has already been filed. The third paper presents analysis of multiple studies from researchers at the University of Washington and UCLA examining the impacts of right to counsel programs on mental and physical health using qualitative, descriptive, and causal methods. The final paper uses difference-in-difference and regression discontinuity design methods to examine the causal effect of a state policy mandating the sealing of all public eviction records on financial well-being and several housing outcomes. This is an example of a policy which exists in some capacity in 17 states and Washington, D.C., but – as this paper demonstrates – could have widespread benefits for low-income tenants if implemented more widely.

The four papers presented in this panel will describe several different approaches to reducing the harmful impacts of evictions. These papers will present evidence from community-based practitioners, academic researchers, and government agencies in order to stimulate a critical conversation about the potential benefits of these varied interventions for housing-insecure households.

Policy Area

• Housing, Community Development, and Urban Policy

Chair

• Karin D Martin, University of Washington

Discussant

• Peter Hepburn, Rutgers University - Newark

Organizer

• Will von Geldern, University of Washington

Individual Presentations

• The "Scarlet E'': Effects of Public Eviction Records on Low-Income Households - Non-Presenting Co-Author: John Eric Humphries, Yale University; Non-Presenting Co-Author: Hsi-Ling Liao, The University of Chicago; Presenting Author: Alison Lodermeier, The University of Chicago; Non-Presenting Co-Author: Grace Ortuzar, University of Notre Dame; Non-Presenting Co-Author: Winnie Lillian van Dijk, The University of Chicago

• Eviction Data in Local Government - Presenting Author: Jesse Warren, King County Department of Community and Human Services

• Upstream Legal Literacy as an Eviction Prevention Mechanism: an RCT - Presenting Author: Renee L Danser, Harvard University

• Health Impacts of Right to Counsel: Evidence from Early Implementers - Presenting Author: Will von Geldern, University of Washington; Non-Presenting Co-Author: Kathryn M Leifheit, University of California - Los Angeles