evictions

badly belated 8/20

sparked by

omfg

https://www.alternet.org/2020/08/trump-has-promised-to-stop-evictions-but-the-gop-has-a-powerful-and-horrifying-incentive-to-restart-them/

...At the behest of Democrats, the CARES Act included a 120-day moratorium on evictions for tenants living in rental housing covered under the Violence Against Women Act, which includes Section 8 public housing, the rural housing voucher program, and anyone renting in buildings with federally backed mortgages. Some states and cities also issued their own individual eviction moratoriums, but around 30 of those moratoriums have expired since May, according to The Eviction Lab at Princeton University. Renters now have as little as 30 days after the expiration of the resolution to repay back rent or face eviction. The CARES Act protections for renters specifically ended on July 25 and now renters in areas with no local protections are poised to be booted from their homes in the middle of a pandemic and ahead of the largest vote-by-mail effort in U.S. history. Successful voting by mail, after all, depends on voters with known mailing addresses who are registered well in advance of the election.

This potential wave of mass voter disenfranchisement comes as new voter registration has already dropped dramatically amid the coronavirus pandemic, largely because most state DMV offices shut their doors and voter contact programs paused. The number of new voters registered across 11 states in April 2020 decreased by 70% compared with April 2016, according to a report from the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation & Research. Swing states like Florida, Virginia, North Carolina and Arizona have seen at least a 50% voter registration reduction, compared to four years ago.

By withholding eviction protection from their proposed package, Republicans in Congress appear to be attempting to use the next round of pandemic relief as their latest voter suppression vehicle, adding disenfranchisement to the host of life-altering problems faced by thousands of newly-houseless Americans.

...

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an 12 24

Washington is on track to have more eviction filings this year than any other year on record.

Nine counties, including King and Spokane, hit new high marks, and seven others are on their way.

“The state is in an eviction crisis at this point,” said Tim Thomas, research director at the University of California Berkeley’s Urban Displacement Project.

Washington’s policies, like its right to counsel program, have helped keep some of those people from becoming homeless, Thomas told the Senate Housing Committee on Friday. But he said without more action and funding, evictions will rise further.

Some lawmakers are voicing similar concerns.

“The increase in eviction filings is startling and alarming,” Housing Committee Chair Patty Kuderer, D-Bellevue, said. “There will be a tsunami of homelessness if we don’t handle this correctly.”

Kuderer is moving on from her role in the state Senate next month after she was elected in November to be Washington’s next insurance commissioner.

Evictions dropped significantly during the pandemic, largely due to national and statewide eviction moratoriums and rental assistance programs. Once those programs expired, evictions began to climb again.

One in 50 Washington renters, or about 2%, faced an eviction filing in the last year, according to data from the Urban Displacement Project.

During 2024, Clark, Grant, Jefferson, King, Klickitat, Okanogan, Spokane, Thurston and Whitman counties have already broken their records for the number of eviction filings in a year. Asotin, Columbia, Douglas, Kittitas, Pend Oreille, Skagit and Walla Walla are on track to break theirs this month.

Looking at trends in states similar to Washington, like California and Oregon, Thomas said he expects that evictions will not slow anytime soon.

He said one way the state can attempt to manage the record number of evictions is to expand its right to counsel program, which he called “a really powerful policy counterbalancing the crisis and keeping people housed.”

The program was established in 2021 and requires an attorney to be appointed in eviction proceedings for tenants with incomes below 200% of the federal poverty line. In 2024, that’s one person making $30,120 a year.

Since it launched, the program has handled 22,889 cases. About 81% of tenants in these cases ended up in permanent housing, and about 56% remained in the home subject to the eviction proceeding, according to the Office of Civil Legal Aid, which manages the program.

“The role that this program plays is not only a procedural safeguard,” said Philippe Knab, eviction defense and reentry program manager at the Office of Civil Legal Aid. “This program and these attorneys serve as a safety net.”

But as eviction filings rise, attorneys are struggling to keep up, Knab said. “We are currently experiencing a volume of evictions unlike anything we anticipated,” he said.

And with limited resources, some tenants fall through the cracks, Thomas said.

Just under 45% of tenants facing eviction had legal representation in January 2024, according to research from the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Policy and Governance. A lack of information on the legal process, psychological barriers and logistical challenges are among the biggest reasons why some tenants never receive representation, Will von Geldern, a University of Washington Ph.D. candidate and researcher, told the Housing Committee.

Attorneys can only help those they can reach, he added.

The Office of Civil Legal Aid is asking lawmakers for $8.8 million in the next two-year budget cycle. That money would go toward continuing funding provided in the last legislative session along with adding five additional attorneys in King County.

This budget request will allow the program to keep pace with the current eviction levels, not expand any services, Knab said. He acknowledged that legislators will have budget struggles this year given a multibillion-dollar deficit.

Along with continuing to fund the right to counsel program, lawmakers will likely look at other policy solutions to ease the growing wave of evictions. Financial assistance to tenants and landlords, caps on certain rent increases and improving access to social services could all be on the table when they return in January.

Washington State Standard is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Washington State Standard maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Bill Lucia for questions: info@washingtonstatestandard.com.

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6 24 ymail judd

over the last four years, rents have skyrocketed by an average of over 30% nationwide and are a major factor in the overall inflation rate. There are a variety of factors behind the increases, including an overall housing shortage. But the Department of Justice is investigating another potential cause: a massive criminal conspiracy among large landlords.

Last month, the FBI reportedly conducted an unannounced raid of Cortland Management, a major corporate landlord based in Atlanta. The surprise search appears to be part of a Department of Justice criminal investigation, first reported by Politico in March, into an alleged scheme among many corporate landlords to artificially increase rents through collusion.

The investigation centers around the use of RealPage, advanced property management software used by many corporate landlords. Following a 2022 exposé by ProPublica, RealPage and landlords that use the software have been named defendants in multiple class action lawsuits, as well as actions filed by the Attorneys General of Arizona and Washington, DC.

According to the lawsuit filed by the State of Arizona in February, landlords that are supposed to be in competition with each other "outsource daily pricing and ongoing revenue oversight" to RealPage. The company allegedly facilitates and encourages landlords to work cooperatively to increase rents. An e-book produced by RealPage says that the company allows corporate landlords who are “technically competitors” to "work together . . . to make us all more successful in our pricing." RealPage bragged that landlords that use its software “continually outpace the market in good times and bad.” In other words, RealPage helps landlords charge higher rates than they would in a truly competitive market. An executive for Camden Property Trust, a corporate landlord based in Houston, said deploying RealPage's software resulted in "pushing people out" with higher rents but ultimately increased revenue by $10 million.

How corporate landlords collude via algorithm

Corporate landlords that use RealPage software dominate the rental market in many metropolitan areas. In Phoenix, according to Arizona's lawsuit, "70% of multifamily apartment units listed in the Phoenix metropolitan area are owned, operated, or managed by companies that have contracted with RealPage." According to the lawsuit filed by DC, 60% of large multifamily buildings (50 units or more) set prices using RealPage's software.

RealPage's former CEO revealed that participating landlords share "occupancy rates, rents charged for each unit and each floorplan, lease terms, amenities, move-in dates, and move-out dates." After feeding in this highly-detailed information that would normally be kept proprietary, "landlords agree to outsource their pricing authority to RealPage—rather than competing with one another on price." RealPage even has a feature called "auto-pilot" that lets the software set rent prices without any human approval or intervention.

The system has resulted in large rent increases that were previously unthinkable, according to RealPage's own executives. “As a property manager, very few of us would be willing to actually raise rents double digits within a single month by doing it manually," RealPage executive Andrew Bowen said.

Arizona's lawsuit alleges that RealPage "puts significant pressure on participants to ensure they adopt RealPage’s prices." Specifically, RealPage employs "pricing advisors" who "meet with landlords to ensure that properties are implementing RealPage’s set rates." This is described by Arizona as "policing the conspiracy to make sure no one cheats by lowering prices and trying to gain market share." RealPage training materials, cited in the DC lawsuit, advise that landlords "should be compliant" with the software's pricing recommendations. The Arizona lawsuit claims that landlords "agree that if they fail to consistently implement RealPage’s set rates, their contract with RealPage will be terminated." Jeffrey Roper, who created the RealPage algorithm, explained that if "you have idiots undervaluing, it costs the whole system."

According to DC's lawsuit, this practice shows that "while RealPage sought to grow the cartel to maximize profits, it also understood the importance of universal adherence and was willing to expel an occasional cartel member to demonstrate its commitment to enforcement of the agreed-upon pricing scheme." While the RealPage software eliminates the need for competitors to meet in a smoke-filled room, Arizona asserts that it "is still illegal… for competitors to join together decision-making power to raise, depress, fix, or stabilize prices—no matter the technology used to effect a price-fixing agreement."

Why the feds are focusing on Atlanta

Why is the FBI specifically raiding a corporate landlord that uses RealPage in Atlanta? The agency is not commenting, but a class-action lawsuit revealed that landlords who use RealPage control a large number of properties in the Atlanta area. According to the plaintiffs, landlords using RealPage "account for over 53% of the multifamily rental market in the Atlanta Submarket." This is a map, included in the complaint, which shows properties using RealPage software in the Atlanta area.

...

The use of RealPage in the Atlanta area has coincided with a sharp increase in rental prices. Overall, rents in Atlanta are up 56% since 2016.

Where will the FBI conduct its next raid? They have plenty of choices. RealPage also controls a large share of the market in Baltimore, Charlotte, Houston, and Miami.

RealPage says this is all a big misunderstanding. After DC filed its lawsuit in November 2023, the company said its critics were incorrectly drawing "a causal connection between revenue management software like ours and increases in market-wide rents." It said the lawsuit was "wrong on both the facts and the law and we will vigorously defend against it."

Not everyone involved in the scheme is so confident. Earlier this year, two corporate landlords named in a class action lawsuit filed by tenants reached settlements with the plaintiffs. The terms were not disclosed.

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ppl's action doc

...housing, with money going to rental assistance and

homeownership programs like the National Housing

Trust Fund, which provides states with grants to

construct and preserve homes affordable to people

with the lowest incomes.102 The bill also makes major

investments in our public housing stock, HOME, the

Capital Magnet Fund, and rural housing. Specifically,

the bill would use tax credits and government

financing to bolster affordable and resilient housing,

stating that it will support the construction or

rehabilitation of more than two million homes.103

By providing down payment assistance, rental

assistance, and other homeownership initiatives, the

bill would make housing more affordable and put a

substantial dent in our housing deficit.104

The plan also includes new project-based vouchers

to provide long-term affordability and ensure that

very low-income households are able to access new

affordable homes.105 However, providing vouchers

when there isn't enough housing stock, especially

since some landlords refuse them, doesn't solve

the problem. We must urge policymakers to actually

build and invest enough in new public housing

stock, not rely on band-aid fixes.

While recent steps taken by the Biden administration

to expand the supply of affordable housing units,

with an emphasis on lower- and middle-income

families, are promising, much more remains to be

done.106

Corporate Pushback

So far this year, real estate groups have spent

$41,772,440 on lobbying.107The National

Association of Realtors (NAR)—the nation’s

second-largest real estate lobbying group,

fiercely opposes eviction moratoriums—and spent

$84,113,368 on lobbying efforts in 2020.108

Large

corporations, through the NAR and other real

estate industry groups, have spent millions to halt

thenational eviction moratorium.109 The Mortgage

Banking Association, which has also been

pushing for the Biden administration to end the

moratorium, spent $2,458,313 in 2020.110

On July

27 the National Apartment Association (NAA)—

whose top tier partners include Home Depot,

AT&T, and Sherwin Williams—filed a lawsuit to

recover damages on behalf of rental housing

providers that have suffered severe economic

...

losses under the "overreaching” federal eviction

moratorium.111 The National Association of Realtors

filed a similar lawsuit.112 An investigative study from

Popular Information found that despite receiving

millions in forgivable loans from the Paycheck

Protection Program, 62 corporate landlords

were filing evictions during the moratorium—

putting thousands on the streets in the midst of a

pandemic.113

The NAR publicly boasts of its commitment to

protecting property interests. While most real

estate industry lobbying over the past year has

been spent pushing back against the eviction

moratorium, this is consistent with their long

history of promoting the interests of private

landlords and developers over those of tenants.

Background

The historical legacy of large corporations like

Coldwell Banker and Wells Fargo in perpetuating

housing segregation dates to nearly a century ago,

but the effects of these decisions are still prevalent

today.114 Residential segregation has inhibited home

value appreciation for Black people, helping to

fuel the Black-white wealth gap.115 It’s also meant

that Black households are more likely to live in

concentrated poverty.116 A study from 2020 found

that formerly redlined neighborhoods are more

susceptible to COVID-19 complications, bringing to

light just one example of the connection between

housing discrimination and health.117

Still today, exclusionary zoning is ubiquitous in cities

across the country and has been found to exacerbate both economic and racial segregation.118 The

home ownership rate for Black families is 45 percent, compared to 74 percent for white families.119

Research shows that owner-occupied homes in

Black neighborhoods are undervalued by an average of $48,000 per home.120

The COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated housing

insecurity across the country. This has been

especially the case for low-income renters and

renters of color.121 The federal eviction moratorium

passed through the CARES act in March of 2020

helped save lives and was estimated to have

prevented 1.55 million evictions.12...

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pro publ 1020

https://www.propublica.org/article/when-falling-behind-on-rent-leads-to-jail-time

when Falling Behind on Rent Leads to Jail Time

Evictions in Arkansas can snowball from criminal charges to arrests to jail time because of a 119-year-old law that mostly impacts female, Black and low-income renters. Even prosecutors have called it unconstitutional.

by Maya Miller and Ellis Simani, with additional reporting by Benjamin Hardy Arkansas Nonprofit News Network...

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cmd 1020

koch-Funded Legal Group Pushes to Allow Mass Evictions During Pandemic

By Alex Kotch | October 13th, 2020 at 3:45 PM (CDT)

The New Civil Liberties Alliance, a nonprofit heavily funded by the Charles Koch Foundation, succeeded in getting the Trump administration to greenlight eviction proceedings despite its eviction moratorium.