The Seattle Women’s Commission and the Housing Justice Project at the King County Bar Association recently released Losing Home: The Human Cost of Evictions in Seattle, a report analyzing every 2017 Seattle eviction. By reviewing court records and other public records, as well as performing surveys and interviews of tenants, the report revealed that marginalized communities were disproportionately affected by aggressive real estate practices, resulting in eviction and homelessness.
After a missed rental payment and, even as seen in one case, for as little as $10.00, tenants can be removed from their homes within weeks. In 2017, 86.5% of eviction filings were for non-payment of rent and of these, 52.3% were for one month or less in rent. Over half of tenants that had an eviction filed against them were people of color. Black tenants faced the highest number of evictions, experiencing eviction at a rate 4.5 times what would be expected based on their demographics in Seattle. Worse, people of color were more likely to be sued for one month’s rent or $1,000.00 or less in arrears compared to white tenants.
When surveyed about why tenants fell behind on rent, the majority of respondents cited unemployment or a medical emergency, suggesting that the quick pace of evictions in Washington overtake temporary setbacks experienced by Seattle households. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics states that it takes an average of 9 weeks for an unemployed person to procure new employment and the most recent Federal Reserve report found that 40% of Americans cannot come up with $400.00 in the event of an emergency. In contrast, in
Washington, a tenant has only three days to come up with back rent, which can make it extremely unlikely that a tenant could withstand a setback without losing her home. Of respondents to the survey, roughly 88% could not procure permanent housing after the eviction.
“It’s clear from the data and surveys that the problem isn’t tenants not wanting to pay rent, it’s tenants having bad luck and not getting the time to catch up,” says Margaret Diddams, one of the lead authors of the report. “Hasty evictions can turn a moment of bad luck, like a health crisis or unexpected cuts in pay or hours at work, into months of homelessness.”
Loss of housing was not the only result experienced by tenants. The tenant survey found that
87.5% of respondents became homeless after being evicted. A large share of tenants stated that
the prior eviction prevented them from finding new housing and exacerbated health problems.
Last year, six tenants died during or soon after the eviction, including four who died by suicide.
The study found some bright spots: legal counsel provided to tenants increased the likelihood that tenants remained housed and mitigated the adverse effects of an eviction. Nonetheless, the study also found that even controlling for the presence of legal representation for tenants, Seattle tenants fared worse than tenants facing eviction in other cities due to the lack of available resources for tenants at risk of eviction and weak protections for tenants who fall behind on rent due to temporary unemployment or sudden catastrophe.
The report outlined policy recommendations for both local and state level reforms, as well as in the court system.
