Student Corner: Evicted in a Pandemic

Even in the best of times, evictions are all too common and generate excessive public costs – but COVID-19 has brought the crisis to a boiling point. In recent months, housing security has not received the same degree of public attention as employment and health, though these issues are inextricably linked. Yes, unemployment – the rate of which approached nearly 25% in some parts of North Carolina in April – can lead to eviction, but the reverse is also true. Job loss is significantly more likely for those who are forcibly displaced from their homes, and eviction precipitates a host of negative health, social, and housing outcomes for years afterward, partly due to a public eviction record permanently limiting housing options and enabling discrimination. In other words, it’s not just that evictions disproportionately impact the vulnerable, but that evictions make previously-resilient households more vulnerable. This is especially obvious during a pandemic, where “doubling up,” a common response to eviction, undermines public health goals and increases transmission risk. Nearly half of NC tenants are spending more than 30% of their income on rent[1]. A North Carolina executive order established a moratorium on evictions through 21 June, but these protections have expired – even while up to a quarter of NC households are reporting nonpayment of the month’s rent. The bill is rapidly coming due, even for those who are unemployed as a direct consequence of public policy decisions – more than 10,000 eviction cases are now pending judgement in NC courts. While the executive order extending the moratorium established [...]