PORTLAND, Ore. — For almost three years since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, states have had an unwelcome but ideal laboratory to test potential solutions to slow eviction, one of the most persistent challenges in preventing homelessness.
Turns out, temporary federal and local eviction moratoriums, coupled with a $46.5 billion federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program launched in 2021, were a huge success: They helped more than a million people avoid displacement at the height of the pandemic.
Eviction case filings were lower in states that slowed or paused eviction proceedings, according to a study by the Eviction Lab at Princeton University, and could offer a lesson in how states might help people stay in their homes in the future. There were an estimated 1.5 million fewer eviction filings while various levels of moratoriums were in place, according to USAFacts, a nonprofit that compiles federal data.
