As millions of Arizonans wait for their chance to get the life-saving COVID-19 vaccine, the long-simmering affordable housing shortage — paired with economic instability brought on by the ongoing public health crisis — could soon lead to mass evictions if leaders don’t take action this month.
According to data updated last month, the Valley already ranks second-highest nationally for total evictions during the past year, even with the dramatic reduction in evictions since Gov. Doug Ducey and federal officials acted to slow the flow of filings.
“Eviction filings in Maricopa County, AZ (Phoenix) have fallen sharply from April of this year onward,” stated the Eviction Lab at Princeton University in February. “The state of Arizona instituted an eviction moratorium, but this policy only suspends enforcement of COVID-19-related nonpayment evictions, and new filings are being accepted. These eviction protections in the state expired at the end of October.”
