Arizona eviction crisis looms amidst economic insecurity

By Matt Roy
Twitter: @AzNewsmedia

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.”

Only New York City exceeded eviction totals for Maricopa County with 41,821 total fillings. In second place — and with an estimated 1.2 million fewer residents than the Big Apple — the county saw 30,998 such filings over the same time frame, according to the Eviction Lab, which has tracked eviction data across the U.S. for more than 20 years.

A new, nearly $2 trillion stimulus package working its way through Congress now may bring some relief. And a federally funded statewide rental assistance program being administered by the Arizona Department of Economic Security only started taking applications as of Feb. 23 (visit des.az.gov/ERAP).

Meanwhile, as those at risk of homelessness wait for the other shoe to drop, it remains uncertain whether the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will extend its moratorium, while state-level protections have expired in all but a few places in the country.

Those that have yet to expire include Minnesota (March 16); Kansas (March 31); North Carolina (April 1); Washington (April 1); Hawaii (April 14); Nevada (April 21); New York (May 2); California (July 1); and Oregon (July 1).

In Connecticut, New Jersey, New Mexico and Vermont, the eviction moratoria will remain in place until those states declare an end to the emergency, or shortly after.

Arizona, like most states, offers no protections now, according to the Eviction Lab.

“Current orders in Arizona require landlords to certify that a dwelling is not subject to the CARES Act federal eviction moratorium when filing to evict a tenant. Arizona has not taken steps like freezing rent,” they stated.

Even where protections exist, it may not save many from harm, according to the Eviction Lab.

“Current policy responses to the pandemic may be insufficient to prevent a surge in evictions. CARES Act stimulus payments and unemployment insurance — when accessible — will provide families with some support, but in many cases not enough to make ends meet,” the Princeton researchers suggested.

According to Scott Davis, a spokesman for the Maricopa County Justice Courts, the Arizona eviction rate is nearly half that of years prior to the pandemic. While federal protections remain in place, those at risk should still take care to avoid eviction.

“The governor’s order was in effect through the summer and expired Oct. 31,” Mr. Davis told Daily Independent. “In the pandemic, because of the various orders from the governor’s office … and the CDC order, certainly evictions began dropping last March and dropped substantially through the summer. What we are seeing right now is about 45% lower for the whole year overall than it was in 2019. So, for 2020, evictions were down about 45%.”

A spike in evictions followed the brief cessation of the CDC order after it expired at the end of the year, but as of January — the month with the most reliable and recent data — the volume remained far below the levels seen prior to the pandemic, according to Mr. Davis.

“For January and February of this year, we’re also seeing about 45% lower than what the evictions numbers were the previous years,” he said. “That’s partly because these orders are in place preventing certain types of evictions. But it’s not every type of eviction. There are still certain types of evictions that can be filed. To say there’s a moratorium, that sounds like a full stop. It’s not. That makes people think, ‘There’s no more evictions.’ That’s not the case.”

The CDC orders and others specifically provide protection from eviction for those behind on their rent or mortgage payments. Evictions for other causes can still be processed, such as those for termination of lease with cause or when a landlord wants to sell a property and chooses not to renew a lease, Mr. Davis said.

“There are other reasons a landlord may file an eviction,” he said. “For example, if there’s been a crime committed. For drug use, gang activity, things like that — which are called an irreparable breach — the landlord can file what’s called an immediate eviction, it goes to court and you’re out the next day. That’s it, more or less.”

Under Arizona law, there are number of causes that can lead to an irreparable breach of lease and could result in eviction, even under the ongoing CDC rule. In many cases, the landlord must provide notice and an opportunity to remedy the situation, Mr. Davis said.

“If that doesn’t get fixed, then the landlord can proceed and file for eviction,” he said.