Some experts on Arizona’s rising eviction rates stop short at saying Maricopa County leads the nation at ousting people from their homes.
Knowledge Exchange for Resilience at Arizona State University released a report saying “Maricopa County leads the nation in evictions, boasting a rate of nearly twice the national average” and said Arizona has among “the highest housing loss rates” in the country.
But Scott Davis, spokesman for the Maricopa County Justice Courts, said eviction data may be incomplete.
“I am not saying Maricopa County does not lead the nation,” Davis said. “I am just suggesting that the data may be incomplete because not all jurisdictions report statistics in the same way or to the same places. I would think researchers who want to accurately characterize who actually does lead the nation in evictions have a significant mountain to climb because of gaps in data collection and reporting. How comprehensive is the data being used to draw these conclusions?”
Officials at Maricopa County Justice Courts track data for cases that include traffi c citations, DUI offenses and civil case filings.
Davis said it’s easy to see why Maricopa County would have high eviction numbers because the county is the fourth largest in the U.S., he said.
He said evictions were a discussion topic even before the pandemic started.
So far this year, there have been 33,250 eviction filings in Maricopa County through Oct. 8. Through 10 months of 2020, that number was 30,365.
In Oct. 2019, there were 56,986 for the first 10 months of that year.
“Realize, however, that this is filings only, not specifically people who were actually evicted,” Davis said. “We do not always know that figure because any number of things can happen once an eviction is filed: the case can be dismissed or stayed (delayed), the tenant may agree to pay and be able to stay, the landlord might accept rental assistance and allow the tenant to stay, or the tenant might move out before the case ever goes to court.”
It has been reported the Phoenix area is at its highest occupancy percentage in more than 40 years. Put simply, there isn’t enough housing for the people moving to the area each day.
“Of course, we are going to have more numbers,” Davis said. “With eviction filings, in terms of how it relates to the population — we don’t keep track of that.”
The ASU report said the pandemic helped to accelerate some evictions.
“In addition to the normal stress of rising housing and rent costs, the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to exacerbate the rate of housing loss,” the report said.
But Chris Groninger, chief strategy officer at the Arizona Bar Foundation, has seen an interest in finding information on rental and utility assistance from residents.
In January, the foundation launched azevictionhelp.org, a website to help connect residents to rental assistance programs and provides information about evictions.
She said the website was launched to provide resources to people in need — there were about 4,000 evictions in Maricopa County in December 2020, she said.
“There needed to be some sort of push to help those who needed rental assistance,” Groninger said.
Since January, there have been 110,363 unique visitors to the website and more than 26,000 have clicked on the “rental assistance” link, Groninger said.
Davis said eviction filings have risen since Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ended a moratorium on them in the final week of August for those people affected by COVID-19.
In August, the Associated Press reported “preliminary figures show that eviction filings in Arizona’s largest county were trending down in August before the Supreme Court issued a decision that ended a coronavirus-era moratorium on lockouts” in most of the country.
The report said numbers from the Maricopa County Justice Courts show there were 2,989 eviction cases filed in August, a decrease from the 3,623 cases filed in July.
Davis said eviction numbers have risen because there are no longer CDC protections.
“During the pandemic, we were at about 50% of our 2019 levels,” Davis said. “In September we were at 70%, and October was 75%. That is still off from what we consider ‘normal,’” he said.
Mike Branham, presiding constable for Maricopa County, said a few of the Valley’s 26 precincts can see 20 to 30 evictions per day — back to pre-pandemic levels. Despite the number of evictions, he said officials try to help renters work on solutions to get their bills paid.
Some landlords have helped renters enroll in state and federal programs or get on payment plans.
He said there have been “enhanced” communications that prevented some residents from getting evicted. He said high numbers of evictions is common for Maricopa County.
“We’ve always been like that,” Branham said. “It’s nothing new.”
Brent Ruffner Lead News Reporter | Phoenix @AzNewsmedia
Brent Ruffner joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2021 where he writes about developments at TSMC and Maricopa County issues, including election topics.
He's written about stories that range from accusations that a Mesa monkey breeding facility is unsafe to what to do if you encounter a rattlesnake in the desert.
Community: He is a supporter of the American Cancer Society.
Education: Bachelor's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, Arizona State University, May 2007.
Random Fact: He met former San Francisco Giants outfielder Willie Mays at a Phoenix Firebird game after winning a contest for an autographed baseball.
Hobbies: Hiking in the woods and collecting sports memorabilia.
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