Over the last year, unemployment benefits, stimulus checks, eviction moratoriums and emergency rental assistance money have saved many renters from eviction but soon, these programs are coming to an end. Data collected by Boise State University shows Idaho averaged about three evictions per day in 2020.
“We know that providing rental assistance to a family at a time when they can’t pay their rent really works to prevent eviction and homelessness,” Jesse Tree Executive Director Ali Rabe said.
Despite rent increases and a housing crisis in Idaho, formal eviction rates were down over the last year as many assistance programs were available, but a trend throughout the state is informal evictions.
“More and more landlords are just not renewing a tenant's lease, or they are increasing the rent at the end of the lease term and the tenant is having to move out,” Rabe said.
The eviction doesn't go through the legal court process, but the tenant still needs to move out.
“What we're seeing is that there's nowhere for them to go,” Rabe said.
On June 19, Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation will end in the state, and about a week and a half later June 30th, the CDC’s eviction moratorium will end. According to data collected by Boise State, 1% of Idaho's renting households had an eviction filing in 2020, but it's anticipated that the loss of these assistance programs could cause evictions to increase.
“They just can't afford it or the landlord will not renew the lease because they are selling the property for a large profit,” Rabe said. “We just have a pretty crazy housing market underneath all of this that is causing and continues to cause a lot of issues for renters.”
Once an eviction is on someone’s record, it doesn't go away. Future landlords, employers, and anyone from the public can view it.
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