RACE AND EVICTION DURING THE PANDEMIC

BRIAN GAINES, ; JASON MAZZONE, ; MATTHEW METTLER, ; ROBIN FRETWELL-WILSON,

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/114998 Copy

Description

Title

RACE AND EVICTION DURING THE PANDEMIC

Author(s)

• BRIAN GAINES,
• JASON MAZZONE,
• MATTHEW METTLER,
• ROBIN FRETWELL-WILSON,

Issue Date

2022-10-05

Keyword(s)

pandemic, court system, law, landlord-tenant, court personnel

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic altered almost all aspects of life, including judicial proceedings. In response to the need for social distancing to keep users of the justice system safe, courts rapidly instituted unprecedented public health precautions that participants in the court system described as chaotic.1 Courts delayed and deferred cases. They also undertook a period of experimentation with remote and virtual operations. Few if any areas of law were untouched, but landlord-tenant law was especially disrupted. Early in the pandemic, some states and then the federal government put in place broad moratoria on (most) evictions, so that a large class of legal cases was indefinitely put on hold. This Policy Spotlight reviews novel national survey data of attorneys, judges and other court personnel, as well as individuals who had courts experiences during the pandemic. We asked about how people’s housing situations were affected by the pandemic, with special attention to differences across racial groups in this regard. Documenting recent experiences should help to inform discussion of what is likely to happen next, as the rental housing market transitions back to normal now that the eviction moratoria have been lifted. A substantial backlog of eviction cases means that the range of innovations in court procedures will continue to influence outcomes for the foreseeable future.

Publisher

Institute of Government & Public Affairs

Series/Report Name or Number

Policy Spotlight

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

Handle URL

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/114998

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