Experts say eviction filings are almost twice as high as before the pandemic, driven by rising costs and stagnant wages.
Eviction filings in southwest Oregon were 23% higher over the past year than the average for the same period in 2023 and 2024, according to the Princeton University-based Eviction Lab.
The data, last updated Sept. 1, also shows year-to-date filings were 27% above the average for the same months in those two years. Filings track cases brought to court, rather than the number of renters ultimately evicted.
Becky Straus, managing attorney of the Oregon Law Center’s Eviction Defense Project, said wages aren’t keeping up with the cost of living, according to Jefferson Public Radio.
“So one event, or a perfect storm of events, like a car accident or a reduction in job hours or a health incident, can put somebody out of their housing because they’re just that close to the margins on being able to afford where they are,” she said.
Straus said rental assistance available during the COVID-19 pandemic has dried up. About 90% of the eviction cases the Oregon Law Center sees each month involve nonpayment of rent, she said.
“These eviction filings represent what’s happening in the court process, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg in terms of how many renters are forced out of their housing by rent hikes or informal evictions that have happened upstream from eviction court,” she said.
Eviction Lab also identifies buildings with the most filings, which it calls eviction hotspots. One is at the Airport Heights public housing complex in North Bend, owned by the North Bend City/Coos-Curry Housing Authorities.
Executive Director Matthew Vorderstrasse said the data only measures filings and that the building has had only three completed evictions in 22 years because residents are often able to resolve the problems.
Vorderstrasse said the housing authorities are working on establishing more supportive services to prevent evictions.
“We’re building towards that with that property, but we haven’t secured the funding to be able to fully pull that trigger yet,” he said. “But that is something I want to build into it, so that we can not move to eviction or even to court filings in many cases. I would like to be able to catch those ahead of time.”
