Peter Hepburn, Renee Louis, Matthew Desmond
Sociological Science December 16, 2020
10.15195/v7.a27
Abstract
Drawing on millions of court records of eviction cases filed between 2012 and 2016 in 39 states, this study documents the racial and gender demographics of America’s evicted population. Black renters received a disproportionate share of eviction filings and experienced the highest rates of eviction filing and eviction judgment. Black and Latinx female renters faced higher eviction rates than their male counterparts. Black and Latinx renters were also more likely to be serially filed against for eviction at the same address. These findings represent the most comprehensive investigation to date of racial and gender disparities among evicted renters in the United States.
Drawing on millions of court records of eviction cases filed between 2012 and 2016 in 39 states, this study documents the racial and gender demographics of America’s evicted population. Black renters received a disproportionate share of eviction filings and experienced the highest rates of eviction filing and eviction judgment. Black and Latinx female renters faced higher eviction rates than their male counterparts. Black and Latinx renters were also more likely to be serially filed against for eviction at the same address. These findings represent the most comprehensive investigation to date of racial and gender disparities among evicted renters in the United States.
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- Citation: Hepburn, Peter, Renee Louis, and Matthew Desmond. 2020. “Racial and Gender Disparities among Evicted Americans.” Sociological Science 7: 649-662.
- Received: September 21, 2020
- Accepted: November 14, 2020
- Editors: Jesper Sørensen, Kim Weeden
- DOI: 10.15195/v7.a27
I can attest to that the data and findings in the study are true. I am Black disabled woman in Connecticut and I am facing eviction for the second time by the same landlord. It’s clear retaliation on part of the landlord who has my apartment uninhabitable. Refusing to exterminate for rodents and having their staff harass and intimidate in multiple ways. Causing both my physical and mental health disabilities to worsen extremely. I cannot sleep, my anxiety is through the roof and so is my blood pressure amongst other issues. I was told I qualifed for the Right To Council program. However, I don’t have much confidence that I will provided an attorney to represent me. Law makers need to act & stop criminal landlords from their discriminatory practices and protect Black citizens from these harmful and life threatening practices immediately!
This study does a disservice to the racial and ethnic communities it is attempting to benefit. The proportions used to support the conclusions of ethnic bias in evictions do not justify the conclusions claimed by the authors.
Just showing that a higher proportion of blacks in a community get evicted than the proportion of whites does not indicate bias. Support for that conclusion would require a comparison of blacks who were evicted without having broken the terms of their rental agreement, versus whites who were similarly evicted without cause. If those ratios are disproportionate, then it would show bias in the filing and/or processing of eviction actions.
The disproportion described in the study could be explained by the possibility that a greater proportion of blacks than whites are breaking the terms of their rental contracts. And that could easily be an indication of adverse economic factors in the black community rather than bias in the eviction process. Or the disproportion could be caused by differences in the terms of the rental agreements offered to whites and blacks. Thus, this study may well obscure reality rather than illuminate it. We just don’t know and can’t tell from the data and analysis provided.