Eviction filings continue to climb, according to an analysis from researchers with Virginia Commonwealth University.
The report, which analyzed eviction cases from the last quarter of 2023, identified nearly 42,000 eviction filings across the state of Virginia — a 15.6% increase from the prior quarter. Eviction filings now stand at 125% of pre-pandemic levels, according to RVA Eviction Lab at VCU's L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs. The lab studies publicly available data and issues quarterly reports on housing instability.
“Eviction filings are at their peak and have surpassed pre-pandemic levels,” wrote the report’s authors. The comparison pits the last quarter of 2023 with the last quarter of 2019 — two comparable periods on either end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Eviction filings do not translate directly to executed evictions. A filing indicates that a landlord has brought a tenant to civil court. In the courtroom, judges make a decision on whether the landlord is owed rent. Those decisions are called judgments, which are also tracked by the Eviction Lab.
After a judge issues a judgment, a tenant has at least 10 days to make good on their debt. After that, the sheriff’s deputies can knock on the debtor’s door and complete an eviction.
The report found that judgments have ticked down, which may suggest that the actual number of evictions has decreased since the summer of 2023. Data on the actual number of executed evictions is not readily available, although a law passed last year will require the Supreme Court of Virginia to report those totals annually.
Data for the years between 2020 and 2022 are difficult to compare. Federal and state safety measures enacted to prevent the spread of COVID-19 dampened eviction activity. Those measures expired in 2022.
At that point, both filings and judgments began to climb back to pre-pandemic levels.
Several reports have identified Virginia cities as having the highest number of eviction filings nationwide. Richmond, Petersburg and several Northern Virginia counties topped the charts of a similar analysis conducted by researchers at Princeton University.
It’s possible the reduction in judgments reflects the success of legislative reforms. In 2019, the Virginia Legislature passed a law that gives tenants an extra chance to pay their rent. Under the new law, tenants had until two days before the arrival of a sheriff’s deputy to “pay and stay.”
Despite the dip in judgments, housing advocates believe eviction filings are high because of the relative ease with which a landlord can take a tenant to court. In Richmond, it costs around $40 to begin that process.
The national average is around $109, according to a 2018 analysis from the Princeton Eviction Lab.
Sometimes, landlords file unlawful detainers each month that a tenant is late. These serial filings can also drive up overall filing numbers, advocates say – and punish renters who ultimately pay for the landlord’s attorney.
“If you’re filing every single month the cost on the tenant is much higher because they’re assessing attorney fees each month,” said Laura Dobbs, director of policy at Housing Opportunities Made Equal, a non-profit organization that supports families experiencing eviction.
Researchers found that filings in Hopewell, Virginia jumped by 44% between the third and fourth quarter of 2023. In the same time period, filings in Chesterfield rose by 29%, and in Henrico and Richmond they rose by 25%, the report said.
Several ZIP codes in the Richmond region saw increases in both filings and judgments. Those zip codes — 23224, 23225 and 23227 — encompassed Richmond’s North Side and South Side.
VCU researchers cited a U.S. Census survey in which over half of Virginia renters reported their rent increased within the last 12 months. Those increases were sharpest for Latino renters.
Renters of all races reported an increase between $100 and $250. The average rent for a one-bedroom in Richmond is around $1,320 a month, according to recent data from Apartments.com.
In February 2023, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said he “took it personally” that Richmond ranks so high in evictions.
Stoney called on the General Assembly to level the playing field for renters by making it more expensive to evict and support eviction diversion efforts.
Last summer, city officials declared an affordable housing crisis, saying the locality is short an estimated 35,000 affordable living units.
The city announced a $100 million investment in various affordable housing projects, including subsidies for rehabilitating and constructing properties.
This article was corrected to include the formal name of the RVA Eviction Lab at VCU, which is part of the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs.