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2023 expected to be the highest record of evictions in the Treasure Valley [1]

['More From Author', 'April', 'Evan Stewart']

Date: 2023-04-03

Jesse Tree is a nonprofit organization that prevents eviction and homelessness in the Treasure Valley. As the program director for Jesse Tree, I can tell you our jobs are about to get a lot more difficult.

2023 is expected to have the highest number of eviction filings ever in the Treasure Valley. Year to date, the numbers have been consistent with this prediction. In the Treasure Valley we have experienced a 40% rent increase since March of 2020, nearly double the national average. With federal COVID-19 housing assistance funds expiring in the next few months, housing agencies such as Jesse Tree, CATCH, the Idaho Housing and Finance Association, the Boise City and Ada County Housing Authorities are preparing for mass evictions and housing loss amongst our neighbors. Soon Jesse Tree will be the only agency offering eviction prevention services in our community, and we’ll be doing it with our budget cut in half.

In 2021, Jesse Tree received a $3.5 million grant from HUD to provide households at risk of eviction and homelessness with case management and emergency rental assistance funds. Unfortunately, without replacement of these federal funds, Jesse Tree’s monthly rental assistance budget decreased by 51% in 2023 despite a 555% increase in need.

Overall homelessness numbers are remaining somewhat stagnant right now, due in part to this temporary federal funding. However, the number of people losing their homes and falling into homelessness for the first time are rising. This indicates a major change in the landscape of homelessness in the Treasure Valley. When those federal dollars run out, very soon, we will inevitably see a dramatic increase in evictions and homelessness.

From 2021-2022, 2,045 evictions were filed, and January 2023 saw a 66% increase compared to January 2022. Jesse Tree provides direct support for tenants in eviction court by mediating agreements between tenants and landlords. We were able to get 23% of all eviction cases dismissed in 2022 by showing up to every single hearing. With a drastic increase in eviction court numbers, our team can only cover a portion of cases in 2023.

With the high rental market, stagnant wages and the expiration of federal dollars, this situation is simply not sustainable. Nearly half of all Idahoans are living paycheck to paycheck and just one unanticipated financial shortfall away from eviction or homelessness. Approximately 90% of eviction cases filed in the Treasure Valley are for non-payment of rent. Child care and personal illness or injury are the top reasons we see people unable to pay rent. Once an eviction is filed, an average of $1,200 fees are applied, including attorney fees, late fees, filing fees and administrative fees. These all get passed onto the tenant, causing the total owed to be several thousand dollars. Furthermore, only 2% of tenants had legal representation in 2022.

Jesse Tree staff are preparing for this fiscal cliff and the high volume of need when the federal COVID housing assistance funds expire. Jesse Tree staff are all certified in mediation training. Our staff and volunteers are experts on local and state-wide resources. Our programs are proven to be effective. 92% of the people we assisted four years ago are still stably housed. Since we started intervening directly in eviction court in 2019, eviction filings that ended in a final judgment have significantly decreased.

However, at Jesse Tree’s current staff capacity and decreased monthly rental assistance budget, it will be very challenging to mitigate the expected record high increase in eviction filings and the skyrocketing of housing needs in the Treasure Valley without federal, state or county-level intervention and significant community investment. We are housing experts that are confident that we have what it takes to stop our neighbors from ever experiencing the trauma of eviction and homelessness, but we can’t do it without our community and our government.

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[1] Url: https://idahocapitalsun.com/2023/04/03/2023-expected-to-be-the-highest-record-of-evictions-in-the-treasure-valley/

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