Maryland Needs a Comprehensive Eviction Database

Tim Robustelli wrote an OpEd for The Washington Post on why Maryland needs better eviction data to help its most vulnerable renters amid COVID-19.

Now, the Maryland court system publishes county-level totals on eviction filings and outcomes. Anything more specific, such as the neighborhoods in which evictions are taking place or the amount of back rent leading to evictions, is difficult to find. Eviction Lab at Princeton University, which maintains the most comprehensive data set on U.S. evictions, only includes census tract-level information for three out of 24 counties in the state, and the most recent year available is 2016. Other research is mostly limited in geographic scope and time frame, as well.

Without knowing answers to simple questions such as “Where are evictions most concentrated?” and “Who is most at risk for being kicked out?,” decision-makers can’t make real-time and data-driven choices about which communities need rental aid most. Instead, they may decide to distribute funds evenly throughout a county or city, or channel them through complicated and lengthy application processes that further marginalize low-income and resource-poor households. And this isn’t only an issue amid the pandemic; data gaps will continue to affect the response to our nation’s lasting affordable housing and eviction crises.

Detailed eviction information regularly aggregated into a statewide database would be a powerful resource for Maryland legislators and aid groups to discern which landlords rely heavily on the courts, which renters experience displacement and in which neighborhoods evictions are most acute. Funding, resources and outreach could then be directed based on a greater awareness of needs.

Adding other data points to this repository could lead to even more targeted actions in the fight against evictions. Specific information about the disparities in legal representation between landlords and tenants, for example, might help the state implement right-to-counsel programs in certain counties and possibly in individual courts. Or data on average back rent owed by city—say places as different as Hagerstown, Silver Spring and Ocean City—might better guide policymakers on just how much rental aid is needed where.

Read more on why the State of Maryland should build an eviction database, and how, here.