Eviction Filings, Unemployment, and the Impact of COVID-19

As LCBH was planning the release of new eviction data, we were hit with the COVID-19 pandemic and put the project on hold. COVID-19 led to a massive spike in unemployment, the passage of the CARES Act, and the closing of the courts. The country soon realized the pandemic would not be short-lived and many questions and concerns about renters, evictions and homelessness started to be raised.

2018-2019 Chicago Evictions Data Released

In May 2019, LCBH launched the Chicago Evictions Data Portal as a resource to help researchers, policy makers, and advocates investigate Chicago's chronic eviction problem using eviction court data for the years 2010 to 2017.

LCBH is expanding its look at Chicago’s ongoing eviction crisis with a new release of data for the years 2018 and 2019.

In this short report, we provide updates on key findings from our three initial “Opening the Door on Chicago Evictions” reports:

Chicago Housing and Health Dashboard

Data from our Chicago Evictions data portal has been incorporated into the new Chicago Housing and Health Dashboard created through a collaboration between Enterprise Community Partners and the Illinois Public Health Institute. This new tool brings together publicly available data from various sources to allow practitioners to visualize the relationships between housing and health as they begin to devise strategies to reduce health disparities as they relate to the built environment.

Current Eviction Tracking by Month

Many of us are concerned about the impact of COVID-19 and the looming tidal wave of evictions. While most of LCBH’s analysis of eviction data happens well after cases have completed, we have shifted some of our resources to look at the impact COVID-19 is having on current eviction filings and have created these two monthly eviction tracking reports by Community Area and Chicago Ward (similar reports are also available by week).

Current Eviction Tracking by Week

Many of us are concerned about the impact of COVID-19 and the looming tidal wave of evictions. While most of LCBH’s analysis of eviction data happens well after cases have completed, we have shifted some of our resources to look at the impact COVID-19 is having on current eviction filings and have created these two weekly eviction tracking reports by Community Area and Chicago Ward (similar reports are also available by month).

Most Families Forced Out For Less Than $2,500 Back Rent

This is the second of three reports in the Opening the Door on Chicago Evictions series.

Key Findings

Eighty-two percent of eviction cases filed between 2010 and 2017 made claims for back rent, supporting the common belief that most evictions are for non-payment of rent. During the same time, Chicago saw an average of more than 23,000 eviction cases filed each year.