Eviction/Foreclosure

Rapid Response

May 19, 2020

Anne Wright, CMU CREATE Lab

anne.r.wright@gmail.com

http://evict-response.earthtime.org/

MDJ Evictions, Eviction Appeals, Foreclosures

Original eviction filings happen in MDJ Courts; Appeals and foreclosures in Court of Common Pleas

MDJ Evictions, Eviction Appeals, Foreclosures

Each filing type has a fairly consistent seasonal pattern

MDJ Evictions, Eviction Appeals, Foreclosures

Filings in 2020 (red) dropped around the March 16 moratorium; Blue shows shortfall from typical pattern

MDJ Eviction status by week

Current status by week filed plus projected filing backlog if evictions matched normal year

• Currently 479 active eviction cases in MDJs
  
• Average of 234 cases closed and 21 marked inactive per week over the past year
  
• County moratorium ending 6/2 processing of active cases resumes
  
• State moratorium prevents new filings until 7/10
  
• Max filings in one week = 452

County moratorium ends

State moratorium ends

Projected filings of backlog

MDJ Eviction status by week

At historical rates MDJs have processed cases, courts would be overwhelmed until ~ mid 2021

• The 479 active eviction cases in MDJs would mostly close before 6/2
  
• Maximum processed in past is ~450 filings/wk, ~350 closed/wk, and 30 inactivated/wk
  
• At that rate, peak # of active cases would be > 3,000 in ~Nov/Dec
  
• If more evictions than normal year, peak gets higher and later
  
• Courts can't go that fast

County moratorium ends

State moratorium ends

• If we fall short of supporting residents to former income levels, eviction and foreclosure filings could be much worse than historical average -- tenant relief funding and eviction diversion/mediation are critical
  
• Lowest income residents most likely to suffer effects but least likely to be able to overcome barriers to access help
  
• Need more than ever to coordinate cross-sector cooperation, like PA Serves
  
• Orgs in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh been using Airtable to coordinate distributed mutual aid efforts
  
• Have Airtable prototype with real-time feeds from MDJ and Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas dockets
  

Eviction disparate impact

Eviction disparate impact

Eviction disparate impact

Eviction disparate impact

Eviction disparate impact

Eviction disparate impact

Eviction disparate impact

Eviction filings

Eviction filings

Eviction filings

Foreclosure filings

Foreclosure filings

​

All current housing displacement filings

Other ideas

• Work with PHFA to incorporate Act 91 Notices?
  
• Work with Housing Authorities to get advanced notice of Housing Choice Voucher holders being evicted?
  
• Improve coordination between neighborhood groups who support vulnerable residents and other stakeholders
  
• PURR (Pittsburgh Union of Regional Renters) is coordinating tenants who share a common landlord, knowing about eviction filings could help prioritize
  
• Working with HousingDB to map eviction plaintiffs and properties through shell companies/alternate names

Credits

• Amy Gottsegen, Philadelphia Socialists' Mutual Aid project: original Eviction data set (Right to Know request), MDJ scraper development, Airtable training
• Jeff Benzing, Public Source, Second Eviction data set (Right to Know request)
• Rachel Rue, Allegheny County DHS, plaintiff categorization, residential/non-residential categorization of MDJ cases
• Dianne Wainwright, Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, eviction appeals docket numbers and categorization
• Randy Sargent, CMU CREATE Lab, scraper infrastructure, PDF scraper
• Kristen Kruse, CMU CREATE Lab, MDJ eviction data infrastructure + maps
  
• Contact: anne.r.wright@gmail.com, 650 575-1610