Overview Webinars to be Held July 29, 31
The Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA) today released the first components of its – the first study of its kind to look at the rates and characteristics of evictions across the Bay Area. The release includes:
- Evictions in the Nine-County Bay Area, a comprehensive report focused on the analysis of rates, causes and features of eviction lawsuits throughout the region.
- Tenant Legal Services in the Nine-County Bay Area, a report focused on tenant legal services capacity and services for tenants facing eviction in each of the nine Bay Area counties.
- that allows users to select and review data on eviction lawsuits and sheriff lockouts in specific counties and ZIP codes.
Together, this information provides system-wide and county-specific baseline information in how evictions are affecting Bay Area residents. Overall, the study found that the rates of court evictions have returned to or surpassed pre-pandemic levels in eight of the nine Bay Area counties. BAHFA plans to release additional reports and information from the study in the coming months.
Key findings from the first two reports include:
- Approximately 21,767 eviction lawsuits (formal court evictions) were filed in the region from July 2023 through June 2024, meeting or exceeding pre-pandemic levels in eight of the nine counties. While trends continue to evolve, the data indicate an increase beyond the spikes seen when pandemic-era eviction moratoria ended in 2022–23.
- At a regional level, the eviction rates from July 2023-June 2024 varied, with the highest rates in Solano, Contra Costa and Alameda counties. Eviction rates were particularly high in fast-changing urban neighborhoods and eastern suburban areas that have seen increasing rates of poverty over the past decade.
- Regionwide data about the causes of eviction could not be obtained. However, eviction notice data available from some cities show that inability to pay rent is cited as the legal cause in 85% to 97% of eviction notices. This finding highlights the role of the region’s housing affordability challenges in eviction risk.
- In every county, there are not enough tenant legal services attorneys to represent every household facing an eviction lawsuit. Legal aid providers estimate that a manageable eviction caseload per year is 40 to 50 cases per attorney; from July 2023 through June 2024, the region averaged 166 eviction filings per tenant legal services eviction defense attorney.
- Legal service gaps are particularly pronounced in some counties, with notably higher-than-average levels of eviction filings per available attorney in Contra Costa (328 eviction filings per attorney), Solano (447 evictions per attorney) and Santa Clara (480 evictions per attorney) counties.
BAHFA commissioned this study to provide baseline data that can inform local and regional conversations about strategies to keep people housed and in their communities. This regional dataset was collected from multiple sources, and until now has been difficult to obtain and analyze. The Bay Area Eviction Study was supported by the San Francisco Foundation.
BAHFA staff and members of the research team will hold two overview webinars – one for each report. The Evictions in the Nine-County Bay Area overview will be on Tuesday, July 29, at 1 p.m. .
On Thursday, July 31, at 11 a.m., BAHFA staff and the research team will provide an overview of Tenant Legal Services in the Nine-County Bay Area. .
Established in 2019 as the state’s pioneering regional housing entity, BAHFA focuses on large-scale solutions for affordable housing production, preservation and tenant protections. BAHFA is jointly governed by the BAHFA Board, which is composed of the same members as the , and the 91¹ú²ú. .