Connecticut Evictions: Diving Deeper

Last month, we published our report on Connecticut’s eviction crisis. In this blog post, we dive deeper into the data and explore towns with the highest number of eviction filings in recent months, from January 2021 through February 2022.

As mentioned in our larger report, not all eviction cases result in the renter moving, but the filing of an eviction case can have permanent consequences regardless of the outcome of the case. Often, the existence of an eviction case record alone leads to a renter’s applications being denied, without any consideration given to the outcome of the court case, let alone the facts and circumstances surrounding it.

Please refer to the Notes section of our larger report to understand how race/ethnicity and sex probabilities of defendants are derived.

43% of All Eviction Filings Occured in Just Five Towns

From January 2021 through February 2022, there were a total of 11,781 eviction filings in Connecticut. The five towns with the highest number of eviction filings (Hartford, Bridgeport, Waterbury, New Haven, New Britain) accounted for 43% of these filings.

During this time period, the overall eviction filing rate in Connecticut was 2,506 per 100,000 renter-occupied households. When considering the twenty towns with the largest number of renter-occupied households, there are twelve towns with filing rates higher than overall Connecticut. Hartford, Waterbury, and New London had the highest filing rates, each with over 4,000 eviction filings per 100,000 renter-occupied households.

Explore eviction filings and filing rates below.

Eviction Filing Rates Are Highest In Hartford

Of the five towns with the highest count of eviction filings, Hartford consistently had the highest rate of eviction filings in most months of this time period. The eviction filing rate is calculated per 100,000 residents using 2020 Census redistricting data.

While monthly filing rates across Connecticut were between 15 and 35 per 100,000 residents from January 2021 through February 2022, each of the five towns experienced higher rates during every month, with Hartford experiencing a peak of 172 eviction filings per 100,000 residents in December 2021.

Female Renters Continue to be more likely to Have Eviction Cases Filed Against Them

From January 2021 through February 2022, we were able to assign sex probabilities to 10,811 (92%) filings. Similar to the analysis in our larger report, female renters were more likely to experience eviction filings during this time period. The largest disparity was seen in Hartford, where 60% of eviction filings were against female renters, compared to only 40% against male renters. In other words, for every 100 eviction cases filed in Hartford, there were 20 additional cases filed against female renters compared to male renters.

Black, Hispanic/Latino, and American Indian & Alaska Native Residents Experience The Highest Eviction Filing Rates

In Connecticut, evictions were filed against Black and Hispanic/Latino residents at the highest rates, followed by American Indian or Alaska Native residents, while Asian, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander and Multiracial residents experienced the lowest rates of evictions in Connecticut and across all five towns. These findings are similar to our larger report, where Black and Hispanic/Latino residents experienced the highest rates of eviction filings from 2017 to 2021.

Lack of Representation in Court for Renters Remains An Issue

As we discussed in our larger report, renters who do not have a lawyer in court are nearly twice as likely to have a removal order issued against them. A removal order allows a landlord to hire a marshal to force a renter to leave their home.

As seen in the chart to the right, there remains a striking inequality in representation. From January 2021 through February 2022, only 10% of renters who had an eviction case filed against them had a lawyer in court, compared to 86% of landlords. In other words, while nearly 9 in 10 landlords had a lawyer, 9 in 10 renters did not have a lawyer. This disparity can also be seen across the five towns, and while New Haven has a smaller gap, lack of representation remains a pressing issue across all five towns.

For More Information

Visit our Evictions Portal where you can find the full report along with an interactive evictions map and other resources.

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