Connecticut Evictions Have Surpassed Pre-Pandemic Levels

In February 2022, we released a shocking analysis of the eviction crisis in Connecticut diving into topics such as the disparities of evictions of certain demographics, along with analysis of representation in court and the outcomes depending on representation. We are working on an updated analysis with evictions data through the end of 2022, which will be released sometime in the next few months. This blog post will provide a general overview of eviction trends from 2017 through the end of 2022. Make sure to sign up for our newsletter to be notified once our full update report is released!

Who Are The Renters in Connecticut?

Given that evictions mainly impact renters, let’s quickly explore the landscape of housing in Connecticut. Please note that the race categories include residents who are Hispanic or Latino, so the percentages will add up to over 100%. For overall housing units, 10% are occupied by householders who are Black or African American only, 9% by two or more races, 6% by some other race only, and 15% by Hispanic of Latino. When considering renter-occupied housing, we can see that a larger portion of rental units are occupied by householders of color compared to the overall housing units. While 29% of overall housing units are occupied by householders of color, nearly half of rental units are occupied by householders of color, with the majority occupied by the four groups previously mentioned. This suggests that a higher percentage of residents of color rent homes when compared to white residents.

Eviction Filings Rebounded in 2022, Surpassing Pre-Pandemic Levels

As mentioned in our previous report, due to the state and federal eviction moratoria put in place in 2020 along with rental assistance distributed through the UniteCT program, the annual number of eviction cases was 68% lower in 2020 than the pre-pandemic average (2017-2019 averaged 19,981 filings a year). However, with the eviction moratorium ending in summer 2021, Connecticut experienced nearly 23,000 eviction filings in 2022, surpassing pre-pandemic levels.

A Clearer Picture Through Monthly Eviction Filings

The visualization below shows eviction filings for each month between January 2017 and December 2022. From this, we are able to more clearly visualize the impact of the eviction moratorium. As a result of the eviction moratorium put into place in March 2020, eviction filings steadily decreased and remained relatively low through the summer months of 2021, with a low of only 24 filings in May 2020. Once the eviction moratorium was lifted in summer 2021, we observe a sharp increase in eviction filings especially as we entered the new year, with a high of just under 2,500 filings in March 2022.

Keep An Eye Out For Our Full Updated Evictions Report

It is evident that the federal and state eviction moratoria are crucial in supporting renters during times of need. Over the next few months, we will be analyzing eviction data through the end of 2022. Within this updated report, we plan to not only analyze the dataset provided by CT Fair Housing, but also pull in research where applicable to contextualize our findings. Make sure to sign up for our newsletter to be notified once our full update report is released!

For More Information 

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