Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Joseph Kennedy III (D-MA), along with seventeen Democratic co-sponsors, introduced the “We Need Eviction Data Now Act” (H.R. 7743) on July 23. The bill would require the HUD secretary to create a national database to standardize and track evictions nationwide, and to create a Federal Advisory Committee on Eviction Research to make policy recommendations based on the data collected.
There has been an ongoing eviction crisis in this country, but the lack of national data on the frequency of evictions hinders lawmakers’ ability to create policies to address the problem. The national eviction moratorium included in the CARES Act expired on July 25, and many states have already allowed their eviction moratoriums to expire. Researchers from the Eviction Lab predict that approximately 28 million people may be evicted in the coming months, three times as many people as those who lost homes in the 2008 financial crisis.
NLIHC President and CEO Diane Yentel voiced support for the bill: “This impending eviction crisis underscores the critical need for the ‘We Need Eviction Data Now Act,’ which would create a national database to track evictions, providing advocates and policymakers at all levels of government with the data they need to better ensure housing stability among America's lowest-income and most marginalized renters. We look forward to working with Representatives DeLauro and Kennedy to enact this legislation.”
Read details about the bill at: https://tinyurl.com/y56bt6xn
Read the press release from Representative DeLauro’s office at: https://tinyurl.com/y5sjhpf3