An article in Cityscape, “Analyzing the Effect of Crime-Free Housing Policies on Completed Evictions Using Spatial First Differences,” finds that crime-free housing policies (CFHPs) increase formal eviction lockouts, known as “writs of execution.” CFHPs are municipal programs that certify multifamily housing units as crime-free if property owners meet certain training and building requirements and add a crime-free addendum to their lease agreement. The lease addendum empowers landlords to evict tenants suspected of engaging in or facilitating criminal activity. The authors also find that census blocks with CFHP-certified rentals are more likely to have a greater proportion of Black and Latino residents and lower-income residents, suggesting that low-income renters of color may be disproportionately impacted by CFHP-related increases in eviction lockouts.
The researchers evaluated the association between CFHPs and eviction lockouts in four California jurisdictions: Fremont, Hayward, Riverside, and San Diego County. Public records were used to identify addresses of CFHP-certified rental units in each location. Address data on writs of execution completed in 2019 were obtained from local sheriffs’ offices. Census-block level demographic data were obtained from the American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (2015-2019).
The researchers found that CFHPs were associated with significant increases in eviction lockouts. In Fremont, Hayward, and San Diego County, the data demonstrated significantly more eviction lockouts in census blocks with CFHP-certified rentals compared with blocks without CFHP-certified rentals. Using a spatial first differences (SFD) model, the authors found that CFHP increased evictions across all municipalities by 24.9%. By location, the authors found CFHP increased evictions by 41% in Fremont, 37.1% in Hayward, 27.2% in San Diego County, and 17.1% in Riverside.
Blocks with CFHP-certified rentals also had lower annual per capita income and larger proportions of people of color than blocks without CFHP-certified rentals. Average income differences were statistically significant in Fremont, Riverside, and San Diego County, where annual per capita income was $6,547, $7,244, and $9,098 lower in CFHP blocks, respectively. Compared to blocks without CFHP-certified rentals, blocks with CFHP-certified rentals had higher proportions of Latino residents in Fremont, Riverside and San Diego County, and higher proportions of Black residents in Hayward and Riverside.
The researchers conclude that increased evictions from CFHPs are particularly troubling given CFHP’s disproportionate impact on lower-income residents and residents of color, who are already at higher risk for eviction and face more severe consequences due to socioeconomic precarity. They warn policymakers that the potential disparate impacts of CFHPs on protected groups could give rise to Fair Housing Act or the 14th Amendment violations. Given their findings, they suggest that policymakers should weigh any benefit of crime deterrence against the cost of increased evictions, including increased homelessness and social service needs.
Notably, the researchers share that prior research has demonstrated that CFHPs likely do not lead to a reduction in crime. They suggest that their findings may translate to other policies, such as criminal activity nuisance ordinances, chronic nuisance ordinances, and one-strike policies, that similarly use evictions as a means to prevent crime.
Read the report at: https://bit.ly/3Co3yIr