As Supreme Court Lifted Eviction Moratorium, Eviction Filings by Corporate Landlords Surged in August

Despite the existence of multiple national programs intended to halt evictions and assist indebted renters, private equity firms and other corporate landlords have filed to evict more than 106,000 families in counties throughout Georgia, Florida, Texas, Arizona, Tennessee, and Nevada since the start of the pandemic. .

In December 2020, Congress appropriated over $46 billion in direct financial assistance to support renters. Nevertheless, corporate landlords continued with eviction filings, filing more than 61,000 eviction actions since the start of 2021. 

$41 billion of the funds appropriated were still available at the end of July; however, corporate landlords have increased eviction filings in many cities and states.

 In at least 17 counties where we have tracked eviction filings, including Miami-Dade (FL), Palm Beach (FL), Chatham (GA), Harris (TX), Tarrant (TX), and Shelby (TN), corporate landlords filed more evictions in August than July.

It is important to note that these numbers represent a fraction of the eviction actions happening across the country. The Private Equity Stakeholder Project has tracked eviction filings by corporate landlords in dozens of counties in Florida, Georgia, Texas, Arizona, Nevada and Tennessee during the pandemic.

In August, the US Supreme Court ended a federal eviction moratorium that had  helped keep families in their homes throughout the pandemic. Other state and local eviction moratoriums have recently ended or will end soon. As moratoriums have ended, many corporate landlords have become more aggressive in their eviction efforts, filing at least 8,837 evictions in August alone:

–       Florida: In August, corporate landlords filed at least 2,168 eviction actions in several counties throughout the state – a 27 percent increase over July. New to the list of counties for which we have data is Broward County. In August, corporate landlords inBroward County filed at least 231 evictions – pushing the total number of evictions filed by corporate landlords that PESP is tracking in Florida to 2,399.

–       Georgia: Corporate landlords in August filed at least 2,110 eviction actions in DeKalb, Clayton, and Chatham counties. In DeKalb and Clayton counties – both majority Black– corporate evictions account for 90 percent and 88 percent, respectively, of all evictions filed in August. In Chatham County, which is a majority white county, corporate landlords account for 54 percent of all August filings. 

–       Texas: Corporate landlords filed at least 2,256 eviction actions in August in Harris (Houston), Tarrant (Fort Worth), and Travis (Austin) counties combined – a ten percent increase over last month. In Harris and Tarrant counties, corporate landlords were responsible  for more than half of all August filings.

–       Tennessee: In Shelby County (Memphis) corporate landlords filed at least 847 evictions in August – 19 percent more than in July. Corporate landlords were responsible for at least 56 percent of all eviction filings in the county last month.

–       Nevada: Corporate landlords filed at least 1,225 evictions in Las Vegas.

Some of the most notable filers in August include:

–       Balfour Residential: Filed at least 146 new eviction actions in August – more than double the number of evictions the company filed throughout the entire pandemic. Balfour Residential filed these 146 eviction actions in five residential communities in majority-Black DeKalb County, Georgia. 

–       Westland Real Estate Group: Filed at least 120 eviction actions in August, all of which took place in Clark County, Nevada.

–       Legend Homes: Filed at least 112 evictions in Harris County, Texas in August. Since the start of the year, the company has filed 424 evictions – all in Harris County.

–       Budget Suites of America: In August, the weekly rental chain filed 110 eviction actions in August, primarily in Clark County, Nevada.

–       American Landmark Apartments/ Electra America: Filed 110 eviction actions in August, including 60 filings in Texas and 35 in Florida. To date, the company has filed at least 659 evictions since the start of the year.

–       Blue Magma Residential: Filed at least 103 eviction actions in August and has filed at least 417 evictions since January.

–       Camden Property Trust: Publicly-traded real estate investment trust (REIT) Camden Property Trust filed at least 80 eviction actions in August and has filed at least 428 evictions since January.

–       Federal Capital Partners: Private equity firm Federal Capital Partners filed at least 79 eviction actions in August and has filed to evict more than 360 residents since January.

A list of the top 50 eviction filers in August and their total number of filings in 2021.