Families Evicted Despite Bans, Subsidies and Increased Government Scrutiny: April 2021 Evictions Data

In the face of the CDC evictions ban, $50 billion in federal rental assistance, and warnings by the FTC and CFPB, private equity firms and other corporate landlords are still insisting on evicting families during the pandemic, particularly families of color. 

The Private Equity Stakeholder Project has tracked eviction filings by private equity firms and other corporate landlords in dozens of counties across several states (AZ, TX, FL, NV, GA, TN) during the COVID-19 pandemic. As of the end of April 2021:

• Corporate landlords have filed more than 63,000 eviction actions since the CDC eviction moratorium took effect in September 2020.

• Corporate landlords have filed more than 31,000 eviction actions since the beginning of 2021.

• Following the recent extension of the CDC eviction moratorium and statement by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that they would be investigating evictions by “private equity firms” and “multi-state landlords”, the number of evictions by corporate landlords appears to have dropped – from 7,884 in March to 6,359 in April.

• Even as some corporate landlords pulled back on eviction filings in April, some large landlords continued or even increased their eviction filings:

• Pretium Partners (Progress Residential, Front Yard Residential) has been the most prolific filer of evictions we have seen, filing 174 eviction actions in April and nearly 1,300 eviction actions since the CDC moratorium took effect in September 2020.  In March we released a report, “PANDEMIC EVICTOR: Don Mullen’s Pretium Partners Files to Evict Black Renters, Collects Billions From Investors.”

• Canadian real estate investment firm Western Wealth Capital filed at least 142 eviction actions in April in Arizona, Texas, and Georgia, up from 91 in March.

• New York-based private real estate firm Atlas Real Estate Partners and DC-based West End Capital in February acquired the 833-unit Eden at Watersedge apartments in Memphis, TN. Last week, they filed to evict 85 residents at the property.

• Invitation Homes, the largest single family rental landlord in the country with more than 80,000 rental homes, has filed at least 800 eviction actions since the CDC moratorium took effect, including 88 eviction filings in April 2021.  Invitation Homes has drawn scrutiny for challenging residents’ CDC hardship declarations.