Maricopa County Evictions Highest They’ve Been in 13 Years

woman looking at packet of papers while a man stands inside his doorway

FILE - Pima County Constable Kristen Randall, right, speaks to rental resident Paul Wunder, left, letting them know about his eviction notice and explaining to him the options he has for community programs on Sept. 24, 2021, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

By Jessica Swarner

August 17, 2022

Emergency rental assistance is still available for tenants facing eviction.

Evictions in the greater Phoenix area have hit their highest levels since the Great Recession.

The latest data from the Maricopa County Justice Courts shows that landlords filed 6,405 evictions in July, the highest number the county has seen since 2008, when in October the number of filings hit 6,975.

July was also the second month that eviction filings in the county had been higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Not all eviction filings result in lockouts by landlords, which can be forestalled with last-minute payments with rental assistance or court agreements.

Maricopa County had among the highest levels of evictions in the United States before state and federal eviction moratoriums slowed lockouts during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Those eviction bans have long since ended.

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A court spokesman emphasized that applications for rental assistance are still being accepted and encouraged tenants in need to apply.

But the White House is calling on states to find long-term solutions to prevent evictions, as federal emergency rental assistance funds made available during the pandemic will only be available for a short time. .

According to apartment search website Zumper, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Phoenix is $1,440, up 20% from last year. Five years ago, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment was under $900 a month.

Arizona Eviction Rate Fell

Although the eviction rate for Arizona as a whole has consistently been above the national average, new data shows the gap was lessening.

In 2018—the latest data Eviction Lab has available—the state’s eviction rate was 8.5%, while the national average was 7.8%.

However, in 2000, Arizona’s rate was 15% while the national average was 8.4%.

The state, which was 32.2% renter-occupied in 2018, was seeing an average of 233 eviction filings daily.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Author

Jessica Swarner

Jessica Swarner is the community editor for The Copper Courier. She is an ASU alumna and previously worked at KTAR News 92.3 FM in Phoenix.

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