Evictions in St. Louis Skyrocket Post Pandemic

Over the course of one week last month, there were 414 filings for evictions in St. Louis city and county courts, a level of evictions not seen since at least the start of the pandemic.

This is according to data from the Eviction Lab, an organization of researchers who study housing.

Jacob Haas, a research specialist at the Eviction Lab, says that the number of eviction filings in St. Louis last month was about 20 percent higher than the pre-pandemic average. In total, there have been almost 30,000 eviction filings in St. Louis city and county since March 2020.

Haas, who is a Washington University alumnus, says that St. Louis' eviction rates follow a nation-wide trend.

During the pandemic, eviction moratoriums went into place, and the government issued rental assistance. But, with those programs expiring, cities such as St. Louis are seeing "a return either back to norms or beyond norms in some areas," Haas says. "And that's unfortunate because the norm isn't this cheery, rosy scenario."

Haas says that in St. Louis, like a lot of cities, a relatively small number of landlords and a small number of buildings disproportionately drive evictions.

Since October of last year, almost 40 percent of all evictions in St. Louis have come from just 100 buildings. According to Eviction Lab data, many the top properties driving evictions are in north county, with the Spanish Cove Townhomes in Spanish Lake having the most evictions since March 2020. However, complexes in Downtown West, south city and Maryland Heights are among the top 10 properties driving evictions, according to Eviction Lab.

"It's a lot of very highly concentrated activity in specific neighborhoods and within specific buildings," Haas says. "But that also means that solutions can be targeted. Rental assistance can be targeted to the areas and buildings that need it the most."

Haas points to the city of Philadelphia as an example of a place that has set up programs attempting to create a "win-win" both for tenants facing evictions as well as for landlords.

The city government there has set up eviction diversion programs through which landlords and tenants reach a mediated outcome outside of the court system.

Haas calls this a "win-win" because landlords can get paid, and tenants can receive rental assistance or extra time to pay as well as avoid an eviction on their record that can make it hard to secure housing in the future.

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This story has been updated.

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