Eviction Practices in Subsidized Housing: Evidence From New York State

Ingrid Gould Ellen
Elizabeth Lochhead
Katherine O’Regan
NYU Wagner and Furman Center

In response to growing evidence of the negative consequences of evictions, policymakers at all levels of government have directed a new effort toward eviction prevention in recent years. However, less attention has focused on evictions in subsidized housing, despite the low incomes of subsidized tenants and the arguably greater ability of government agencies to manage eviction practices in a stock they subsidize.

The authors aim to address this gap by leveraging multiple sources of administrative data to analyze patterns of nonpayment eviction filings and warrants in different types of place-based, subsidized housing in the state of New York between 2016 and 2022. Drawing on address-level eviction records from the New York State Office of Court Administration, unsubsidized property addresses from the New York City Department of Finance, subsidized property addresses from the National Housing Preservation Database, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) administrative data, and the New York University Furman Center, the authors find that filing rates are consistently higher in public housing than in other types of subsidized housing. Filing rates in public housing are even higher than in unsubsidized multifamily properties, at least in New York City, where comparison data are available. However, the share of filings that result in a warrant is lowest in public housing, suggesting that public housing agencies (PHAs) may use eviction filing as a rent collection strategy. The analysis also uncovers substantial variation across cities and individual developments in New York City.