Can the American Housing Survey Provide Reliable Estimates of the Prevalence of Eviction?

Shawn Bucholtz
Federal Housing Finance Agency

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the official positions or policies of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Office of Policy Development and Research, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or the U.S. government.

As the sponsor of the American Housing Survey (AHS), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has consistently demonstrated a willingness to use the biennial AHS to collect information on housing topics relevant to HUD and other federal agencies, as well as to state and local governments and advocacy and research communities. Between 2009 and 2019, HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau included 17 different topical modules covering topics such as emergency and disaster preparedness, food security, and residents’ perceptions and use of arts and cultural resources in their community (HUD, 2020b).