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Judicial-branch eviction data show post-moratorium spike and higher share of voluntary dismissals
Summary
Staff presented state judicial-branch eviction data showing a post-moratorium rise in filings, a backlog spike after court closures around Halloween and a notable increase in voluntary dismissals compared with prior years; staff compared Buncombe to Orange, Wake and Mecklenburg.
County staff reviewed state judicial-branch data on eviction filings on Oct. 8 and flagged a recent uptick in filings and a change in the types of court rulings.
Staff said filings fell sharply during the pandemic moratorium, rose as courts reopened and showed a pronounced dip and rapid rebound after courts closed around Halloween; staff said the rebound likely reflects backlog and timing effects. Historically, about half of eviction filings resulted in a judgment granting eviction, but staff noted the proportion of voluntary dismissals has increased in the most recent reporting period while involuntary dismissals have fallen.
The presentation compared Buncombe to Orange, Wake and Mecklenburg counties using occupied-rental estimates as a denominator. Staff said the charts show the number of filings and the share granted as a proportion of the county's rental housing stock; staff offered to prepare additional maps and a metric showing rental-unit counts per capita if the subcommittee wanted that comparison.
Questions from members focused on whether the recent spike represents a long-term trend and on whether data should be normalized by rental stock or population. Staff said more months of data will be needed to identify a trend and offered to provide a map or chart showing rental units per population.
