Federal and local governments imposed eviction moratoriums during the height of COVID-19 in 2020, temporarily shielding an estimated 1–2 million U.S. households from the threat of losing their homes. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal moratorium in summer 2021, effectively ending protections in most local areas after nearly a year.

This analysis leverages new eviction and credit data from Dallas County, Texas, to explore the impact of the moratoriums and to examine trends that surfaced once the moratoriums ended. Dallas County is representative of the nation in several ways, including educational attainment levels, unemployment rates and the prevalence of poverty. During the initial year of the pandemic, Dallas County rents increased at near the national average.

We find that the eviction moratoriums in Dallas County produced a “dual benefit”—reductions in both eviction cases and credit card nonpayments—that was more pronounced in communities of color. Finally, we find that when the national mortarium ended, rates of eviction and credit card delinquencies increased swiftly, indicating rising shares of Dallas County households struggling simultaneously with timely rent and credit card payments. Our results are in line with a recent study on the impact of eviction moratoriums on household well-being.

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https://www.dallasfed.org/research/economics/2023/0411