ATLANTA — A new report finds that the Atlanta metro ranks the worst in the country for eviction rates.
The Princeton-run “Eviction Lab” found that the Atlanta metro had more total evictions than New York City.
Channel 2’s Michael Doudna dove into the numbers and found there were multiple complexes that averaged an eviction a day.
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A paper on the door. And personal belongings thrown on the asphalt. An unfortunately familiar sight for Matthew Nursey.
“It’s terrible to go through. First, it’s humiliating,” Nursey told Doudna.
Before becoming a housing advocate, Nursey lived through an eviction. He lost his job and then his home.
“60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. A lot of us are just one emergency away from being in a precarious housing situation,” he said.
But a report from Princeton’s “Eviction Lab” found Atlantans were hit harder by evictions than any other metro or state they track.
“The numbers are mind-blowing in Atlanta‚” said Princeton’s Grace Hartley.
According to the report, metro Atlanta landlords filed 144,003 evictions in the past 12 months — more than all of New York City.
“Which is particularly remarkable because New York City has four times the renter population than Atlanta,” Hartley said.
The Princeton report found that certain complexes became frequent evictors with six different complexes evicting more than 300 people in the past year.
“We see all the time that there are mass evictions going on at certain properties,” Nursey said.
But the impact of evictions sticks with renters —staying on records for seven years — making it harder to find a new home.
“It’s one of the taxes of being poor, right?” Nursey said.
Why does metro Atlanta have such higher rates? Eviction Lab says it’s our laws.
Compared to cities like New York or Philadelphia, Atlanta landlords pay less to file for evictions and have to give less notice while tenants don’t have guaranteed rights to council.
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