Eviction moratoria and race disparities of eviction filing rates in the U.S

During the COVID-19 pandemic, US states enacted moratoria on evictions. Leveraging detailed administrative eviction filing data, we analyse the effects of eviction moratoria on eviction filings. Depending on the specification, we estimate that eviction filings declined by 75% in moratorium states relative to states with no moratorium in effect. We then impute the race and gender of renters facing eviction. We find significant and robust reductions in filings for all groups except Asian males. We estimate that eviction moratoria reduced eviction filings for Black, Hispanic and Asian renters significantly more than white renters, and women more than men. The simplest explanation for this disparity is that non-white (female) renters are disproportionately evicted compared to white (male) renters in general, and preventing evictions in a broad, uniform manner would thus disproportionately affect these groups.