The Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA) has released new research to better understand eviction trends and tenant legal service capacity across the nine-county region. These studies are part of BAHFA’s commitment to the “3 Ps” framework: Production, Preservation, and Protections.

The Bay Area Eviction Study draws from Superior Court records, sheriff’s departments, the California Judicial Council, and tenant-serving organizations to analyze formal eviction filings and lockouts from 2015 to 2024. Alongside this, a companion report on Tenant Legal Services maps out the availability and gaps in legal support for renters facing eviction.

Key findings are presented in two regional reports and an interactive data tool, allowing users to explore eviction patterns by county and time period. 

The study on Tenant Legal Services in the Bay Area showed that there is very little investment in tenant legal services per low income household, but close to an even split between costs borne by cities vs. Santa Clara County. 

There was a lot of variation among the 9 counties on this variation. It is also clear that the current services available are not enough to meet the need in many communities.

The study also revealed how impactful providing legal assistance to low income households is to prevent evictions. 

However, the study was unable to access some data for a few counties, including Santa Clara County. Some data gaps were filled for the cities of San Jose and Mountain View due the existence of a local rent registry. It shows that there is still much work to be done to understand evictions in our area. 

Additional reports, including one on informal evictions, are expected later this year.

Explore the reports, webinars, and the data tool on the Bay Area Eviction Study page.