PORT ANGELES — Eviction filings in both Clallam and Jefferson counties have been mirroring the rest of the state by trending in the historic highs since the end of the pandemic.
These trends follow the gradual lifting of state and local pandemic programs, according to an Eviction Research report published in December.
Between September 2023 and August 2024, Clallam County had 12 evictions filed for every 1,000 renters while Jefferson County had 14 per 1,000. In terms of total evictions during that time period, Clallam ranked 19th out of the state’s 39 counties with 115 filings. Jefferson ranked 27th with 43 eviction filings.
Despite ranking 27th, due to its higher-than-average ratio of filings compared to total renters, Jefferson was one of nine counties in the state that broke historic records for eviction filings in 2024.
Filings don’t necessarily correlate to evictions, however. For a tenant to be evicted, a court must issue a writ of restitution to the county sheriff’s office, which enforces the eviction.
Between 2021 and 2024, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office received 54 writs of restitution, according to chief civil deputy Jennifer Stacy.
Between 2022 and June 2024, the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office received 174, Sheriff Brian King said.
When people are evicted, they often become homeless, live out of cars, move in with their families or move into substandard housing such as barns or sheds, said Holly Morgan, the executive director of Olympic Community Action Program (OlyCAP).
Increased filings
One of the largest reasons for the increased number of filings is the lifting of state and local pandemic protections.
“We are navigating kind of a different landscape than we ever have before,” Peninsula Housing Authority Executive Director Sarah Martinez said. “I think we’re still in recovery post-pandemic.”
State-level measures, such as the Eviction Resolution Pilot Program (ERPP), were implemented to try to reduce evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, once the programs sunset, old problems were back in full force.
The EERP, which lasted from November 2021 to June 2023, required landlords and tenants to engage in mediation before filing for eviction.
While it was in effect, the Peninsula Dispute Resolution Center (PDRC) served 1,560 people with a case settlement rate of 86 percent.
Since the program ended, dispute resolution centers across the state have continued to offer free support for housing disputes, said Mary Irwin, executive director of the PDRC.
However, “it’s hard to meet people where they are and know what’s going on without a requirement from the courts,” she said.
During the pandemic, the state also started or ramped up a number of programs offering rent assistance to tenants in need. While those programs provided temporary assistance, many people still didn’t have the funds to afford rent once the programs ended.
“Governments acted, at the time, in the way they thought was the best way to do things, and we’re just kind of dealing with the consequences now,” Martinez said.
The rental assistance wasn’t enough to cover everyone in need, however. Without the necessary funding, many people accrued thousands of dollars of past-due rent during the 2020-21 state eviction moratorium.
In 2021, more than 190,000 tenants in the state were behind on their rent.
“Past due rents just climbed and accumulated, and when the emergency lifted and evictions proceeded, there were a lot of evictions,” OlyCAP Housing Project Manager Peggy Webster said.
Rent prices also have climbed in recent years due to increased costs in operating a rental and dramatic jumps in insurance costs, Webster said.
Across the nation, every $100 increase in median rent is associated with a 9 percent rise in homelessness, according to the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness.
These statistics only increase in rural counties, with a $100 increase in rent being associated with a rise in homelessness of up to 32 percent.
“There’s now kind of a systemic issue, which is the cost of operating,” Webster said.
Another factor that could play into increased eviction filings is increased drug usage, according to Terry James, president of property management company James and Associates Inc.
In the past 2 1/2 years, James said he processed five evictions — all of them related to drug use.
“Let’s say you have John Doe who is laid off [and] struggling,” James said. “Those are the people you don’t evict — you do everything you can to help them out.”
Possible solutions
While pandemic-era solutions banning or prolonging evictions may have been helpful in the moment, “it didn’t keep anybody from being evicted,” James said. “All it did was add more time to the equation.”
Now, Irwin said the state Legislature is looking at ways to address the record-level of eviction filings that are occurring across the state. One of the proposed solutions is a rent cap, which will prohibit landlords from raising a tenant’s rent more than 7 percent in a 12-month period. The measure, laid out in House Bill 1217, passed the House on Monday and will head to the Senate.
While the state is looking at ways to address the crisis, Morgan said federal actions such as tariffs and decreased funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development may make housing even more unaffordable and drive the eviction rate even higher.
Rural counties such as Clallam and Jefferson often suffer to a greater extent from fluctuations in the housing market, she added.
“Rural landlords often don’t have the resources to weather long vacancies and significant damages,” Morgan said. “[And] rent in our rural county often mirrors rents in urban counties, [but] salaries are not commiserate.”
Anyone facing possible eviction can go to the PDRC’s Community Housing Stability Program for a resource flyer.
Landlords faced with the need to evict also can reach out to OlyCAP for a conversation about resources, Morgan said.
“We can help them stay in their homes, hopefully,” Irwin said.
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Reporter Emma Maple can be reached by email at emma.maple@peninsuladailynews.com.
