200,000+ Forced to Move Due to Evictions, Foreclosures in 2022

According to a new study from Volodymyr Kupriyanov via Hire a Helper, the number of eviction/foreclosure-related moves rose 56% from 2021 to 2022. The reason for these moves was due in large part due to rising inflation, as well as federal rental assistance running out. These factors caused foreclosures and evictions to spike in 2022, which left thousands of Americans in need of a new home they can afford.

Regionally, California (+411%), Florida (+187%), and Massachusetts (+105%) saw the highest increase in moves following evictions and foreclosures according to the study.

Single parents (43%) and single mothers (79%) were more likely to move due to eviction or foreclosure than their married or childless counterparts, while Black (+23%) and Hispanic (+14%) people were more likely to be among those forced to move after losing their home compared to white Americans.

One in six (16%) of renters report being “very likely” to get evicted in the next two months in 2023.

“Eighteen months after the end of the government’s foreclosure moratorium, and with less than five percent of the 8.4 million borrowers who entered the CARES Act forbearance program remaining, foreclosure activity remains significantly lower than it was prior to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Rick Sharga, EVP of Market Intelligence at ATTOM. “It seems clear that government and mortgage industry efforts during the pandemic, coupled with a strong economy, have helped prevent millions of unnecessary foreclosures.”

Based on data from ATTOM, there were 324,237 foreclosures in the U.S. in 2022. According to the data from Eviction Lab, an eviction data research agency out of Princeton University, eviction filings saw an 81% uptick in 2022. (However, that stat only covers 32 cities across the ten states they are currently able to track.)

And while the total number of eviction/foreclosure-related moves is lower than it was in the mid-2010s (it’s been falling steadily since 2017), that all changed dramatically last year. Data analyzed from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that as many as 204,000 Americans were forced to move in 2022 after being evicted or having had their property foreclosed upon—which resulted in a rate increase of 56%–the highest since the pandemic started.

Figures from the U.S. government’s Current Population Survey suggest California is the state where the number of moves forced by eviction and foreclosure jumped most significantly. In the Golden State, the number of eviction/foreclosure moves in 2022 was over three times higher than in 2021 (+210%). Another state experiencing a drastic rise in the number of foreclosure- and eviction-related moves was the Sunshine State of Florida, where the year-over-year growth rate of such moves was up 187% in 2022. Coming in third was Massachusetts where eviction/foreclosure moves doubled year-over-year, rising by as much as 105% in 2022, compared to 2021.

Single parents were 43% more likely to be among those moving due to eviction and foreclosure than those married or those without children in the household. For single mothers, the over-representation rate sits at 80% more likely to be evicted and foreclosed on. Single parents, especially single mothers, were much more likely to drop out of the labor force to take care of children during the pandemic. They were also much more reliant on COVID-related protections from the government, without which many now struggle to afford their home.

Click here for more information on Hire a Helper’s “2023 Study: The Shocking Rise of Eviction- and Foreclosure-Related Moves” report.