Eviction cases in Maricopa County on pace to break record set in 2005
MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz. - While eviction numbers fell from August to September, total evictions in 2024 are still on pace to break the record of 83,687 set in 2005.
September saw 7,537 cases filed compared to 7,957 in August.
This year from January to September, 65,651 total evictions cases were filed, according to data from Maricopa County Justice Courts.
That breaks the previous record for the first three-quarters of the year by about 3,000, set in 2006.
Justice Courts Public Information officer Scott Davis says eviction cases typically will start to dip in the autumn months.
Here's why U.S. evictions are up
Rising rent prices are hitting many people hard and that's leading to more evictions. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, in more than half of the country, workers cannot afford to rent a two-bedroom apartment while working one full-time job. FOX's Joy Addison has more.
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January 2024 was the first month in the county's history that eviction filings surpassed 8,000.
There have only been five months in the history of Maricopa County that evictions surpassed the 7,900 mark and three of them happened in 2024.
Overall cases took a dip in 2020 with just 37,742 filings overall but shot back up in 2023 when COVID restrictions on landlords were lifted.
The worst year for Maricopa County was 2005 when there were 83,687 total evictions.
There were 83,157 in 2023.
Increasing rents, financial hardship and population growth are among the top contributors to the ever-growing problem.