The state of Pennsylvania enacted a strong eviction moratorium that extended until August 31, 2020. Eviction filings related to nonpayment of rent were not accepted during that period, though courts did process previously-filed eviction cases. Eviction filings in Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) were down to nearly zero in April and May, but increased markedly by September following the end of the moratorium.
On March 2, 2021, the City of Pittsburgh began prohibiting eviction proceedings except for in cases with “good cause”, which includes nonpayment evictions not due to demonstrated COVID financial hardships.
More detail on eviction protections in Pennsylvania can be found on the COVID-19 Housing Policy Scorecard.
* Filings in the last week may be undercounted as a result of processing delays. These counts will be revised in the following week.
Eviction filings in Pittsburgh were slightly above average in January and February of 2020.1 Filings began to fall in March and were well below average in April and May. Filings increased by September following the end of the state-wide eviction moratorium, but have remained below historical averages.
Allegheny County is divided into 115 zip codes. In each of those zip codes, we map the number of eviction filings over the last four weeks. If you toggle below you can see these numbers as eviction filing rates—the number of eviction filings divided by the number of renter households in the area—or compared to the typical number of filings in the average year.1 2
American Community Survey (ACS) data allow us to categorize neighborhoods by their racial/ethnic majority: White, Black, or Other/None. In January and February 2020, eviction filings were concentrated in majority-white neighborhoods. Starting in March, eviction filings dropped across all neighborhoods, though they increased back closer to historical averages by September. Majority-white neighborhoods continue to see the largest number of eviction filings.
When you toggle the figure to see data relative to average, comparisons are being drawn—within the same set of neighborhoods defined by racial/ethnic majority—between filings in 2020-2021 and average filings in 2012–2019.1
