Landlord-tenant issues in the U.S. have grown most in the south and northeast during COVID-19. Requests to 211 helplines for help with landlord-tenant issues have grown dramatically during the pandemic. New analyses suggest that the increases are much larger in some regions than others. We examined 85,894 requests for help with landlord-tenant issues to 211s in 28 states during 2019 and 2020. The growth in requests from 2019 (blue lines) to 2020 (orange lines) was greatest among southern states (top chart), spiking in the fall as eviction moratoriums began to expire. In all, requests about landlord-tenant issues were 180% higher in 2020 than 2019 in southern states. Requests for help with landlord-tenant issues were also higher among northeastern states in 2020 (2nd chart from top), up 113% over 2019, with increases evident almost as soon as the pandemic began, and increasing every month thereafter. Requests for help with landlord-tenant issues in western and midwestern states (bottom two charts) increased the least, year over year. Analyses include states reporting requests for help with landlord-tenant issues from all of 2019 and 2020 to 211 Counts, a tracking system of community needs. The map below shows which states were included in each region. Mouse over each line to see the number of total requests for help with landlord-tenant issues received in each region, by year, month by month.
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