The Coming Wave of Coronavirus Evictions Will Wipe Out Black Renters
A study of eviction filings in Boston shows that most cases — now suspended by a state-level moratorium — are in African-American and immigrant neighborhoods.
A bus rider passes through Nubian Station in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood, where residents face an elevated risk of eviction once state-level bans run out in August.
Photographer: Boston Globe/Boston Globe via Getty Images
Even as coronavirus case counts continue their ominous rise across the U.S., protections to stall evictions in U.S. states are slipping away. Eviction bans in five states expire on July 1, leaving only a few places with protections that extend beyond the end of the federal eviction moratorium this month. One of them is Massachusetts, whose moratorium extends until at least August 18. So tenants in Boston have more time to prepare for the pandemic than most.
Boston also has a clearer picture of where evictions will hit hardest once these cases resume. A new study paints a severe portrait of disparity: Eviction cases filed since the start of the pandemic are overwhelmingly located in majority-Black neighborhoods.