Pierce County has one of the highest eviction rates in the state, according to recently released data from the past year. Even though the county spends millions of dollars on programs to prevent evictions, thousands of people need help.
The Eviction Research Network is a collaborative project where academic researchers collect and study data on evictions and housing markets from states across the country. In October, the network released a report comparing Washington’s eviction data from the past 12 months to previous years. It collected data from every county in the state.
According to the most recent report from the Eviction Research Network, 3,561 evictions were filed in Pierce County between September 2023 and August 2024. With more than 121,000 renters during that period, Pierce County trails the second-highest number of renters in Washington. King County, which had just over 400,000.
Pierce County has a higher eviction rate than King County. According to Eviction Research Network data, between September 2023 and August 2024, King County had 1.8 evictions per 100 renters, while Pierce County had 2.9 — the third-highest eviction rate of any county in the state.
The Eviction Research Network did a monthly comparison between this year and previous years and found that evictions in Pierce County were above the 2019 historical average. On a monthly basis, Pierce County’s returns were typically 20% to 48% above the 2019 monthly average.
The Pierce County Human Services Department administers a program to prevent evictions. Kari Moore, a spokesperson for Human Services, told The News Tribune that the county has served 634 households since the beginning of 2024 and expects to reach nearly 850 households by the end of the year.
Moore said people are signing up online to get help. She said Pierce County holds a lottery on the second Friday of the month, choosing households that qualify for assistance. These households are then referred to organizations contracted by the province to provide assistance the following week. Landlords are paid directly by the organizations.
She said the department has received $10.3 million in requests through 2024 and has paid $6,691,335 to cover rent and utilities.
Moore said households that are not selected will be notified and provided additional resources to apply, and will be able to reapply six months after their last application review.
“Since January, 1,719 individual households (non-duplicated) have applied for services, met basic eligibility criteria based on self-reporting, but were not selected for the program,” Moore wrote to The News Tribune in an email.
Megan Jackson’s family was one of those households that was denied assistance. She lives in Tacoma with her fiancé and two daughters. Her eldest daughter is twelve. Jackson told The News Tribune that the girl has trouble expressing herself and has had behavioral problems lately. Their youngest daughter is 3 and also has speech problems.
In September, her family received an eviction notice. Jackson told The News Tribune that her family’s financial problems began when her husband was injured in a collision with an uninsured motorist. He suffered a hip injury that required surgery, preventing him from performing his job at Boeing. In April 2024, he returned to work for a few months before being fired in July.
Her eldest daughter also developed problems that required medical attention.
“As a parent, the hardest part is not knowing how to help your child and understanding what they need or feel when they can’t tell you,” Jackson wrote to the province on Nov. 6. “We are working with the Seattle Children’s Autism Center to get some help, but if you can imagine trying to focus on helping your child while trying to deal with the financial hardship of being on the brink of homelessness , the weight is incredibly heavy.
Jackson has a job at Blue Origin and was the sole breadwinner for her family. Due to unpaid credit card debts accumulated during a difficult time, her paychecks were garnished and she fell behind on rent payments.
As of November, Jackson owed more than $9,000 in unpaid rent.
On October 11, Jackson applied for the Pierce County Eviction Prevention Lottery. Three days later she was told she had not been selected and that she could reapply in another six months.
“I felt helpless because I had nothing to lean on,” she told The News Tribune in an interview. “Now I’m wondering what the hell we’re going to do.”
Pierce County has a program that works proactively to prevent evictions before they happen. The province has contracted an organization called Housing Connector to administer what it calls the Landlord Liaison Program.
At a meeting of the Pierce County Council Select Committee on Homelessness on November 13, Nicholas Merriam of Housing Connector gave a presentation on the Landlord Liaison Program.
Merriam said that as part of the program, his organization negotiates with landlords to increase access to housing for people who might be considered risky to landlords due to factors such as previous evictions, debt, low credit score, income and criminal history.
Landlords agree to lower their screening requirements and in return are insured by Housing Connector.
“We are telling properties that if you lower your screening criteria, you will gain access to these financial benefits,” Merriam told the council.
The benefits for landlords and tenants include up to three months of rental assistance, up to $5,000 in damage mitigation, one month of vacancy loss, two years of case management support to tenants, and they provide a single point of contact for landlords and tenants.
Merriam said the benefits are intended to reduce the risks associated with landlords with certain tenants and provide housing stability for tenants and business stability for landlords.
“What we often hear from the properties we have partnerships with is that ‘I came for the financial benefits, I stayed for the stability support,’” he told the council.
Liat Arama is a landlord who manages nearly 150 units in King and Pierce counties. In an interview with The News Tribune, Arama said she has been participating in the Landlord Liaison Program in Pierce County for years.
Arama said the program not only reduces the risk she takes on as a landlord, but also helps provide housing options to people who might not otherwise have them because of their rental history or income.
“The housing market is very challenging,” she told The News Tribune. “It is very difficult and almost impossible to house these people.”
Arama said evictions can be extremely costly for landlords under current regulations, as they can often mean a loss of rental income for almost a year under current regulations. She said the Landlord Liaison Program is “absolutely” working to prevent evictions, and is working proactively to alleviate rental debt before it becomes even greater.
“I wish every renter in Washington state would have signed up,” she told The News Tribune. “That should be the standard.”
As of July 1, 2021, Housing Connector’s Landlord Liaison Program is working with 444 properties offering more than 10,000 units. Through the program, they have housed 675 people at an average cost of $1,941 per household, according to Merriam data.
According to Housing Connector, about 40% of tenants in the Landlord Liaison Program end up using financial assistance, and that assistance prevents tenants from being evicted and a small amount of assistance can prevent landlords from owing large amounts of rent.
Merriam told the council he feels the work Housing Connector is doing with Pierce County’s Landlord Liaison Program is “small,” and that his organization has a “deep desire” to expand the program with additional funding from the county.
He said they receive $250,000 a year from the province to administer the Landlord Liaison Program, half of which goes to emergency rental assistance.
