Evictions in North Texas reach pre-pandemic levels

Evictions in Dallas and Fort Worth have steadily ticked up to pre-pandemic levels, according to Eviction Lab data.

Driving the news: Dallas is considering a permanent eviction policy that would give tenants seven days to respond to a proposed eviction and catch up on unpaid rent.

• Democratic State Rep. Nicole Collier of Fort Worth has proposed legislation to offer statewide tenant protections similar to what's being considered in Dallas and already offered in Austin, per the Texas Tribune.

The big picture: Sweeping local and national eviction moratoriums helped many families stay in their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Nationwide, tenants are spending record shares of their paychecks on monthly housing bills.

Zoom in: Evictions in Dallas and Fort Worth continued after May 2020 — even while a nationwide moratorium was in place, per data compiled by the Eviction Lab at Princeton University, which says it has built the first nationwide database on evictions.

• Dallas now averages nearly 700 weekly evictions, more than double what occurred during the ban, per an analysis by Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick and Kavya Beheraj.
• The Eviction Lab notes that its data doesn't capture illegal evictions or cases where renters are effectively forced out by large rent hikes, and it may be undercounting recent evictions due to processing delays.

By the numbers: Tarrant County renters spent just over the recommended amount of 30% of their income on housing costs.

• In Dallas County, the median housing cost ratio hovers just below 30%, per U.S. Census data.
• The median rent in Dallas-Fort Worth is $2,124 — up nearly 1% this year compared to last, according to Rent.com.

Yes, but: Among city of Dallas families earning less than $50,000 annually, 78% are spending more than 30% of their income on housing, per a recent committee briefing.