Spokane County is in an eviction crisis with record-breaking rates, experts say

SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane is on track to see a record number of evictions this year and experts warn this crisis is not getting better anytime soon.

“Housing has transitioned from a necessity to a commodity”, said Dr. Tim Thomas from the Eviction Research Network at UC Berkley.

Experts are calling it an eviction crisis and Spokane is one of the hardest hit in all of Washington. Around 1 in 33 renters faced eviction in the county in the past year.

“(It’s) very likely that things that live in Spokane know somebody who’s been facing that problem,” said Thomas.

Dr. Thomas has intensely studied evictions in the state. His most recent findings reveal Spokane has the most months above historical average in the state with most months ranging from an 80-140% increase.

“This is twice as high that the state has seen,” Thomas said.

SNAP, a local organization tackling the crisis, says although it has felt the strain of rising evictions, the resources available to help have decreased, forcing it turn away those in need of help.

“Typically we could open the portal and probably in a minute or two, we’re closing it because we can only take so many applications,” said SNAP director of essential connections Aaron Riley.

During the pandemic, SNAP received nearly $44 million in emergency rental assistance. That number has now dropped to around $800,000.

“It’s really tough,” Riley said. “We struggle because we really want to provide more help to more people but the funding isn’t there.”

Dr. Thomas says almost a quarter of people in the state are paying more than half of their income on rent. This along with the lack of assistance are some of the key factors leading to these results.

“On top of that we have a lot of inflation,” said Thomas. “We have a very big transition that’s coming in the administration, in the economy. There’s what I call a secret recession amongst low income households that’s been really, really bad.”

Dr. Thomas said it is unlikely eviction numbers will drop soon since other states with earlier peaks haven’t seen a decline yet. Both Dr. Thomas and Riley believe change could come through more funding from lawmakers and new policies aimed at stabilizing the rise in evictions.