The document summarizes that: - A review by the Center for Housing Economics found that Dayton's actual eviction rate is far lower than the 25th highest in the country as claimed by the Eviction Lab, and Dayton ranks over 100th nationally. - The Eviction Lab uses only 2016 data and does not clearly define eviction, which can vary legally between places. - When using HUD data, Dayton's eviction rate is under 2% and not high enough to be ranked by the Eviction Lab. - Getting federal rent relief distributed would actually help people hurting in Dayton more than changes to the eviction process.

1. March 11, 2021
Eviction Lab’s Ranking of Dayton’s Eviction Rate is Wrong
A preliminary review of the Eviction Lab’s measure of eviction in Dayton by the Center for Housing
Economics found that the actual rate of eviction is far lower than the organization suggests. Instead of being
25th in the country using the Eviction Lab’s rankings, Dayton actually ranks more than 100th in the country.
Last summer, Dayton Mayor Nan Whalen announced an effort to lower Dayton’s eviction rate which Princeton
University’s Eviction Lab claimed was the 25th highest in the country1 The Princeton Eviction Lab uses a single
year, 2016, to establish its ranking which does not clearly define eviction in a jurisdiction.2 An actual eviction –
removal from a rental property – is a legal decision made by a judge and the laws governing it vary not just
from state to state, but city to city and even court to court.
A look at the Eviction Lab data found that when using data from the Department of Housing and Urban
Development, Dayton is not even ranked by the Eviction Lab because its rate of eviction is less than 2 percent.3
“Eviction in Dayton or anywhere is regrettable outcome for everyone, but it is also rare” said Roger Valdez,
Director of the Center for Housing Economics. “Eviction is also an expensive drawn out and emotional
experience for housing providers and residents. Nobody wants to see evictions.”
Whalen’s efforts to address this issue have continued with a proposal that would allow residents to show up at
the last moment during an eviction process to pay rent.
“We’re happy to give people second chances,” said Marsha Grossman of the Greater Dayton Real Estate
Investor’s Association, a group that represents small housing providers, “But state law makes us responsible for
legal fees. We’ll have to pass those on to other residents. That doesn’t seem fair.
“Everyone from the Mayor on down should be focused right now on getting federal rent relief distributed,” said
Valdez. “That is a big job and would actually help people who are hurting in Dayton.”
1“Dayton Has A Plan To Lower Its Eviction Rate,” WKSU, July 6, 2020
2 Princeton Eviction Lab’s rankingof Dayton from 2016 data,
3 COMPREHENSIVE HOUSING MARKET ANALYSIS of Dayton, Ohio,Department of Housingand Urban Development.