Atlanta Region Eviction Tracker

The purpose of this project is to leverage the complementary technological skill, expertise, and organizational resources of the partnering organizations to create a database of eviction filings with the purpose of informing and improving the ability of Metro Atlanta policymakers, Non-government Organizations, service providers, tenant organizers, and government entities to understand and respond to eviction-related housing instability, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the intent of this project is to provide access to eviction filings data for research, practice, and policy purposes beyond the immediate threat of COVID-19. This partnership behind this project will collectively work to create the technology necessary to assemble the database of filings and make the filing information available to stakeholders in an understandable, accessible, secure, and responsible manner. About The Data This data captures formal evictions activity in the metro Atlanta area as it is reflected in county court websites. This data does NOT reflect the number of rental households that undergo forced moves. Research has found that forced moves due to illegal evictions and informal evictions are far larger than the number of tenants displaced through the legal, formal eviction process. While eviction or dispossessory filings are evidence of housing instability, and constitute a negative event for tenants in and of themselves, they are not equivalent to displacement of a tenant. It is difficult to know whether a tenant leaves during a formal eviction process or at what stage of the process this occurs. Eviction filings initiate the process of eviction and are distinct from a "writ of possession" which grants a landlord the legal right to remove a tenant. This data is parsed once a week from the magistrate courts' case record search sites for Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties. Once the evictions case data is captured, each case is geocoded based on the defendant's address and the case events are analyzed to identify associated actions. Due to missing, incorrect, or difficult to parse addresses, approximately 1% of all filings are excluded from mapped totals. Analysis of case actions is done with an algorithm that is under development. For this reason, estimates of these actions are currently not included in the aggregated data presented in this tool. These estimates will, however, likely be included in future versions once the algorithm is complete and sufficiently validated. Additionally, due to ongoing improvements in the handling of parsing errors and the occasional lag in filings being entered into courts' online systems, counts will sometimes differ from those previously reported. Team Project Lead Elora Raymond, PhD Assistant Professor School of City and Regional Planning Georgia Institute of Technology Project Lead Erik Woodworth, MA & MCRP Research & Application Development Coordinator Data Scientist Neighborhood Nexus Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) Project Lead Sarah Stein, JD Research Advisor Community & Economic Development Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Data Acquisition & Analysis Victor Pearse Haley, MCRP Research Analyst Community & Economic Development Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Data Storage & Processing Gordon (Ge) Zhang, PhD Research Scientist Center for Spatial Planning Analytics & Visualization (CSPAV) Georgia Institute of Technology Data Storage & Processing Rama Sivakumar, MS Senior Research Engineer Center for Spatial Planning Analytics & Visualization (CSPAV) Georgia Institute of Technology Data Storage & Processing Subhro Guhathakurta, PhD Chair School of City & Regional Planning (SCaRP) Director Center for Spatial Planning Analytics & Visualization (CSPAV) Georgia Institute of Technology Court Record Data Sources Fulton County Magistrates, State, and Superior Court Record Search DeKalb County - Judicial Information System Gwinnett County Courts - Tyler Odyssey Portal Xerox CourtConnect Cobb Magistrate Court Clayton County Court Case Inquiry Other Data Sources US Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), 5-year estimates, 2014-2018 Resources FAQ on National Eviction Moratorium provided by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) This page provides an explanation of the eviciton moratorium (effective Sept. 4th, 2020 to Dec. 31st, 2020) issued by the Center for Disease Control (CDC). It also provides a links to a number of resources including a downloadable Declaration of Eligibility (in multiple languages) to be completed, signed, and mailed by tenants to their landlord as the first step to invoking their right to the protections of this moratorium. Citation Any use of data downloaded from this site or reference to this work must be accompanied by one of the following citations. Data: Raymond, EL; Stein, S; Haley, V.; Woodworth, E; Zhang, G.; Siva, R; Guhathakurta, S. Metro Atlanta Evictions Data Collective Database: Version 1.0. School of City and Regional Planning: Georgia Institute of Technology, 2020, https://metroatlhousing.org/atlanta-region-eviction-tracker/. Methodology Report: Raymond, EL; Siva, R; Stein, S; Haley, V.; Woodworth, E; Zhang, G.; Siva, R; Guhathakurta, S. Metro Atlanta Evictions Data Collective Database: Version 1.0. School of City and Regional Planning: Georgia Institute of Technology, 2020, https://metroatlhousing.org/atlanta-region-eviction-tracker/. Data Requests If you or your organization would like access to data at a level of aggregation or format not available via the "Download Data" button on the tool, you will need to submit a formal request. Click below to begin the request process. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSexUZb9dXIx5h1GjaKmuNekxvp-CkgQ_qGsoAJXDERuLslSCg/viewform