COVID-19: U.S. housing policies by state

Many U.S. states have introduced strategies to ensure safe, decent, and stable housing during the COVID-19 pandemic. To better understand the steps states have taken to prevent homelessness, a special policy scorecard for each state was developed. Washington D.C. had the highest score among the states, which amounted to 4.63. On the contrary, Maryland, Georgia, Arkansas, Alaska, Wisconsin, and Ohio received zero points, which indicated that they had introduced no housing policy measures in response to the pandemic, or the protections they brought in have expired.

Adequacy of housing policies in response to COVID-19 pandemic in the United States as of May 2021, by state

Characteristic	State score
Washington, D.C.	4.63
Minnesota	4.03
Washington	3.25
Vermont	2.48
Hawaii	2.35
Connecticut	2.18
New Jersey	2.08
Illinois	1.75
California	1.55
Nevada	1.55
Oregon	1.39
New York	1.08
New Mexico	1.03
Delaware	0.88
Colorado	0.73
Kansas	0.73
Kentucky	0.5
Louisiana	0.5
Maine	0.5
Nebraska	0.5
Massachusetts	0.5
Montana	0.5
Virginia	0.5
Iowa	0.5
Missouri	0.5
Indiana	0.5
South Carolina	0.5
Texas	0.5
North Carolina	0.5
Tennessee	0.5
South Dakota	0.5
North Dakota	0.5
Pennsylvania	0.5
Rhode Island	0.5
Oklahoma	0.5
Idaho	0.5
Wyoming	0.5
West Virginia	0.5
Florida	0.5
Mississippi	0.5
New Hampshire	0.5
Alabama	0.5
Arizona	0.5
Michigan	0.5
Utah	0.5
Maryland	0
Georgia	0
Arkansas	0
Alaska	0
Wisconsin	0
Ohio	0

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Release date

May 2021

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Region

United States

Survey time period

May 11, 2021

Supplementary notes

The state scores were determined by the following factors:

1. Initiation of eviction (40 percent of total score): whether a state bars landlords from serving tenants with notice to quit and filing an eviction action for nonpayment related to COVID-19 and other reasons.

2. Court process (15 percent of total score): whether a state suspends eviction hearings, stays writs, orders, or judgements of possession, tolls or extends court deadlines, and seals eviction case records.

3. Enforcement of eviction order (15 percent of total score): whether a state bars law enforcement from executing an eviction order, including cases of COVID-19-related hardship, nonpayment, or all non-emergency cases.

4. Short-term supports (10 percent of total score): whether a state extends eviction moratoriums and emergency protections past the state of emergency, provides a grace period to pay rent, bars landlords from reporting tenants to credit bureaus, and halts foreclosures. In addition, the scorecard tracks whether utilities are barred from disconnecting service or are required to reconnect service without a fee, though these measures are not included in states’ final scores because the state is not always the actor.

5. Tenancy preservation measures (20 percent of total score): whether a state bars late fees, extends tenants’ legal representation in housing court, provides for safe and decent housing (through rental assistance or some other measure to provide relief from rental debt), and bars rent raises during and after the pandemic.

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