More home evictions are turning violent, some even deadly

(InvestigateTV) — Housing is becoming increasingly expensive across the country and for those struggling to pay their rent, that could mean eviction.

It’s a possibility millions of Americans face and with the prospect of losing their home comes another threat - violence.

On February 29, 2024, police flooded the front yard of a home just outside of Kansas City.

Officers could be heard on scanners confirming two officers had been shot and requesting multiple ambulances on the scene.

The call brought emergency crews from across the region to help but that help arrived too late.

Independence Police Officer Cody Allen and Civil Process Server Drexel Mack both died that day.

Carmen Mack, Drexel’s sister, questioned why something like this would happen to her big brother when he was doing his job serving an eviction notice.

“This is not fair. This is not fair. My brother should still be here.”

The man being evicted, Larry Acree, is now facing nearly 20 charges related to the fatal and non-fatal shootings on February 29.

Mack was a civil process server for years, tasked with serving papers like eviction notices for people who fell too far behind on payments.

While the work isn’t considered inherently dangerous, Carmen says she constantly worried for his safety.

“People are very crazy. You come and take their stuff from them, you don’t know how they feel. So they try to protect their belongings.”

Just weeks after Drexel was shot another Kansas City area eviction-related shooting happened.

Increasing Reports of Eviction-Related Violence

Eviction expert Carl Gershenson says more examples of violent evictions are popping up across the country.

“At that moment of eviction, everyone is tense. You know, it can escalate very quickly. We found, you know, quite a large number of these stories being reported each year.”

Gershenson is the director of Princeton University’s Eviction Lab, a group that was formed because he says no one was tracking the rate of evictions in the US.

The group determined landlords filed nearly 3.6 million eviction cases in a typical year.

“No one is tracking the co-occurrence of violence in evictions,” said Gershenson.

The Eviction Lab is trying to do that, but without a nationwide reporting system, it relies on news reports.

In 2022, the group documented at least 38 deaths. By 2023, the number was 44.

That’s not including other types of violence that people survived.

Calls for Change

Philadelphia City Council member Jamie Gauthier says the city saw three eviction-related shootings in just a single four-month period.

Everyone survived but Gauthier says Philadelphia needed to take an unprecedented step.

“To me, it is just completely unacceptable and so much so that we needed to pause until we got things more in order.”

Gauthier wants to see even more change down the road and reduce evictions altogether.

Gershenson and his Eviction Lab believe that’s becoming a tall task across the country.

“We’re seeing evictions reaching the exact same levels that they were before the pandemic in most cities. But in some places, evictions are higher than they’ve ever been,”

That includes cities like Miami, Las Vegas, Houston and Phoenix.

Gershenson says rural areas and small communities are also feeling the squeeze.

Housing Affordability Crisis

Jim McDonald with the United Way of Greater Kansas City says it is important to note that the majority of evictions are not violent, but if evictions continue to increase, violence could as well.

“The rate of eviction just continues to rise as housing affordability becomes more of a crisis.”

McDonald says the solution is having more resources to keep people in their homes.

One policy having great success is in the Kansas City area where a local ordinance gives tenants a right to an attorney when they’re facing eviction.

Those attorneys often negotiate deals or payment plans with the landlords.

“Since that policy was enacted, the majority of households who had a lawyer by their side have been able to avoid evictions,” said McDonald.

Some of those attorneys rely on federal emergency rental assistance, funding that came as a result of the pandemic

Funding that is expected to run out as 2024 ends and 2025 begins.

“We’re gonna turn over every stone to find the resources needed to continue this initiative at some level.”

The Eviction Lab says people forced from their homes have higher mortality rates than those who stay put.

That’s in part because they’re more likely to then lose their job and become homeless.

The Eviction Lab also says the time in your life you’re most likely to be evicted is between birth and 18, meaning children are feeling the brunt of this crisis.

The United Way is available as a resource if you are struggling to pay rent. You can call 211 and ask for help.

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