Fixing Eviction Filing Fees

Housing insecurity threatens households across Georgia with over 284,000 landlords filing for evictions in 2018. With increasing rent prices, evictions are a major concern because of their long-term impacts on landlords and tenants. Eviction filings specifically are often used to put pressure on tenants to pay their rent. However, these filings can stay on the tenants’ records, adding an extra barrier to housing in the future.

Eviction filing rates, the percentage of renter households where a landlord files an eviction lawsuit, vary across the country. The Southeast tends to have some of the highest eviction filing rates in the country. Nationally, the average filing fee or price for an eviction case is $109, with a low of $15 in Maryland up to $350 in Lee County, Alabama. In Alabama, landlords pay a higher average fee of $276. Consequently, Alabama’s eviction filing rate in 2018 was only 3.8%.

On the other hand, the average filing fee in Georgia is $87. Therefore, Georgia has a much higher rate of 18.8% of renter households having had an eviction lawsuit filed against them. Each county in Georgia has their own eviction filing fee. In Athens-Clarke County, the filing fee is $79 for one defendant, and $25 for each additional defendant.

Filing for eviction is the first step of the legal actions landlords take during the court eviction process. the tenants are forced to leave the property and pay the late payments, or they can resolve the situation. However, each of these eviction filings takes time and money. Additionally each eviction filing is saved and recorded even if the landlord decides to drop the case. Public policy is an essential step to understanding the eviction process and lowering the eviction rates across Georgia.

For landlords who hastily file over small amounts without even considering other approaches, an increase in fees could be the push needed to consider finding other solutions. They are often considered “serial eviction filings” which are landlords that file to evict the same residents from the same address multiple times. Instead of offering payment plans or using mediation, landlords use the threat of court lawsuits to pressure tenants.

One way to influence landlords who serial file is by altering the eviction filing fee amounts. Princeton’s Eviction Lab found that increasing the filing fee by $100 reduces the eviction filing rate by 2.25 percentage points. Additionally, a $76 higher filing fee reduces the percentage of serial filings by about 3.11%. This indicates that filings fees have a real influence on how often and the reasoning behind why evictions are filed.

When fees are increased, landlords tend to use the court system to properly remove the tenant rather than frequently file against them just to collect rent. These actions would target landlords that often remove tenants in order to avoid maintaining their property or to make room for new tenants. Furthermore, filing fees have greater impact in areas with larger populations of Black residents. However it is important to keep in mind that increasing the filing fees by too much could lead to landlords resorting to informal and illegal eviction by threatening or forcing tenants off the property without the proper eviction process.

Georgia should implement a minimum statewide charge for residential eviction filing. Landlords would pay the fee when they file for eviction. It would not be added to the rent or fees of the tenants. The money from the additional fee should go towards increasing affordable housing and rental assistance programs. Monitoring eviction and collecting data in counties across Georgia would help to find the most appropriate amount. In addition to increasing the fee there needs to be other steps taken to maintain eviction rates. More steps need to be taken in order to address the housing insecurity in Georgia, this can be one of the first steps.

Landlords still need a way to hold tenants accountable and take back their property if rent is not paid. On the other hand, tenants need to have a real chance to resolve the situation before it becomes a lawsuit. Increasing eviction filing fees would provide tenants with more opportunities to resolve issues before landlords file for eviction. These policy shifts could decrease landlords filing several evictions, lower the eviction filing rates in Georgia, and improve access to housing for many Georgians.