Tenant Protection Research Articles

Evading the eviction moratorium: Changing patterns in formal and informal evictions and eviction tactics during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments implemented eviction moratoria to prevent landlords from removing tenants due to unpaid rent. Rather than reduce evictions, what if these new tenant protections merely shifted the tactics used by landlords to displace tenants? This study draws on an original survey, administrative data, and in-depth interviews with low-income tenants to uncover the changing role of formal and informal evictions and eviction tactics during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings indicate that the moratorium was associated with fewer formal evictions and eviction tactics, but this coincided with a higher prevalence of informal evictions and eviction tactics. Landlords unable to use housing courts to formally evict a tenant turned to informal, and often illegal, actions to remove tenants. These findings highlight the importance of measuring informal evictions and eviction tactics and the limitations of eviction moratoria in protecting low-income renters from displacement.

The right to effective redress from the municipality for failure to provide social housing

Abstract Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms provides that every natural and legal person is entitled to the peaceful enjoyment of their possessions. No one shall be deprived of their possessions except in the public interest and subject to the conditions provided by law and the general principles of international law. The primary purpose of these provisions is to protect property. By recognising that everyone has the right to the peaceful enjoyment of their possessions, Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms effectively guarantees the right to property, with deprivation of property permissible only under certain conditions. These guarantees are not sufficiently implemented in national case law. Although municipalities are required to provide compensation (Article 18(3a) of the Act on the Protection of Tenants’ Rights, Housing Resources of Municipalities and on Amendments to the Civil Code), the courts are too stringent in assessing the evidentiary requirements imposed on applicants. In the case of Wyszyński v. Poland, where the applicant was not awarded damages from the municipality for failing to provide social housing, the Court rightly noted that the domestic courts assumed that the applicant had failed to prove that the damage sustained was a normal consequence of the municipality’s unlawful inactivity, even though two expert opinions were produced during the proceedings. In the case of Broniowski v. Poland, concerning property beyond the Bug River, it was clearly indicated that the taking of property without compensation in reasonable proportion to its value is generally considered disproportionate interference, and a total absence of compensation can only be justified in exceptional circumstances. It also appears essential, when assessing the existence of an adequate causal link, to rely on the knowledge and life experience of the adjudicating panel, applied appropriately to the circumstances of the case. The requirements as to the proof of damage should not be interpreted too strictly. There is a need to liberalise evidentiary proceedings and make broader use of factual presumptions (Article 231 of the Code of Civil Procedure), as well as to limit the evidence required for substantiation, to ensure that the owner can effectively seek compensation from the municipality for failure to provide social housing. Clear legislative intervention is necessary to address the defective court practices. It would be advisable to make an explicit procedural reference to the application of Article 322 of the Code of Civil Procedure in this category of cases, not only regarding the amount of damage but also concerning the fact that it occurred.

Moving From Crisis to Stability? The Success and Limits of an Eviction Prevention Program

Eviction prevention policies are often crafted to focus on either an upstream approach, prior to households interacting with eviction court, or a downstream approach, once the court process has begun and when households are in an acute housing crisis. This paper examines one such upstream approach, the Virginia Eviction Reduction Pilot (VERP) program, implemented in a first phase from 2021 to 2022 in the context of statewide Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) and state and federal tenant protections. The paper uses a difference-in-differences approach to measure the effect of VERP on filings and judgments in areas served by the program and in-depth interviews with program staff to elucidate how VERP functioned as an upstream eviction prevention program during a volatile policy landscape during the COVID-19 pandemic. While we find no statistically significant effect of VERP on filings and judgments, we triangulate interview data to detail how VERP functioned in a rapidly changing policy environment to stabilize households by leveraging ERA funds. We find that the end of COVID eviction policies like ERA placed increasing pressure on VERP to fill a void it was not designed to address, and so effectively implementing upstream policies requires consistent and robust downstream assistance.

주택임대차보호법상 법적 쟁점과 개선 방안에 대한 소고

While a lease contract is a civil relationship between private parties, the importance of residential stability, the unique characteristics of the domestic housing market, and the protection of tenants necessitate state intervention based on the special law of the Civil Code, the Housing Lease Protection Act. The original Housing Lease Protection Act was primarily focused on protecting the lease deposit, considering the social conditions at the time of its enactment. However, it has been gradually amended to stabilize the housing market and preserve the foundation of the national economy. Recently, the law has evolved to include the introduction of the right to request contract renewal and the regulation of rent increase limits. Nevertheless, during this process, issues of fairness have continuously arisen, particularly concerning whether reasonable protection is provided to both parties of the lease contract, the tenant and the landlord. There is ongoing debate about whether the emphasis on tenant protection infringes on the landlord’s fundamental property rights. Additionally, the achievement of the Housing Lease Protection Act’s fundamental objective of ensuring the stability of the tenant’s living environment remains uncertain, and there are concerns that landlords’ rights are ambiguously restricted. This underscores the need for review and reassessment. One of the main amendments to the Housing Lease Protection Act is the extension of the lease contract duration due to the tenant’s right to request renewal. While this aims to provide stability to the tenant’s living situation in the short term, it is questionable whether it benefits tenants in the long term, especially when considered alongside other tenant protection measures such as the rent cap system. Moreover, the ambiguity surrounding the landlord’s right to refuse renewal based on “actual residence” does not enhance legal stability for either party. Therefore, it is crucial to establish clear and specific standards.

Can New Housing Supply Mitigate Displacement and Exclusion?

Problem, research strategy, and findings The housing affordability crisis is exacerbating displacement and exclusion in built-up urban neighborhoods. Although new housing development might help, it faces local opposition. Researchers have struggled to inform this debate because of data challenges, so we constructed a unique database on construction and household-level mobility to determine how development affects displacement and exclusion in the subsequent 5 years in Los Angeles (a typical coastal “hot market” in California) and San Francisco (the extreme “superstar city” case in California). We found that developing new market-rate housing generally helped slightly to alleviate both displacement and exclusion pressures for low-income households in Los Angeles and helped increase in-migration into weaker market neighborhoods in San Francisco. But particularly in the hottest markets, the new market-rate units could fail to spur low- and moderate-income households’ in-migration and exacerbate their out-migration. Likewise, the positive impacts of the new market-rate units may fade over time. Subsidized housing generally mitigated both exclusion and displacement slightly in most markets. Future research should examine long-term effects in a variety of contexts, controlling for the role of housing policies such as rent stabilization. Takeaway for practice Market-rate housing development may help alleviate rent pressures locally and regionally, but it is not sufficient to address displacement and exclusion at the neighborhood level. Because new production helps to mitigate displacement and exclusion in some contexts but exacerbates it in others, planners need to understand the market and neighborhood context for development. In addition to supporting more market-rate and subsidized housing development through zoning and fiscal tools, planners should implement complementary policies such as housing preservation and tenant protections.

주택임대차 시장 상생방안

In South Korea, the domestic housing supply rate has already exceeded 100% since 2008, but the home ownership rate in 2021 still remains at 57.3%. In response to large-scale Chonse fraud, the government has come up with various solutions, but there is criticism that it is insufficient for a fundamental solution. This paper aims to derive a win-win plan between landlords and tenants in the rental market through legal and institutional improvement.
 First, it is necessary to partially restrict private landlords from freely choosing whether to register as rental businesses. Through this, it is possible to prevent a rental business operator who meets the requirements for rejection of the registration application under Article 7 (7) of the Special Act on Private Rental Housing from entering the rental market. In addition, the tenant's right to claim the return of the deposit can be substantially secured by requiring additional asset requirements for rental businesses of a certain size or larger. Although the lease system has positive factors such as a role as a residential stepping stone and a reduction in housing costs, it basically grants the right to freely dispose of a large amount during the lease period, while the legal protection for its return is insufficient. There have been various legal and institutional efforts to compensate for this, but tenants are still not sufficiently protected. The old customary Chonse was incorporated into Article 303 et seq.(Right to registered lease on a deposit basis) of the Korean Civil Code, but Chonsegwon is rarely used in practice. In terms of the protection of tenants, it is reasonable not to allow Chonse Lease. In reality, it is also possible to consider forcing the registration of leaseholds that are paid a certain amount or more of rental deposits. It is necessary to correct the practice that rental deposits are received much more than collateral purposes. Article 551 (1) of the German Civil Code restricts rental deposits not to exceed three times the rent for one month. It may also be considered to force leaseholds that are paid a certain amount or more of rental deposits to be registered.

대규모 전세사기(빌라왕)에 대한 공법적 규제방안

Since the second half of last year, large-scale Jeonse lease fraud cases called “Villa King” and “Villa God” have been revealed one after another. The term “rental fraud” can be understood as “an act of stealing a lease deposit by deceiving a tenant (tenant) by those involved in a lease contract, such as a landlord (tenant), a builder, a broker, or a sales agent”. Most of the so-called “King of Villas” and “Billasin” defrauded tenants of their Jeonse lease deposits in a similar way, mainly targeting new villas or tenants of multi-family homes. The large-scale Jeonselease fraud occurred because of the difficulty in grasping the market price of new villas, the corruption of pre-sale agencies and licensed real estate agents, and the loopholes in the Jeonse lease loan and Jeonse lease guarantee insurance system. The problem of Jeonse lease fraud has existed before, but in recent years, Jeonse lease fraud has occurred nationwide and systematically because a large number of pre-sale agents, unqualified licensed real estate agents, and brokerage assistants have actively attracted tenants. Due to this Jeonse lease fraud, the Certified Brokerage Act was revised to prevent unqualified licensed real estate agents from operating, but there are no measures or regulations for sale agencies and real estate consulting companies. Therefore, it is hoped that the legislation for the sale agency business and real estate consulting business will be reorganized as soon as possible so that those with expertise and responsibility can mediate and protect the property of the people. The recent large-scale lease fraud is a complicated combination of insufficient tenant protection, guarantee insurance and lease loan system weaknesses, and legal and institutional problems of licensed real estate agents and real estate consulting companies. The large-scale Jeonse lease fraud has caused great pain and confusion, especially to the common people, and it also makes us think about the principles of private autonomy and the limitations of government intervention. The principle of private autonomy means that individuals can make their own decisions on matters related to them by respecting human dignity and values, and are also responsible for the decisions they have made. But no individual, no organization, no state is complete, and is free from unreasonable decision-making and unethical deviations and corrupt practices. And it grows through trial and error such as unreasonable decisions and corruption. I sincerely hope that the pain and confusion experienced by our society will be an opportunity to sublimate into an advanced housing welfare system and real estate transaction system.

공동주택 의무보험의 법적 쟁점에 관한 연구

Most Korean citizens reside in multi-unit dwellings. In such densely populated and confined spaces, there is a significant risk of accidents, including fires. Accordingly, compulsory insurance coverage is taken out for such incidents, for example, personal injury liability insurance for fires, disasters, elevator accidents, and children's playground accidents. This paper investigates several issues regarding compulsory insurance for multi-unit dwellings and offers measures for improvement. Regulations on liability for damages by owners of special buildings in relation to fire-related disaster compensation and insurance enrollment are examined, with a specific focus on the provisions in the Act on the Indemnification for Fire-caused Loss and the Purchase of Insurance Policies that restrict the handling of bodily injury liability special coverage for fire incidents to insurance companies. Additionally, the justification behind the penalty provisions for non-enrollment in bodily injury liability special coverage for fire incidents is assessed.
 Institutions related to deductibles, like insurance companies, are involved in the administration of various compulsory insurances; however, notably, there are no limitations imposed on these institutions by other laws governing compulsory insurance. Consequently, it is unjust to confine the administration of personal injury liability insurance for fires solely to insurance companies when considering the principles of equity. Furthermore, the punitive measures for non-compliance with insurance requirements seem excessively severe.
 It is necessary to expand the scope of insurance companies specified in the Law on Personal Injury Liability Insurance for Fires to include institutions related to deductibles. Furthermore, it is deemed necessary to align the penalties for non-compliance with compulsory insurance with the sanctions imposed on other forms of compulsory insurance. Therefore, a proposal for legislative amendment is presented to address these concerns.
 This paper also examines the issue of tenants bearing the burden of insurance premiums while being excluded from the benefits of insurance. In the case of fire insurance, amendments to standard terms and conditions have been made to protect tenants. However, these amendments are yet to be incorporated into disaster insurance, leaving tenants without legal or precedential protection should disaster insurance be the only policy obtained. Therefore, a proposal for the amendment of the terms and conditions of disaster insurance is offered that includes provisions for tenant protection.
 In conclusion, this paper identified potential concerns associated with the concurrent reimbursement of liability insurance for multi-unit dwellings and internal medical expense coverage riders that are part of comprehensive medical insurance. These concerns include the potential for an increase in intentional accidents and the facilitation of excessive medical treatment. Given these concerns, this study recommends that the terms and conditions of comprehensive medical insurance be revised and proposes that medical expenses received to cover actual expenses should be compensated proportionally in accordance with insurance contracts.

임대차시장 안정화를 위한 전세금 보증제도 개선방안

Despite the expiry of the lease contract, cases where lessee fails to get back the deposit or lease deposits from the landlord on time are increasing every year despite the expiration of the contract period. In particular, when the housing market is in a recession, disputes between lessors and lessees over the return of deposits are increasing, making the lease market uneasy. In contrast, the Housing Lease Protection Act protects the lessee by prescribing counter-force and preferential right to payment, and on the other hand, it allows the deposit money to be returned promptly by subscribing to a deposit refund guarantee through a guarantor institution. However, recently, while owning a house through gap investment, the non-return of the deposit due to the economic recession has increased rapidly, and fraud using the lease has occurred, revealing the limitations of the existing tenant protection system. Accordingly, this study examines the current deposit protection system and cases of deposit damage, and examines institutional limitation and problem that guarantee the return of deposit money. I would like to propose an improved deposit guarantee system. This study is one of the various improvement methods related to lease, and it is hoped that more improved plans will be derived through in-depth and diverse research.

Achieving deep-energy retrofits for households in energy poverty

Climate change and energy poverty are two sustainability challenges that can be addressed through deep-energy retrofits for homes. This systematic review identifies which factors influence the achievement of energy retrofits for households vulnerable to energy poverty. It covers both energy-poor households and the landlords or building owners of energy-poor households. The results identify a range of influential factors across several themes: financial, policy and organizational, trust and communication, technical, attitudes and values, and health. Health and quality of life are particularly influential motivating factors among households vulnerable to energy poverty, as is the presence of trust and communication between stakeholders. Multiple financial considerations are also important, such as the availability of no-cost retrofit options and the prospect of lower energy and maintenance costs. Lastly, government requirements to retrofit and minimum energy standards are motivating, particularly in the social housing sector. These findings and the lack of focus on energy poverty within the energy retrofit literature and policies point to a need for further research on this topic, and for retrofit policies specifically targeted to households vulnerable to energy poverty. Policy relevance Energy retrofit policies targeting households vulnerable to energy poverty could be more effective if they: Improve access to low or no-cost retrofit options alongside tenant protection mechanisms Include requirements for resident consent and engagement Build capacity to collect, centralize and publicize information about building stocks to align retrofit projects with necessary upgrades Disseminate knowledge of retrofit programs through trusted communicators Increase stakeholders’ understanding of retrofit benefits Take a holistic approach by emphasizing the co-benefits of energy retrofits in energy-poor households Implement government requirements to pursue energy retrofits aligned with overarching government climate policies, particularly for publicly owned housing.

The Rental Market In Spain During The 20th Century: The Special System Of Protection Of Tenants. Successes And Weaknesses In A Parallelism With The Rental Market In Recent Years

The Rental Market In Spain During The 20th Century: The Special System Of Protection Of Tenants. Successes And Weaknesses In A Parallelism With The Rental Market In Recent Years

How ‘bad’ is renter protection for institutional investment in multifamily housing?

We assess the role of state-level renter protection regulations on the pricing, performance and risk of multifamily housing. We construct a renter protection score (RPS) to measure the extent of renter protection in each state. Using a proprietary property-level dataset from loans backed by commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS) and census tract socioeconomic variables, we study the role of RPS on initial capitalization (cap) rates, annual net operating income (NOI) and annual loan delinquency rates of multifamily housing. We find that, contrary to conventional wisdom that renter protection is ‘bad’ for investors, multifamily housing in high RPS states is associated higher annual NOI and NOI growth and lower delinquency rates. We also show that better tenant protection is associated with lower initial cap rates. The results point to investors perceiving properties in more regulated states as lower risk due to reduced income volatility. For institutional investors, higher levels of renter protection are, therefore, not ‘bad’ but are instead associated with lower cash flow volatility and better income growth prospects.

Do rent controls and other tenancy regulations affect new construction? Some answers from long-run historical evidence

The (re-)introduction of tenancy regulation in the form of rent controls, tenant protection or supply rationing is back on the agenda of policymakers in light of rent inflation in many global cities. While rent controls promise short-term relief, economists point to their negative long-run effects on new construction. This study presents new long-run data on both rent regulation and housing construction for 16 developed countries (1910–2016) and finds that more restrictive rental market legislation generally has a negative impact on both new housing construction and residential investment. This is especially true for strict rent controls and housing rationing measures in the post-1960 period. Tenancy security can on average also dampen construction activity. The negative effect is overall less significant and strong in magnitude than expected and may have been offset by exemptions for new construction, by compensating social housing construction and by a flight of new construction into the owner-occupied sector. Still, on average, rent controls came at the cost of less construction activity.

상가권리금 회수기회 보호규정의 개선방안

In Korea, self-employed people account for about 24% of the total number of employed people, so the proportion of them is especially high when compared to the world. Most of these self-employed businesses operate as tenants, but on May 13, 2015, five provisions were newly established in the Commercial Building Lease Protection Act, which mainly protects the opportunity to recover the premium, and on October 16, 2018, protection for tenants was strengthened. Nevertheless, criticism continues that it is still insufficient to protect tenants, and in reality, disputes are constantly occurring. The reason why premium disputes are constantly occurring is that the concept of the newly established premium as above is uncertain and does not play a practical role in protecting tenants. Therefore, in this study, the author critically analyzes the current premium collection opportunity protection regulations and proposes a legislative improvement plan that can more practically and stably protect the premium collection opportunity of commercial tenants.

Wealthier Neighbors and Higher Rents: The Rental Assistance Demonstration and Gentrification

Public housing redevelopment is associated with the gentrification of neighborhoods. However, the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD), the largest redevelopment program in the U.S. to date, encourages preservation and introduces tenant protections that potentially limit gentrification-related displacement. In the first nationwide study of RAD's impact on neighborhoods, we linked administrative housing data with the American Community Survey and conducted difference-in-differences analyses of 1,141 neighborhoods across the U.S. to ask if RAD has induced changes associated with gentrification. We find that neighborhoods with redevelopment experienced larger gains in middle-class residents and larger losses in very low-income residents compared to similar, untreated neighborhoods. Neighborhoods with RAD also saw larger increases in rental housing costs, and these increases were largest in neighborhoods where redevelopment was extensive. These findings suggest that RAD contributes to gentrification. We use these findings to argue that policymakers must consider the housing stability of public housing's neighbors when planning redevelopment.

Housing Market Interventions and Residential Mobility in the San Francisco Bay Area

This study seeks to fill this gap by examining the impacts of market-rate development, subsidized development, and tenant protections, including rent stabilization and just cause for evictions protections, on movers. Specifically, this study builds two unique and cross-validated datasets on mobility and links them to a bespoke block-level housing construction database. We use granular data on individual and household mobility to assess how specific housing interventions impact both direct and indirect displacement by looking at moves both out of and into neighborhoods with different characteristics in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. Our research reveals that new market-rate construction in a neighborhood results in a slight increase in people of all income levels moving in and moving out, i.e., churn. The increase in rates of displacement (involuntary moves) for very low- to moderate-socio-economic groups is not as high as commonly feared, at 0.5% to 2% above normal rates. However, the highest socio-economic group disproportionately benefits from new market-rate housing production—they are the least likely to move out and the most likely to move into neighborhoods with new construction. We also find that rent stabilization and just cause eviction protections help residents of the lowest socio-economic status remain in their neighborhoods. At the same time, these protections may have exclusionary impacts as we find that fewer low-income people move into neighborhoods with tenant protections. Together, these findings suggest that equitable solutions to the housing crisis will require more than just upzoning and tenant protections—these are complementary solutions, but not enough. Preserving unsubsidized affordable housing and substantially expanding social housing would help mitigate displacement and exclusion while addressing the housing affordability crisis through market rate housing production and tenant protections. Social housing is the provision of rental or homeownership units affordable at a moderate income or below, and is run by a public or nonprofit entity. To work, it would need to be widely implemented, requiring government investment at levels that match the urgency of the housing crisis. What follows is a short summary of the main findings of the study. Practitioner-oriented findings on the implications of new production, subsidized development, and tenant protections will be presented in a series of forthcoming policy briefs by the authors.

One hundred years of rent control in Argentina: much ado about nothing

Following World War I, rent control became a standard policy response to the housing shortage and the resulting rent increases. Typically, economists blame it for creating inefficiencies in the housing market and beyond. We investigate whether rental market regulations (including rent control, protection of tenants from eviction, and housing rationing) had any effects in a middle-income Latin American economy, such as Argentina. To answer this question, we take advantage of a wide range of housing market indicators and restrictive rental regulation indices covering almost one century. Using a standard OLS model and MARS, a nonlinear estimation technique, we find that rental market regulations have exerted a statistically significant negative impact on the growth rates of the real housing rents. However, they were only effective for short periods following both World Wars, when regulations were novel and particularly strong.

Die Entwicklung des Zivilrechts in der Tschechoslowakei in den Jahren 1918–1938

The paper deals with the institutional and legislative framework of the development of civil law in Czechoslovakia in the years 1918–1938, recodification and legal science, sources of inspiration and the normativist dimension of recodification, and finally two related controversies (filling gaps in the law and protection of tenants).

Homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Strategies and action plans of the Berlin Senate

One of the social groups particularly hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic is people experiencing homelessness, as they are especially vulnerable to infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV‑2). Still, the pandemic also drastically affected their livelihoods, as parts of municipal emergency assistance services have broken away. This article aims to highlight emergency responses of the Berlin Senate to people experiencing homelessness regarding COVID-19. The Senate is responding to the issue, among other things, by expanding and refiguring the existing contingent of shelters run by municipal emergency assistance services, preventing transmission of COVID-19 and treating those infected, and establishing mechanisms of tenant protection. The paper discusses to what extent Senate measures and interventions at the onset of the pandemic can address the emergent need for homeless assistance services in Berlin.

Out of Control: Growth and Indirect Discrimination in Ada and Canyon Counties' Rental Processes

Minimal research has been done on race in evictions and the rental process, and those studies that have been performed have been limited to narrow geographical regions (Thomas, 2017; Desmond, 2016). Additionally, research hasn’t been extended to Idaho, a state that is recognized for its rapid population growth. Research on evictions’ impact on New Americans is essentially nonexistent. Employing the Naïve Bayes Model, a modification of the Naïve Bayes Model, and content analysis of interviews, this study sought to uncover the impact of racial discrimination and growth in the eviction process. The results proved that black and Latinx minorities are evicted at higher rates than their white and Asian counterparts and that a lack of tenant protections and rapidly increasing housing prices, among other things, have played pivotal roles in Idaho’s eviction rates, specifically of racial minorities.