WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.319 I want to start today by putting a very specific 00:00:02.319 --> 00:00:04.639 image in your mind. It's a black and white photograph. 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:08.419 Okay. It was taken, I think, around 1910 on the 00:00:08.419 --> 00:00:11.140 Lower East Side of New York City. Yeah. And in 00:00:11.140 --> 00:00:13.960 the frame, you've got this, you know, grimy texture 00:00:13.960 --> 00:00:16.559 of the sidewalk, the blur of city life happening 00:00:16.559 --> 00:00:19.019 in the background. But the focus is really on 00:00:19.019 --> 00:00:21.519 two men and a cluster of small children. Right. 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:26.149 And surrounding them is... just chaos. It's a 00:00:26.149 --> 00:00:28.070 mountain of bedding, some old wooden chairs, 00:00:28.350 --> 00:00:31.530 splintered crates, iron pots, a mattress that 00:00:31.530 --> 00:00:33.869 looks like it's seen better decades, not just 00:00:33.869 --> 00:00:36.030 days. It's a visceral image. You can almost smell 00:00:36.030 --> 00:00:37.909 the dust coming off that mattress. You really 00:00:37.909 --> 00:00:41.130 can. It's this chaotic pile of intimate personal 00:00:41.130 --> 00:00:44.030 possessions just violently exposed to the public 00:00:44.030 --> 00:00:46.009 street. And when you say intimate, that's the 00:00:46.009 --> 00:00:47.869 word. It's the stuff that's supposed to be inside 00:00:47.869 --> 00:00:50.170 behind closed doors. And suddenly it's not. It's 00:00:50.170 --> 00:00:52.259 for everyone to see. Exactly. And if you look 00:00:52.259 --> 00:00:54.119 at the faces of the men, it's not just sadness. 00:00:54.259 --> 00:00:56.780 There's a profound bewilderment there. It reminds 00:00:56.780 --> 00:00:59.659 me of another piece, an 1892 painting by Eric 00:00:59.659 --> 00:01:01.979 Henningsen called Eviction. It captures that 00:01:01.979 --> 00:01:04.579 exact same energy. It's a timeless look, isn't 00:01:04.579 --> 00:01:07.200 it? That feeling of total vulnerability. It is. 00:01:07.219 --> 00:01:10.540 It's the precise moment when the physical space 00:01:10.540 --> 00:01:12.540 you call home, you know, the place where you 00:01:12.540 --> 00:01:15.819 sleep, eat, argue and love, suddenly becomes 00:01:15.819 --> 00:01:19.590 a prohibited zone. a place you are legally, formally 00:01:19.590 --> 00:01:22.409 forbidden to enter. And that image is so crucial 00:01:22.409 --> 00:01:25.319 because it grounds us. Today, we are diving into 00:01:25.319 --> 00:01:27.760 a topic that is often obscured by some of the 00:01:27.760 --> 00:01:31.719 driest, most impenetrable legal language you 00:01:31.719 --> 00:01:33.739 can imagine. Oh, absolutely. We hear these terms 00:01:33.739 --> 00:01:36.640 like unlawful detainer, summary possession, writ 00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:40.000 of execution or ejectment. It all sounds so administrative. 00:01:40.019 --> 00:01:42.579 It sounds clean. It's just Daryl, even. Exactly. 00:01:42.859 --> 00:01:46.140 But at its core, as that photo shows, it is the 00:01:46.140 --> 00:01:48.359 physical removal of a human being from their 00:01:48.359 --> 00:01:50.439 shelter. And it's done by the state on behalf 00:01:50.439 --> 00:01:52.430 of a landlord. So that's what we're doing today. 00:01:52.510 --> 00:01:55.250 We are taking a stack of reports, legal analyses, 00:01:55.709 --> 00:01:59.709 global economic data, and some really fascinating 00:01:59.709 --> 00:02:02.189 psychological studies, and we are going to unpack 00:02:02.189 --> 00:02:04.829 the mechanism of eviction. The machinery of it. 00:02:05.010 --> 00:02:07.909 Yes, the machinery. And I want to be really clear 00:02:07.909 --> 00:02:10.349 about our mission here. We aren't just telling 00:02:10.349 --> 00:02:13.069 sad stories, though they are often sad. We're 00:02:13.069 --> 00:02:15.550 trying to understand how this machine works. 00:02:15.770 --> 00:02:17.949 How does it happen legally? How does it happen 00:02:17.949 --> 00:02:21.370 illegally? And why is it used as, say, a tool 00:02:21.370 --> 00:02:23.409 for government revenue in a place like China? 00:02:23.530 --> 00:02:26.490 Right. Or as a tool for urban renewal. In Nigeria. 00:02:26.689 --> 00:02:29.189 And then ultimately, what does this process actually 00:02:29.189 --> 00:02:31.330 do to a person's brain? What's the psychological 00:02:31.330 --> 00:02:33.689 scar? It's a massive scope. We're essentially 00:02:33.689 --> 00:02:36.069 looking at the friction point between property 00:02:36.069 --> 00:02:38.909 rights and, well, human rights. So let's start 00:02:38.909 --> 00:02:41.370 with the basics, the definition. In the simplest 00:02:41.370 --> 00:02:43.590 terms, what are we talking about? Eviction is 00:02:43.590 --> 00:02:46.090 the removal of a tenant from a rental property 00:02:46.090 --> 00:02:48.900 by the landlord. But it seems like depending 00:02:48.900 --> 00:02:51.979 on who you ask or maybe where you ask, that definition 00:02:51.979 --> 00:02:54.180 can shift a little. It really does. Right. If 00:02:54.180 --> 00:02:55.819 you're in a law school classroom, we might define 00:02:55.819 --> 00:02:57.979 it as a restoration of possession. It's very 00:02:57.979 --> 00:03:00.939 neutral language. Restoration. That sounds so 00:03:00.939 --> 00:03:04.360 gentle. It's meant to. The idea is the tenant 00:03:04.360 --> 00:03:07.840 has breached a contract, usually the lease, and 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:10.259 the landlord is simply reclaiming their asset. 00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:12.979 It's a business transaction. But if you talk 00:03:12.979 --> 00:03:17.090 to, say, a sociologist. then the framing is completely 00:03:17.090 --> 00:03:19.430 different. They see it as a cause of poverty, 00:03:19.550 --> 00:03:22.629 not just a result of it. It's an event that triggers 00:03:22.629 --> 00:03:25.650 a cascade of negative outcomes. It's not the 00:03:25.650 --> 00:03:27.449 end of a story of poverty. It's the beginning 00:03:27.449 --> 00:03:29.370 of a new one. And we're definitely going to get 00:03:29.370 --> 00:03:31.270 to that causality loop later on because that 00:03:31.270 --> 00:03:32.750 was one of the most surprising things I read. 00:03:32.830 --> 00:03:35.330 But I want to start with the mechanics, the how, 00:03:35.469 --> 00:03:37.349 because I think there's a huge misconception 00:03:37.349 --> 00:03:40.930 about what a landlord can actually do. You mean 00:03:40.930 --> 00:03:43.610 the Wild West approach? Exactly. Yeah. Let's 00:03:43.610 --> 00:03:46.159 play this out. I own a house. I rent it to you. 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:48.139 You stop paying the rent. You're ignoring my 00:03:48.139 --> 00:03:51.340 calls, my emails. It's been, say, three months. 00:03:51.639 --> 00:03:53.580 I'm losing money. I'm paying the mortgage on 00:03:53.580 --> 00:03:55.639 a place I can't use, and I'm not getting income 00:03:55.639 --> 00:03:57.639 from. So you're kind of frustrated. I'm getting 00:03:57.639 --> 00:04:01.120 very frustrated. My instinct is, I have a key. 00:04:01.439 --> 00:04:03.479 It's my property. I'm just going to go over there 00:04:03.479 --> 00:04:05.240 while you're at work, change the locks, maybe 00:04:05.240 --> 00:04:07.099 put your stuff on the porch, and be done with 00:04:07.099 --> 00:04:09.560 it. It's my house. Why can't I do that? That 00:04:09.560 --> 00:04:12.340 instinct is perfectly understandable. And it's 00:04:12.340 --> 00:04:15.580 what the law calls a self -help eviction. And 00:04:15.580 --> 00:04:18.100 in the vast majority of jurisdictions, particularly 00:04:18.100 --> 00:04:19.740 when we're talking about residential properties, 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:23.879 it is strictly unequivocally illegal. Strictly 00:04:23.879 --> 00:04:26.420 illegal. So there's no gray area there. Not for 00:04:26.420 --> 00:04:29.069 residential tenants. No. The state basically 00:04:29.069 --> 00:04:31.550 has a monopoly on violence and displacement, 00:04:31.810 --> 00:04:34.829 and they do not want landlords or anyone really 00:04:34.829 --> 00:04:37.069 exercising it on their own. It's about maintaining 00:04:37.069 --> 00:04:39.149 public order. But let me play devil's advocate 00:04:39.149 --> 00:04:41.730 for a second. If the contract is broken, you 00:04:41.730 --> 00:04:45.209 haven't paid. Why does the state force the landlord 00:04:45.209 --> 00:04:47.689 to effectively subsidize the tenant's housing 00:04:47.689 --> 00:04:50.810 for months while waiting for a court date? I 00:04:50.810 --> 00:04:52.430 mean, that seems like an excessive burden on 00:04:52.430 --> 00:04:55.500 the property owner. And that is the primary argument 00:04:55.500 --> 00:04:57.899 from landlord associations. And it is a valid 00:04:57.899 --> 00:05:01.019 economic point. From their perspective, every 00:05:01.019 --> 00:05:03.819 day a nonpaying tenant is in the unit, it's a 00:05:03.819 --> 00:05:07.759 loss. However, the legal history here is all 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:10.620 about preventing chaos. What kind of chaos are 00:05:10.620 --> 00:05:12.439 we talking about? Well, think about it. If we 00:05:12.439 --> 00:05:15.209 allow self -help. We are essentially sanctioning 00:05:15.209 --> 00:05:17.550 vigilante justice in the housing market. You 00:05:17.550 --> 00:05:19.949 go and change the locks. The tenant comes home. 00:05:20.029 --> 00:05:21.490 They're angry. They're desperate. They break 00:05:21.490 --> 00:05:23.949 a window to get back in. And then it just escalates. 00:05:23.949 --> 00:05:26.069 It escalates immediately. You show up with a 00:05:26.069 --> 00:05:28.050 couple of big friends to intimidate them. They 00:05:28.050 --> 00:05:30.589 call their family. You've suddenly got a potentially 00:05:30.589 --> 00:05:33.230 violent confrontation on the front lawn. The 00:05:33.230 --> 00:05:35.350 legal system was specifically designed to take 00:05:35.350 --> 00:05:37.629 that physical confrontation off the street and 00:05:37.629 --> 00:05:40.850 put it into a supposedly neutral courtroom. So 00:05:40.850 --> 00:05:43.750 just to be crystal clear, even if the tenant 00:05:43.750 --> 00:05:46.649 is 100 % in the wrong, hasn't paid a dime in 00:05:46.649 --> 00:05:49.550 six months, is trashing the place, the landlord 00:05:49.550 --> 00:05:52.370 cannot cut the power or remove the front door 00:05:52.370 --> 00:05:55.329 or turn off the heat in winter. Generally, no. 00:05:55.610 --> 00:05:58.149 Doing any of those things is often known as a 00:05:58.149 --> 00:06:00.689 constructive eviction. You're making the place 00:06:00.689 --> 00:06:03.589 so unlivable that you force the tenant out. A 00:06:03.589 --> 00:06:06.370 constructive eviction. Right. And if a landlord 00:06:06.370 --> 00:06:08.470 does that, the tenant can actually turn around 00:06:08.470 --> 00:06:11.600 and sue them for damages. And what's wild is 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:14.079 that tenants often win those suits, even if they 00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:17.139 owe back rent. The court separates the issues. 00:06:17.360 --> 00:06:19.680 They'll say, OK, we will deal with the unpaid 00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:23.220 rent in the proper proceeding. But you, the landlord, 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:26.420 cannot engage in a siege to get your property 00:06:26.420 --> 00:06:29.019 back. It's like two separate wrongs. The tenant 00:06:29.019 --> 00:06:31.759 not paying is one, but the landlord taking the 00:06:31.759 --> 00:06:33.860 law into their own hands is another. Exactly. 00:06:33.860 --> 00:06:36.220 The court will handle the first, but it punishes 00:06:36.220 --> 00:06:38.540 the second. OK, so if the siege is off the table, 00:06:38.620 --> 00:06:40.839 we have to use this system. Walk us through the 00:06:40.839 --> 00:06:43.100 legal timeline, because I think people imagine 00:06:43.100 --> 00:06:46.240 this long, drawn out law and order trial. But 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:49.319 the data we looked at suggests it's the. Complete 00:06:49.319 --> 00:06:51.240 opposite. It is definitely not law and order. 00:06:51.339 --> 00:06:54.319 It's not dramatic. It's bureaucratic. It starts 00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:56.620 with the notice. This is a piece of paper, a 00:06:56.620 --> 00:06:59.199 notice to quit or a notice to vacate. This is 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:01.120 the warning shot. This is the official warning 00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:04.620 shot. It's a legal document that says you have 00:07:04.620 --> 00:07:08.079 X number of days, maybe three, maybe 30, to pay 00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:11.279 the rent you owe or leave, or in other cases, 00:07:11.300 --> 00:07:14.399 to fix a lease violation. And if the tenant doesn't 00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:17.959 move or can't pay. Then the landlord files a 00:07:17.959 --> 00:07:20.160 lawsuit. This is the official start of the legal 00:07:20.160 --> 00:07:22.879 action. And this leads us to the trial phase, 00:07:23.100 --> 00:07:25.600 which is characterized by one thing above all 00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:28.699 else. Speed. How fast are we talking? Are we 00:07:28.699 --> 00:07:31.000 talking weeks? Months? In legal terms, it's light 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:33.399 speed. These are often called summary proceedings. 00:07:33.720 --> 00:07:36.060 The logic, as you mentioned earlier, is that 00:07:36.060 --> 00:07:38.220 the landlord is bleeding money, so the court 00:07:38.220 --> 00:07:40.339 docket needs to move fast to resolve the issue 00:07:40.339 --> 00:07:42.899 of possession. So what does summary mean in practice? 00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:45.560 No jury. No jury, usually. And in many jurisdictions, 00:07:45.720 --> 00:07:48.319 there's no discovery phase, no depositions, no 00:07:48.319 --> 00:07:51.720 long arguments. I have seen data from major urban 00:07:51.720 --> 00:07:53.759 housing courts where the average hearing, the 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:56.060 entire trial lasts less than two minutes. Two 00:07:56.060 --> 00:07:58.620 minutes to decide if someone loses their home. 00:07:58.699 --> 00:08:01.480 That's hard to process. Two minutes. That's sometimes 00:08:01.480 --> 00:08:04.060 less. The judge has a stack of files. It's an 00:08:04.060 --> 00:08:07.579 assembly line. Case number 123. Landlord versus 00:08:07.579 --> 00:08:10.279 Smith. Landlord's representative, do you have 00:08:10.279 --> 00:08:13.199 the lease? Yes. Is the tenant current on rent? 00:08:13.319 --> 00:08:16.660 No. How much do they owe? Okay. Tenant, is this 00:08:16.660 --> 00:08:19.959 correct? Yes. Judgment for the plaintiff. Next. 00:08:20.360 --> 00:08:23.060 It's just a verification of facts. It's a verification 00:08:23.060 --> 00:08:26.220 of a debt, essentially. And here is the statistic 00:08:26.220 --> 00:08:29.040 that really highlights the, I guess, dysfunction 00:08:29.040 --> 00:08:31.839 of the system. In major cities like Milwaukee, 00:08:32.200 --> 00:08:35.220 the data showed up to 70 % of tenants are no 00:08:35.220 --> 00:08:38.120 -shows for their court dates. 70%. 70. In some 00:08:38.120 --> 00:08:40.159 other urban centers, the numbers are even worse. 00:08:40.440 --> 00:08:43.039 Maybe only 10 % of tenants actually appear in 00:08:43.039 --> 00:08:45.080 court to defend themselves? I want to push on 00:08:45.080 --> 00:08:47.769 that number. 70%. That seems incredibly high. 00:08:47.870 --> 00:08:49.769 Is it just that people don't care or is there 00:08:49.769 --> 00:08:51.730 something systemic happening? Because if I'm 00:08:51.730 --> 00:08:53.990 about to lose my apartment, I feel like I would 00:08:53.990 --> 00:08:55.730 move heaven and earth to be at that hearing. 00:08:55.909 --> 00:08:58.710 It's easy to assume apathy, but the reality is 00:08:58.710 --> 00:09:00.669 usually a combination of resources and despair. 00:09:01.049 --> 00:09:03.850 Yes. First, let's just consider the logistics, 00:09:04.090 --> 00:09:06.750 the notice itself. There's a practice called 00:09:06.750 --> 00:09:09.970 sewer service where a process server is supposed 00:09:09.970 --> 00:09:13.350 to deliver the court summons, but just doesn't. 00:09:13.350 --> 00:09:15.269 They claim they did, but they just threw it away. 00:09:15.690 --> 00:09:17.490 So the tenant literally never knows they were 00:09:17.490 --> 00:09:19.889 supposed to be in court. It happens. But even 00:09:19.889 --> 00:09:21.870 if they get the notice, think about the calculation 00:09:21.870 --> 00:09:24.070 they're making. They know they don't have the 00:09:24.070 --> 00:09:25.809 rent money. That's not in dispute. They don't 00:09:25.809 --> 00:09:28.549 have a lawyer. And unlike in criminal court, 00:09:28.730 --> 00:09:30.889 you have no constitutional right to a public 00:09:30.889 --> 00:09:32.769 defender in a civil housing court case. That's 00:09:32.769 --> 00:09:34.850 a huge point. So you're on your own. You are 00:09:34.850 --> 00:09:37.309 completely on your own. So they think, why should 00:09:37.309 --> 00:09:39.370 I go? I'm going to lose anyway. I can't afford 00:09:39.370 --> 00:09:41.830 to take a day off my hourly wage job to go sit 00:09:41.830 --> 00:09:44.789 in a courthouse for. four or five hours, find 00:09:44.789 --> 00:09:47.509 parking, maybe arrange childcare, just to go 00:09:47.509 --> 00:09:49.210 in front of a judge for two minutes and be told 00:09:49.210 --> 00:09:51.970 I've lost. So it's a surrender based on the asymmetry 00:09:51.970 --> 00:09:55.610 of the fight. It feels hopeless. Exactly. The 00:09:55.610 --> 00:09:58.110 landlord almost always has legal counsel or a 00:09:58.110 --> 00:10:00.230 professional agent who does this for a living. 00:10:00.450 --> 00:10:03.269 The tenant almost never does. It's a professional 00:10:03.269 --> 00:10:07.250 fighting an amateur. The outcome feels predetermined, 00:10:07.250 --> 00:10:09.850 so they don't show up, and a default judgment 00:10:09.850 --> 00:10:12.330 is entered against them. Okay, so the gavel comes 00:10:12.330 --> 00:10:16.190 down. Judgment for the landlord. We still haven't 00:10:16.190 --> 00:10:18.710 physically moved the person. Does the landlord 00:10:18.710 --> 00:10:21.610 get to go change the locks now after they have 00:10:21.610 --> 00:10:23.909 the court order? Still no. And this is a really, 00:10:23.929 --> 00:10:25.690 really important distinction in the process. 00:10:25.950 --> 00:10:29.009 The judge doesn't hand the landlord a key. The 00:10:29.009 --> 00:10:32.389 judge issues a writ of possession or a warrant 00:10:32.389 --> 00:10:34.669 of removal. More legal terms. More legal terms. 00:10:34.809 --> 00:10:37.389 But what it is is an order from the court that's 00:10:37.389 --> 00:10:39.679 directed to law enforcement. usually the county 00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:42.659 sheriff or in some cities a marshal they are 00:10:42.659 --> 00:10:44.779 the only people legally authorized to physically 00:10:44.779 --> 00:10:47.299 remove a human being and their possessions from 00:10:47.299 --> 00:10:49.679 a property it's the state's monopoly on force 00:10:49.679 --> 00:10:52.179 again it has to be an agent of the state correct 00:10:52.179 --> 00:10:55.360 the landlord gives the writ to the sheriff's 00:10:55.360 --> 00:10:58.480 office the sheriff then comes out to the property 00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:01.139 usually posts another notice on the door that 00:11:01.139 --> 00:11:04.080 says something like you have 24 hours to vacate 00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:06.860 and then they return to execute the writ And 00:11:06.860 --> 00:11:08.960 that's the moment of truth. That is the moment. 00:11:09.080 --> 00:11:11.919 And there are some fascinating, almost medieval 00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:14.980 quirks to this part of the process. For example, 00:11:15.159 --> 00:11:17.419 the rainy day exception. I saw this in the notes 00:11:17.419 --> 00:11:19.019 and I couldn't believe it. Some jurisdictions 00:11:19.019 --> 00:11:21.899 won't evict someone in bad weather. That's right. 00:11:22.019 --> 00:11:25.299 If it's snowing or there's a heavy sleet or torrential 00:11:25.299 --> 00:11:28.000 downpour, some sheriff's departments will not 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:30.779 execute the writ that day. Their policy is they 00:11:30.779 --> 00:11:32.679 won't put a family out onto the street in the 00:11:32.679 --> 00:11:35.539 middle of a storm. That feels like this. Tiny, 00:11:35.539 --> 00:11:38.120 strange shred of humanity in an otherwise cold 00:11:38.120 --> 00:11:41.120 mechanical process. It is. It's this moment of 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:43.320 discretion that says, we are going to make you 00:11:43.320 --> 00:11:45.700 homeless, but we won't get you wet while we do 00:11:45.700 --> 00:11:48.440 it. It's bizarre, but it's there. And then we 00:11:48.440 --> 00:11:50.940 get back to that photo we started with. The pile 00:11:50.940 --> 00:11:54.440 of stuff on the curb. Legally, what is supposed 00:11:54.440 --> 00:11:57.149 to happen to all of those possessions? It varies 00:11:57.149 --> 00:11:59.190 tremendously by state, which makes it really 00:11:59.190 --> 00:12:02.029 confusing. In some places it goes right to the 00:12:02.029 --> 00:12:05.549 curb. It's called a curbside eviction. It's brutal 00:12:05.549 --> 00:12:08.990 and immediate. The sheriff stands by while the 00:12:08.990 --> 00:12:11.409 landlord's movers take everything out and put 00:12:11.409 --> 00:12:13.990 it on the sidewalk. And then it's just fair game 00:12:13.990 --> 00:12:17.259 for anyone walking by. Pretty much. In other 00:12:17.259 --> 00:12:20.159 states, there are more protections. The law might 00:12:20.159 --> 00:12:22.519 require the landlord to pay movers to take the 00:12:22.519 --> 00:12:25.299 tenant's belongings to a designated storage facility. 00:12:25.720 --> 00:12:28.139 Okay, that sounds a bit more humane. It is, but 00:12:28.139 --> 00:12:30.500 there's a catch. The tenant then has a window, 00:12:30.600 --> 00:12:32.860 say, 30 days to come and claim their property. 00:12:33.120 --> 00:12:35.779 But here's the kicker. They usually have to pay 00:12:35.779 --> 00:12:38.419 the moving and storage fees to get it back. Which, 00:12:38.539 --> 00:12:40.259 if they couldn't pay the rent, they almost certainly 00:12:40.259 --> 00:12:42.340 can't pay hundreds of dollars in storage fees. 00:12:42.679 --> 00:12:45.179 Precisely. It's an insurmountable barrier for 00:12:45.179 --> 00:12:47.440 most. So the storage company or the landlord 00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:49.679 eventually options it all off to try and pay 00:12:49.679 --> 00:12:52.539 the arrears. It's a process that strips the tenant 00:12:52.539 --> 00:12:55.080 of not just their shelter, but all of their assets, 00:12:55.200 --> 00:12:57.039 their clothes, their furniture, their kids' toys, 00:12:57.240 --> 00:12:59.840 their family photos. It is a total liquidation 00:12:59.840 --> 00:13:02.379 of the household. Now, everything we've discussed 00:13:02.379 --> 00:13:05.820 so far, it assumes the tenant did something wrong, 00:13:05.899 --> 00:13:08.509 usually nonpayment of rent. But as I was reading 00:13:08.509 --> 00:13:10.450 through the source material, the thing that really, 00:13:10.450 --> 00:13:13.009 truly unnerved me, and I don't use that word 00:13:13.009 --> 00:13:15.870 lightly, was this concept of no -fault evictions. 00:13:16.309 --> 00:13:19.009 The idea that you can follow every single rule, 00:13:19.269 --> 00:13:22.269 pay every dime on time, be the perfect neighbor, 00:13:22.429 --> 00:13:25.100 and still lose your home. This is where the conversation 00:13:25.100 --> 00:13:29.580 shifts from contract breaches to raw real estate 00:13:29.580 --> 00:13:31.820 economics. This is where we get into the mechanics 00:13:31.820 --> 00:13:34.700 of gentrification. A no fault eviction is exactly 00:13:34.700 --> 00:13:37.240 what it sounds like. The landlord wants the property 00:13:37.240 --> 00:13:39.460 back, not because of a breach by the tenant, 00:13:39.620 --> 00:13:42.460 but because of their own preference or more often 00:13:42.460 --> 00:13:45.320 a business strategy. But isn't that what leases 00:13:45.320 --> 00:13:47.259 and rent control are supposed to prevent? Security 00:13:47.259 --> 00:13:49.120 of tenure. Right. The idea that you have a right 00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:51.539 to stay as long as you follow the rules. Theoretically, 00:13:51.539 --> 00:13:54.860 yes, but the legal loopholes are vast and in 00:13:54.860 --> 00:13:58.039 some cases deliberately created. Let's look at 00:13:58.039 --> 00:14:00.419 the Ellis Act in California. This is a massive 00:14:00.419 --> 00:14:03.100 issue in places like San Francisco, Santa Monica 00:14:03.100 --> 00:14:05.100 and Los Angeles. The Ellis Act. What does it 00:14:05.100 --> 00:14:08.340 do? The Ellis Act is a state law that says fundamentally 00:14:08.340 --> 00:14:11.139 you cannot force a landlord to stay in the business 00:14:11.139 --> 00:14:14.519 of being a landlord. If a property owner wants 00:14:14.519 --> 00:14:17.559 to go out of business, which means retiring the 00:14:17.559 --> 00:14:20.320 entire building from the rental market. they 00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:22.759 have the right to evict everyone living there. 00:14:23.080 --> 00:14:25.679 Okay, that sounds fair on the surface. If I own 00:14:25.679 --> 00:14:27.679 a building and I'm getting old and want to retire, 00:14:27.860 --> 00:14:30.059 or I want to move my whole family in, I should 00:14:30.059 --> 00:14:31.899 be able to do that. And that was the original 00:14:31.899 --> 00:14:35.240 stated intent of the law, to protect small mom 00:14:35.240 --> 00:14:38.039 -and -pop landlords. But here's how it's been 00:14:38.039 --> 00:14:40.820 weaponized by real estate speculators. How so? 00:14:40.980 --> 00:14:43.659 A development company will buy a building full 00:14:43.659 --> 00:14:46.419 of long -term rent -controlled tenants who are 00:14:46.419 --> 00:14:49.779 paying, say, $800 a month in a neighborhood where 00:14:49.779 --> 00:14:52.519 market rate is now $4 ,000. They can't evict 00:14:52.519 --> 00:14:54.899 them for nonpayment because they're paying. So 00:14:54.899 --> 00:14:56.820 they invoke the Ellis Act. They claim they're 00:14:56.820 --> 00:14:59.659 going out of business. Exactly. They evict everyone, 00:14:59.919 --> 00:15:02.659 clearing the entire building. Then maybe they 00:15:02.659 --> 00:15:05.100 do some cosmetic renovations and convert the 00:15:05.100 --> 00:15:08.100 units into tenancies in common or condos and 00:15:08.100 --> 00:15:10.240 sell them individually for a massive profit. 00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:13.139 Or they just let the building sit vacant for 00:15:13.139 --> 00:15:15.659 the legally required period and then reenter 00:15:15.659 --> 00:15:18.179 the rental market at the new sky -high prices. 00:15:18.440 --> 00:15:21.059 So it's a legal workaround to completely break. 00:15:21.129 --> 00:15:24.190 rent control. It is the nuclear option for resetting 00:15:24.190 --> 00:15:27.090 a building's revenue stream. It wipes out the 00:15:27.090 --> 00:15:30.190 existing, often lower income community to make 00:15:30.190 --> 00:15:33.009 way for a new, wealthier demographic. It's an 00:15:33.009 --> 00:15:35.090 engine of displacement. There's another term 00:15:35.090 --> 00:15:36.870 that came up in this section that sounds similar. 00:15:37.029 --> 00:15:40.039 Rent eviction. It's even got that kind of portmanteau 00:15:40.039 --> 00:15:42.120 feel to it. It is. It's a blend of renovation 00:15:42.120 --> 00:15:44.559 and eviction. The playbook is pretty standard. 00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:46.940 The landlord says, I need to do substantial repairs, 00:15:47.320 --> 00:15:50.039 rewire the whole building, replace all the plumbing, 00:15:50.299 --> 00:15:52.899 you know, major structural work. And I can't 00:15:52.899 --> 00:15:55.240 possibly do it with you living here. For safety 00:15:55.240 --> 00:15:57.759 reasons, you have to leave. And once the tenant 00:15:57.759 --> 00:16:00.100 is out. The renovations happen. Sometimes they're 00:16:00.100 --> 00:16:03.240 real. Sometimes they're fairly cosmetic. And 00:16:03.240 --> 00:16:05.419 then the unit goes back on the market at double 00:16:05.419 --> 00:16:07.820 or triple the original rent. The eviction was 00:16:07.820 --> 00:16:09.860 just a tool to get the rent -controlled tenant 00:16:09.860 --> 00:16:13.120 out so the price could be reset. But aren't there 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:16.139 protections against this? I see a note here about 00:16:16.139 --> 00:16:19.960 Ontario, Canada having something called a right 00:16:19.960 --> 00:16:23.519 of first refusal. What's that? Yes. In places 00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:26.179 like Ontario, the law tries to mitigate this. 00:16:26.539 --> 00:16:28.759 It says if you are rent evicted, you have the 00:16:28.759 --> 00:16:31.019 legal right to move back into your old unit at 00:16:31.019 --> 00:16:33.159 the same rent once the work is done. Well, that 00:16:33.159 --> 00:16:34.879 sounds like a pretty good protection. It sounds 00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:37.059 good on paper. But think about the logistics 00:16:37.059 --> 00:16:39.960 in reality. A major renovation could take six 00:16:39.960 --> 00:16:42.799 months, maybe a year, sometimes longer. The evicted 00:16:42.799 --> 00:16:44.440 tenant has to find somewhere else to live in 00:16:44.440 --> 00:16:46.500 the meantime. They have to pack up their life, 00:16:46.700 --> 00:16:49.539 find a new place, sign a new one -year lease. 00:16:49.700 --> 00:16:51.269 They have to move on. They have to move on with 00:16:51.269 --> 00:16:52.889 their life. Are they really going to break their 00:16:52.889 --> 00:16:54.950 new lease and pay to move back a year later? 00:16:55.090 --> 00:16:57.529 Most people can't or won't. The landlord knows 00:16:57.529 --> 00:16:59.990 this. It's a war of attrition that the tenant 00:16:59.990 --> 00:17:02.710 almost always loses. It's using the disruption 00:17:02.710 --> 00:17:05.730 of life as a weapon. That's a good way to put 00:17:05.730 --> 00:17:07.849 it. There's one more in this category that sounds 00:17:07.849 --> 00:17:12.230 even more sinister. Retaliatory eviction. What's 00:17:12.230 --> 00:17:15.349 the scenario here? This is when a landlord tries 00:17:15.349 --> 00:17:17.509 to use the eviction process to punish a tenant. 00:17:17.849 --> 00:17:20.829 The classic example is, say, your heat is broken 00:17:20.829 --> 00:17:23.349 in the middle of winter. You call the landlord. 00:17:23.470 --> 00:17:25.930 They ignore you. You call again. Nothing. So 00:17:25.930 --> 00:17:28.349 you finally call the city code inspector. You 00:17:28.349 --> 00:17:30.589 exercise your rights. You exercise your legal 00:17:30.589 --> 00:17:33.529 rights. The inspector comes out, finds a violation, 00:17:33.789 --> 00:17:36.829 and orders the landlord to make the repair. Two 00:17:36.829 --> 00:17:39.619 weeks later, you get an eviction notice. For 00:17:39.619 --> 00:17:42.099 what? Well, the landlord will claim it's for 00:17:42.099 --> 00:17:44.180 something else. Oh, you were playing your music 00:17:44.180 --> 00:17:46.619 too loud last month, or you left a bike in the 00:17:46.619 --> 00:17:50.279 hallway, some minor trumped -up charge. But the 00:17:50.279 --> 00:17:52.640 timing makes it obvious that it's punishment 00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:55.180 for you calling the city on them. Can you fight 00:17:55.180 --> 00:17:58.180 that in court? You can, and many laws are designed 00:17:58.180 --> 00:18:00.680 to help with that. They create what's called 00:18:00.680 --> 00:18:03.690 a rebuttable presumption. If an eviction action 00:18:03.690 --> 00:18:07.150 is filed within, say, 90 days or up to a year 00:18:07.150 --> 00:18:10.430 after a tenant makes a formal complaint or organizes 00:18:10.430 --> 00:18:13.049 a tenant union, the court automatically assumes 00:18:13.049 --> 00:18:15.759 its retaliation. So the burden of proof shifts. 00:18:16.099 --> 00:18:18.980 Exactly. The landlord then has to prove to the 00:18:18.980 --> 00:18:21.799 court that they had a legitimate, non -retaliatory 00:18:21.799 --> 00:18:24.380 reason for the eviction. But again, it means 00:18:24.380 --> 00:18:26.619 going to court, fighting and dealing with all 00:18:26.619 --> 00:18:28.940 that stress. Speaking of stress, let's talk about 00:18:28.940 --> 00:18:30.640 real estate mobbing. Because when I first read 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:32.039 this term, I thought it sounded like something 00:18:32.039 --> 00:18:34.500 out of an organized crime movie. It's not that 00:18:34.500 --> 00:18:37.339 far off, behaviorally. The term mobbing comes 00:18:37.339 --> 00:18:40.759 from sociology and psychology. It refers to group 00:18:40.759 --> 00:18:43.059 bullying, like in a workplace where a group targets 00:18:43.059 --> 00:18:45.119 an individual to push them out. And this is a 00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:47.700 recognized thing. It is. The UN has recognized 00:18:47.700 --> 00:18:50.460 it as a housing rights violation, and it's even 00:18:50.460 --> 00:18:53.380 a specific legal concept in Spain. They call 00:18:53.380 --> 00:18:56.400 it a coso immobiliario. So give us the playbook. 00:18:56.460 --> 00:18:58.220 What does this look like in practice? It's not 00:18:58.220 --> 00:19:00.660 a formal notice. No, it's the opposite. It's 00:19:00.660 --> 00:19:03.160 psychological warfare. It's what a landlord or 00:19:03.160 --> 00:19:05.099 developer does when they can't legally evict 00:19:05.099 --> 00:19:08.329 you. Maybe you have a very strong protected contract. 00:19:08.430 --> 00:19:11.049 So they decide to make your life so miserable 00:19:11.049 --> 00:19:14.210 that you leave voluntarily. It's a forced choice. 00:19:14.490 --> 00:19:17.049 Right. They might refuse to fix the boiler in 00:19:17.049 --> 00:19:19.349 the dead of winter. They might hire people to 00:19:19.349 --> 00:19:21.589 make loud construction noises in the hallway 00:19:21.589 --> 00:19:23.950 at all hours of the day and night. They might 00:19:23.950 --> 00:19:26.890 sabotage the locks on the main door. It's about 00:19:26.890 --> 00:19:29.670 making the home a hostile, unlivable environment. 00:19:29.670 --> 00:19:33.069 It's a siege. Exactly. I've read cases of landlords 00:19:33.069 --> 00:19:35.589 removing the front door to the building for repairs 00:19:35.589 --> 00:19:38.910 and just leaving it off for weeks, exposing the 00:19:38.910 --> 00:19:41.049 whole building to the elements and security risks 00:19:41.049 --> 00:19:43.950 or shutting off the water supply intermittently 00:19:43.950 --> 00:19:46.630 without notice. It's all designed to induce a 00:19:46.630 --> 00:19:49.170 state of constant anxiety and stress so severe 00:19:49.170 --> 00:19:52.430 that the tenant finally breaks and flees just 00:19:52.430 --> 00:19:54.630 to preserve their own mental health. But how 00:19:54.630 --> 00:19:56.509 on earth do you prove that in court? A landlord 00:19:56.509 --> 00:19:58.450 can just say, hey, I'm a bad property manager. 00:19:58.509 --> 00:20:00.430 I'm incompetent, but I'm not mobbing anyone. 00:20:00.970 --> 00:20:03.829 And that is the core difficulty. Proving intent 00:20:03.829 --> 00:20:06.849 is incredibly hard. Unless you have a smoking 00:20:06.849 --> 00:20:09.390 gun email where the landlord says to their manager, 00:20:09.609 --> 00:20:12.369 let's freeze them out, it often just looks like 00:20:12.369 --> 00:20:16.289 a pattern of really bad negligence. But the effect 00:20:16.289 --> 00:20:19.029 on the tenant is exactly the same as a formal 00:20:19.029 --> 00:20:22.069 eviction. Forced displacement, but done completely 00:20:22.069 --> 00:20:24.589 outside the law. We've been focusing very, very 00:20:24.589 --> 00:20:26.890 heavily on this individual level, the landlord 00:20:26.890 --> 00:20:29.230 versus the tenant. But the source material takes 00:20:29.230 --> 00:20:31.609 this massive pivot here. It zooms way out to 00:20:31.609 --> 00:20:34.210 the global stage. And we stop talking about lease 00:20:34.210 --> 00:20:36.109 contracts and we start talking about state power. 00:20:36.250 --> 00:20:38.890 This is absolutely essential context. If you 00:20:38.890 --> 00:20:40.650 want to understand eviction on a global scale, 00:20:40.750 --> 00:20:43.079 it isn't just about unpaid rent. In many parts 00:20:43.079 --> 00:20:45.240 of the world, it is a primary tool of economic 00:20:45.240 --> 00:20:48.559 development and direct government revenue. The 00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:50.359 section on China is mind -blowing. We're not 00:20:50.359 --> 00:20:52.019 talking about a few dozen tenants in a building. 00:20:52.140 --> 00:20:54.539 We're talking about forced eviction or land requisition 00:20:54.539 --> 00:20:57.420 on a scale that is genuinely hard to comprehend. 00:20:57.880 --> 00:21:00.319 To understand eviction in China, you have to 00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:03.480 first understand their local tax structure. It's 00:21:03.480 --> 00:21:05.460 not just about developers being greedy. It's 00:21:05.460 --> 00:21:07.900 about how local governments literally keep the 00:21:07.900 --> 00:21:10.240 lights on. Break that down for us. Why is the 00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:13.180 local government so directly involved in evicting 00:21:13.180 --> 00:21:17.200 its own citizens? OK, so in China, local governments 00:21:17.200 --> 00:21:19.980 are responsible for providing a huge amount of 00:21:19.980 --> 00:21:22.680 public services, infrastructure, schools, hospitals, 00:21:22.920 --> 00:21:25.599 all of it. But they have very limited ways to 00:21:25.599 --> 00:21:27.569 raise their own tax revenue. They can't just 00:21:27.569 --> 00:21:29.809 jack up property taxes the way a city in the 00:21:29.809 --> 00:21:31.950 United States might. So they have a revenue problem. 00:21:32.089 --> 00:21:35.250 A massive one. So they came to rely on land transfer 00:21:35.250 --> 00:21:38.549 fees. Basically, they take control of land, often 00:21:38.549 --> 00:21:41.829 rural or old urban land, and then sell the long 00:21:41.829 --> 00:21:44.009 -term usage rights to commercial developers for 00:21:44.009 --> 00:21:46.359 enormous sums of money. So the government needs 00:21:46.359 --> 00:21:48.819 to clear and sell the land to fund itself. Correct. 00:21:49.039 --> 00:21:51.400 And the data point from Professor Guan Qingyu 00:21:51.400 --> 00:21:54.559 at Tsinghua University is just staggering. In 00:21:54.559 --> 00:21:57.859 2010, land sales accounted for 74 % of local 00:21:57.859 --> 00:22:01.140 government income in China. 74%. That's not a 00:22:01.140 --> 00:22:03.099 side hustle. That's the entire business model. 00:22:03.259 --> 00:22:06.369 It is the whole budget. So just imagine the incentive 00:22:06.369 --> 00:22:09.250 structure that creates. You are a local official. 00:22:09.549 --> 00:22:12.910 You have a plot of land occupied by a rural village 00:22:12.910 --> 00:22:16.029 or an old low -rise neighborhood. It's not generating 00:22:16.029 --> 00:22:18.849 much revenue for you. But if you can evict those 00:22:18.849 --> 00:22:21.349 people and sell that land to a developer to build 00:22:21.349 --> 00:22:23.990 a new skyscraper or a shopping mall, you've just 00:22:23.990 --> 00:22:26.109 funded your entire government for the next year. 00:22:26.369 --> 00:22:28.690 The eviction isn't a byproduct of development. 00:22:29.009 --> 00:22:31.349 It is the development model. It's structural. 00:22:31.390 --> 00:22:33.329 It's baked right into the financial survival 00:22:33.329 --> 00:22:36.259 of the state. And that explains the unrest. The 00:22:36.259 --> 00:22:38.859 outline mentions that something like 65 percent 00:22:38.859 --> 00:22:42.460 of mass conflicts in China stem directly from 00:22:42.460 --> 00:22:44.779 these eviction and land grievances. Of course, 00:22:44.839 --> 00:22:46.920 when you take people's land, which is not just 00:22:46.920 --> 00:22:49.400 their home, but their livelihood and their ancestral 00:22:49.400 --> 00:22:52.980 history, purely for revenue, resistance is inevitable. 00:22:53.440 --> 00:22:56.000 But the power of the state is, of course, overwhelming. 00:22:56.299 --> 00:22:59.539 We see a different but related version of this 00:22:59.539 --> 00:23:01.819 development narrative in Nigeria. The numbers 00:23:01.819 --> 00:23:04.980 here are just tragic. Over 2 million people forcefully 00:23:04.980 --> 00:23:07.660 evicted in a single decade. Between 2000 and 00:23:07.660 --> 00:23:11.119 2009, yes. And we need to look at Lagos specifically 00:23:11.119 --> 00:23:14.579 to understand this. This is a megacity, one of 00:23:14.579 --> 00:23:16.940 the fastest growing in the world. The government 00:23:16.940 --> 00:23:19.980 wants to project an image of a modern global 00:23:19.980 --> 00:23:23.640 financial hub, a new Dubai. But a huge portion 00:23:23.640 --> 00:23:25.920 of the population lives in what are called informal 00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:29.640 settlements. That's right. And these settlements 00:23:29.640 --> 00:23:32.700 clash with that shiny, modern image. Tell us 00:23:32.700 --> 00:23:34.980 about Makoko, because the description of the 00:23:34.980 --> 00:23:37.539 floating slum is so vivid. Makoko is an incredible 00:23:37.539 --> 00:23:39.579 place. It's a community built almost entirely 00:23:39.579 --> 00:23:42.640 on stilts over the Lagos Lagoon. It's been there 00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:45.319 for over 100 years. It started as a fishing village 00:23:45.319 --> 00:23:47.559 for migrants. It has its own economy, its own 00:23:47.559 --> 00:23:50.480 schools, its own social structure. It's a functioning 00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:53.240 city on the water. But to the authorities, it's 00:23:53.240 --> 00:23:55.690 an eyesore. It doesn't fit the Dubai of Africa 00:23:55.690 --> 00:23:57.869 vision. It's not on the brochure. Not at all. 00:23:57.910 --> 00:24:00.549 So what happened? In July 2012, the government 00:24:00.549 --> 00:24:04.910 gave residents 72 hours notice. 72 hours. 72 00:24:04.910 --> 00:24:07.430 hours to dismantle a city that had existed for 00:24:07.430 --> 00:24:10.009 a century. Then the government boats came in 00:24:10.009 --> 00:24:12.630 with men with chainsaws, and they just started 00:24:12.630 --> 00:24:15.490 sawing through the stilts that held up the houses. 00:24:15.789 --> 00:24:18.829 Buildings just collapsed into the lagoon. In 00:24:18.829 --> 00:24:22.230 a matter of days, 30 ,000 people were made homeless. 00:24:22.410 --> 00:24:26.150 30 ,000. Yeah. And where do 30 ,000 people go? 00:24:26.329 --> 00:24:28.170 That is the question the government never has 00:24:28.170 --> 00:24:30.329 an answer for. They just dissolve. They dissolve 00:24:30.329 --> 00:24:32.309 into the rest of the city, overcrowding other 00:24:32.309 --> 00:24:34.730 slums, sleeping under bridges, moving in with 00:24:34.730 --> 00:24:37.390 distant relatives. It's displacement without 00:24:37.390 --> 00:24:40.079 any plan for resettlement. And it keeps happening. 00:24:40.240 --> 00:24:42.680 It does. We saw it again in Tarquil Bay in 2020. 00:24:43.019 --> 00:24:45.440 The military came in and evicted thousands of 00:24:45.440 --> 00:24:48.259 residents. The official reason given was to stop 00:24:48.259 --> 00:24:50.339 oil theft from pipelines running through the 00:24:50.339 --> 00:24:52.539 area. But the real reason was? Well, it just 00:24:52.539 --> 00:24:54.640 so happens that Tarquil Bay is a beautiful stretch 00:24:54.640 --> 00:24:57.220 of beach that is perfect for luxury hotels and 00:24:57.220 --> 00:24:59.880 real estate development. The oil theft narrative 00:24:59.880 --> 00:25:02.559 provides a convenient justification. We saw it 00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:04.880 in Ototo Bay, an ancestral fishing community 00:25:04.880 --> 00:25:06.839 that was sacked and blown to the ground despite 00:25:06.839 --> 00:25:09.180 court injunctions trying to stop it. So it's 00:25:09.180 --> 00:25:11.220 a clear pattern. You criminalize the residents. 00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:13.140 You call them squatters. You call them thieves. 00:25:13.279 --> 00:25:16.660 You call them a security threat to justify clearing 00:25:16.660 --> 00:25:18.819 the land for profit, whether that profit is for 00:25:18.819 --> 00:25:21.500 the state or private developers. It's the same 00:25:21.500 --> 00:25:23.359 playbook used around the world. It happens in 00:25:23.359 --> 00:25:26.599 Cambodia. It happens in Indonesia. In Phnom Penh, 00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:29.440 we've seen thousands evicted with zero consultation 00:25:29.440 --> 00:25:32.339 and then sent to these awful resettlement sites 00:25:32.339 --> 00:25:34.720 that are miles from their jobs with no clean 00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:37.539 water or electricity. It's treating human beings 00:25:37.539 --> 00:25:40.339 as debris that just needs to be swept away for 00:25:40.339 --> 00:25:42.660 the sake of progress. There is one really interesting 00:25:42.660 --> 00:25:45.279 counterexample in the data, though. A moment 00:25:45.279 --> 00:25:48.359 where the entire global machine of eviction just... 00:25:50.019 --> 00:25:52.779 Australia in 2020. The COVID moratorium, yes. 00:25:52.900 --> 00:25:54.400 This was fascinating to me because it really 00:25:54.400 --> 00:25:57.319 challenges the sense of inevitability about all 00:25:57.319 --> 00:26:00.559 of this. It really does. On March 29, 2020, Prime 00:26:00.559 --> 00:26:02.799 Minister Scott Morrison, who is a conservative 00:26:02.799 --> 00:26:04.519 politician, it's important to note, not some 00:26:04.519 --> 00:26:07.480 radical, he announced a nationwide moratorium 00:26:07.480 --> 00:26:09.980 on evictions. And what was the logic? The logic 00:26:09.980 --> 00:26:12.440 was simple, public health. We were in the middle 00:26:12.440 --> 00:26:15.000 of a global pandemic. If we start kicking thousands 00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:17.160 of people out of their homes, they can't shelter 00:26:17.160 --> 00:26:19.079 in place, they'll end up in crowded shelters 00:26:19.079 --> 00:26:21.420 or moving between family members' houses, and 00:26:21.420 --> 00:26:23.819 they will spread the virus. We needed people 00:26:23.819 --> 00:26:26.720 to stay home to stop the pandemic. So for six 00:26:26.720 --> 00:26:29.400 months, the entire machinery of removal was just... 00:26:29.919 --> 00:26:32.279 Turned off. And that proves that eviction is 00:26:32.279 --> 00:26:34.480 a policy choice. It's not a law of physics. It's 00:26:34.480 --> 00:26:38.200 not inevitable. We, as a society, choose to prioritize 00:26:38.200 --> 00:26:41.819 a landlord's right to immediate possession over 00:26:41.819 --> 00:26:44.519 a tenant's right to shelter. That's it. And when 00:26:44.519 --> 00:26:47.059 the stakes were high enough, literally life and 00:26:47.059 --> 00:26:50.059 death from a virus, we chose differently for 00:26:50.059 --> 00:26:52.630 a little while. Precisely. It showed that the 00:26:52.630 --> 00:26:55.230 system can be paused, the sky doesn't fall. But 00:26:55.230 --> 00:26:57.349 of course, once that pause was lifted, the backlog 00:26:57.349 --> 00:26:59.450 of cases hit the courts with a vengeance. And 00:26:59.450 --> 00:27:01.690 that brings us to the aftermath. Because whether 00:27:01.690 --> 00:27:04.009 it's a mass eviction in Lagos or a single mother 00:27:04.009 --> 00:27:06.289 being evicted in Milwaukee, the consequences 00:27:06.289 --> 00:27:08.470 don't end when the lock is changed on the door. 00:27:08.589 --> 00:27:10.430 That's just the beginning. Let's talk about that 00:27:10.430 --> 00:27:14.569 aftermath. Let's talk about the Scarlet E, the 00:27:14.569 --> 00:27:16.789 eviction record. In the United States, this is 00:27:16.789 --> 00:27:19.289 a distinct and modern crisis. We live in the 00:27:19.289 --> 00:27:23.190 age of big data. When a landlord files an eviction 00:27:23.190 --> 00:27:25.690 case against you in court, a public record is 00:27:25.690 --> 00:27:29.009 created. And this is the critical part. That 00:27:29.009 --> 00:27:32.250 record is created the moment of filing, not the 00:27:32.250 --> 00:27:34.390 moment of judgment. So even if you win your case. 00:27:34.509 --> 00:27:36.410 Even if you win. Even if the case is dismissed 00:27:36.410 --> 00:27:39.230 because the landlord made an error. Even if you 00:27:39.230 --> 00:27:41.049 pay the back rent and the case is withdrawn. 00:27:41.690 --> 00:27:43.869 That record of the filing often still exists. 00:27:44.230 --> 00:27:46.490 And tenant screening companies scrape that court 00:27:46.490 --> 00:27:48.910 data. Constantly. They hoover it all up, package 00:27:48.910 --> 00:27:50.829 it into reports, and sell it to other landlords 00:27:50.829 --> 00:27:53.890 for a fee. So you've been evicted or even just 00:27:53.890 --> 00:27:56.289 had an eviction filed against you. You go to 00:27:56.289 --> 00:27:58.410 apply for a new apartment. The new landlord runs 00:27:58.410 --> 00:28:01.190 a $30 background check. It pops up. Eviction 00:28:01.190 --> 00:28:04.690 filing 2023. And boom, application denied. It's 00:28:04.690 --> 00:28:07.950 a blacklist. It is a modern digital blacklist. 00:28:08.400 --> 00:28:10.559 And in most states, that record stays public 00:28:10.559 --> 00:28:13.720 and follows you for seven years. We are talking 00:28:13.720 --> 00:28:15.640 about a digital shackle that can effectively 00:28:15.640 --> 00:28:18.180 prevent you from accessing the mainstream housing 00:28:18.180 --> 00:28:20.220 market for the better part of a decade. It's 00:28:20.220 --> 00:28:22.859 a punishment that long outlasts the actual event. 00:28:23.039 --> 00:28:25.880 It's a secondary punishment that's arguably worse 00:28:25.880 --> 00:28:29.039 than the initial loss of housing itself. So where 00:28:29.039 --> 00:28:32.519 do these people go if no reputable landlord with 00:28:32.519 --> 00:28:34.890 a decent apartment will take them? They are forced 00:28:34.890 --> 00:28:37.230 into the absolute bottom of the market. They 00:28:37.230 --> 00:28:40.130 are forced to rent from slumlords who don't run 00:28:40.130 --> 00:28:41.990 background checks because their properties are 00:28:41.990 --> 00:28:43.930 in such bad condition that they can't attract 00:28:43.930 --> 00:28:46.190 other tenants. So you're pushed into worse housing. 00:28:46.480 --> 00:28:49.319 You're pushed into substandard, often unsafe 00:28:49.319 --> 00:28:52.539 housing. Or you end up in extended stay motels, 00:28:52.539 --> 00:28:55.119 which are incredibly expensive. Or you end up 00:28:55.119 --> 00:28:57.859 in homeless shelters or sleeping on a relative's 00:28:57.859 --> 00:29:00.980 couch. It forces a downward mobility spiral that 00:29:00.980 --> 00:29:03.240 is incredibly difficult to escape. But beyond 00:29:03.240 --> 00:29:05.140 the economics of it, I want to spend some real 00:29:05.140 --> 00:29:07.819 time on the psychology. The expert notes you 00:29:07.819 --> 00:29:11.160 sent over reference the Skinner box. Now, I remember 00:29:11.160 --> 00:29:14.250 this from Psych 101. It's about rats. Pressing 00:29:14.250 --> 00:29:16.769 levers for food. How on earth does this apply 00:29:16.769 --> 00:29:20.349 to eviction? It's a terrifyingly accurate parallel. 00:29:20.829 --> 00:29:23.589 B .F. Skinner's experiments were about operant 00:29:23.589 --> 00:29:26.329 conditioning. He put a rat in a box. If the rat 00:29:26.329 --> 00:29:28.369 pressed a lever, sometimes it got a food pellet. 00:29:28.549 --> 00:29:31.470 Sometimes it got a painful electric shock. But 00:29:31.470 --> 00:29:33.509 here's the key finding that is relevant to us. 00:29:33.710 --> 00:29:36.430 The key to creating maximum stress and neurotic, 00:29:36.490 --> 00:29:39.250 panicked behavior in the animal wasn't the consistency 00:29:39.250 --> 00:29:41.930 of the pain, it was the unpredictability of it. 00:29:42.119 --> 00:29:44.539 Not knowing what was coming next. Exactly. If 00:29:44.539 --> 00:29:46.640 you know the shock is coming every minute, on 00:29:46.640 --> 00:29:48.339 the minute you can at least brace for it. You 00:29:48.339 --> 00:29:50.819 can anticipate it. But if it's random, if you 00:29:50.819 --> 00:29:52.559 never know when the shock is coming, you live 00:29:52.559 --> 00:29:55.259 in a constant state of hyperarousal, unending 00:29:55.259 --> 00:29:58.099 terror. Okay. So now map that onto the eviction 00:29:58.099 --> 00:30:00.849 process. You get the initial notice. You don't 00:30:00.849 --> 00:30:02.730 know if the landlord is actually going to file 00:30:02.730 --> 00:30:05.289 the lawsuit or if it's just a scare tactic. Then 00:30:05.289 --> 00:30:07.369 you get the court summons. You go to court. You 00:30:07.369 --> 00:30:09.089 don't know if the judge will rule that day or 00:30:09.089 --> 00:30:12.109 delay the case. Then you lose. The judge issues 00:30:12.109 --> 00:30:15.190 the writ. Now the clock is ticking, but you don't 00:30:15.190 --> 00:30:16.990 know when the sheriff is actually coming. Is 00:30:16.990 --> 00:30:19.640 it Tuesday morning? Is it Friday afternoon? You 00:30:19.640 --> 00:30:22.259 have no idea. Is that knock on the door the pizza 00:30:22.259 --> 00:30:24.740 delivery, or is it the sheriff with two deputies? 00:30:25.359 --> 00:30:27.859 Every time you hear heavy footsteps in the hallway, 00:30:28.039 --> 00:30:30.779 your heart stops. Every time a car pulls up outside, 00:30:31.000 --> 00:30:35.220 you freeze. You are living inside a Skinner box, 00:30:35.480 --> 00:30:38.059 waiting for the unpredictable shock. That's a 00:30:38.059 --> 00:30:40.680 genuinely chilling way to think about it. And 00:30:40.680 --> 00:30:42.460 the sources say this leads to a form of learned 00:30:42.460 --> 00:30:45.619 helplessness. It does. Observers and even law 00:30:45.619 --> 00:30:47.579 enforcement often ask, why didn't they pack? 00:30:47.819 --> 00:30:49.740 The sheriff is here and their stuff is still 00:30:49.740 --> 00:30:52.740 everywhere. They knew this was coming. I've wondered 00:30:52.740 --> 00:30:55.119 that myself. And the reason is often that the 00:30:55.119 --> 00:30:57.539 psychological stress is so overwhelming that 00:30:57.539 --> 00:31:00.220 the person just shuts down. They go into a state 00:31:00.220 --> 00:31:02.579 of denial. They try to just ride it out because 00:31:02.579 --> 00:31:05.779 the reality of packing up their entire life with 00:31:05.779 --> 00:31:09.000 nowhere to go is too big and too painful to process. 00:31:09.099 --> 00:31:12.259 So they do nothing. They freeze. And the long 00:31:12.259 --> 00:31:14.200 -term impact on mental health from living in 00:31:14.200 --> 00:31:16.480 that scanner box. It's devastating. The research 00:31:16.480 --> 00:31:18.579 shows dramatically higher rates of depression, 00:31:18.819 --> 00:31:21.099 anxiety, and PTSD among people who have been 00:31:21.099 --> 00:31:23.559 evicted compared to low -income renters who haven't. 00:31:23.900 --> 00:31:26.559 And most sobering, there's a statistical correlation 00:31:26.559 --> 00:31:28.960 with suicide rates. The stress of losing your 00:31:28.960 --> 00:31:31.180 home can be a final breaking point for people 00:31:31.180 --> 00:31:33.359 already struggling. And this doesn't just fade 00:31:33.359 --> 00:31:36.039 away once they find a new place? No. The data 00:31:36.039 --> 00:31:38.599 shows that even years after the event, people 00:31:38.599 --> 00:31:40.660 who have been evicted are statistically less 00:31:40.660 --> 00:31:43.380 happy. less optimistic, and feel they have less 00:31:43.380 --> 00:31:45.880 agency and control over their own lives than 00:31:45.880 --> 00:31:47.480 people who may have moved for other reasons, 00:31:47.640 --> 00:31:50.359 even other negative reasons, you fundamentally 00:31:50.359 --> 00:31:53.059 destroy their sense of safety and stability in 00:31:53.059 --> 00:31:55.480 the world. There's one final piece of this puzzle 00:31:55.480 --> 00:31:58.220 that completely flips the script on how we normally 00:31:58.220 --> 00:32:00.799 think about poverty. You called it the economic 00:32:00.799 --> 00:32:03.400 spiral. We usually assume the story goes like 00:32:03.400 --> 00:32:05.619 this. You lose your job, then you run out of 00:32:05.619 --> 00:32:08.079 money, and then as a result, you get evicted. 00:32:08.490 --> 00:32:10.589 That's the standard narrative, right? Eviction 00:32:10.589 --> 00:32:13.069 is a consequence of personal or economic failure? 00:32:13.309 --> 00:32:15.950 But the research you pointed us to suggests the 00:32:15.950 --> 00:32:17.910 arrow of causality often goes the other way. 00:32:18.190 --> 00:32:22.230 Eviction actually causes job loss. Matthew Desmond's 00:32:22.230 --> 00:32:24.730 research was absolutely pivotal here. He found 00:32:24.730 --> 00:32:27.849 that a worker is 15 % more likely to be laid 00:32:27.849 --> 00:32:30.049 off from their job in the months after an eviction 00:32:30.049 --> 00:32:33.410 has taken place. 15%. That's a huge number. But 00:32:33.410 --> 00:32:35.700 why? What's the connection? Think about the sheer 00:32:35.700 --> 00:32:38.400 amount of mental and logistical bandwidth it 00:32:38.400 --> 00:32:41.160 takes to be evicted. You are on the phone all 00:32:41.160 --> 00:32:43.539 day with legal aid services trying to get help. 00:32:43.680 --> 00:32:46.539 You are spending your evenings desperately scrolling 00:32:46.539 --> 00:32:48.400 through apartment listings you know you can't 00:32:48.400 --> 00:32:51.319 afford. You are stressed out. You are sleep deprived 00:32:51.319 --> 00:32:53.539 because you're worried sick. You can't focus 00:32:53.539 --> 00:32:56.410 at work. You can't focus. You miss a shift because 00:32:56.410 --> 00:32:58.589 you have to go to court. You show up late because 00:32:58.589 --> 00:33:00.250 you had to sleep at your sister's house, which 00:33:00.250 --> 00:33:02.230 is across town, and adds an hour to your commute. 00:33:02.670 --> 00:33:05.529 The chaos and instability in your housing life 00:33:05.529 --> 00:33:08.450 makes you, in the eyes of your employer, a bad 00:33:08.450 --> 00:33:11.490 employee. You become unreliable, not because 00:33:11.490 --> 00:33:13.990 you're lazy, but because your life is in turmoil. 00:33:14.289 --> 00:33:17.569 So the eviction itself creates the poverty and 00:33:17.569 --> 00:33:20.549 instability that we then use to justify the eviction 00:33:20.549 --> 00:33:23.470 in the first place. It is a vicious, self -perpetuating 00:33:23.559 --> 00:33:26.079 trap. And once you fall into it, getting out 00:33:26.079 --> 00:33:28.759 is incredibly expensive. You lose your security 00:33:28.759 --> 00:33:30.880 deposit. You have to pay for a moving truck or 00:33:30.880 --> 00:33:33.019 a storage unit. You have to come up with a new 00:33:33.019 --> 00:33:35.180 security deposit and first month's rent for a 00:33:35.180 --> 00:33:37.759 new place. If you can even find one, you are 00:33:37.759 --> 00:33:40.220 literally paying more to be poor. We have covered 00:33:40.220 --> 00:33:42.960 a lot of ground today. I mean, from the driest 00:33:42.960 --> 00:33:45.759 legal definitions to the revenue schemes of the 00:33:45.759 --> 00:33:48.779 Chinese government to the floating slums of Lagos, 00:33:48.779 --> 00:33:50.920 and then all the way down into the human brain 00:33:50.920 --> 00:33:53.059 and the psychology of the Skinner box. It's a 00:33:53.059 --> 00:33:55.079 heavy picture when you assemble all the pieces. 00:33:55.339 --> 00:33:58.400 It really is. But I think it's necessary to see 00:33:58.400 --> 00:34:01.460 it this clearly, because usually we just see 00:34:01.460 --> 00:34:04.640 the for rent sign on a lawn. We don't see the 00:34:04.640 --> 00:34:07.619 complex, often brutal process that put it there. 00:34:07.759 --> 00:34:10.300 We tend to treat eviction as a simple, necessary 00:34:10.300 --> 00:34:12.820 function of the market. The logic is simple. 00:34:12.940 --> 00:34:15.199 If you don't pay, you can't stay. It rhymes. 00:34:15.440 --> 00:34:17.320 It makes perfect sense on a spreadsheet. It's 00:34:17.320 --> 00:34:20.019 a clean transaction. Right. But... When you look 00:34:20.019 --> 00:34:22.519 at the real collateral damage, the mental illness 00:34:22.519 --> 00:34:25.300 it triggers, the negative effects on child development, 00:34:25.420 --> 00:34:27.739 the job losses, the destruction of community 00:34:27.739 --> 00:34:30.519 assets, you have to start asking if the price 00:34:30.519 --> 00:34:32.440 society pays for that efficiency is actually 00:34:32.440 --> 00:34:34.380 far too high. And that's really the thought I 00:34:34.380 --> 00:34:36.860 want to end on today. We have built a machine 00:34:36.860 --> 00:34:39.659 that is, in many places, incredibly efficient 00:34:39.659 --> 00:34:41.800 at removal. We have specialized courts. We have 00:34:41.800 --> 00:34:43.659 databases. We have sheriffs who do this every 00:34:43.659 --> 00:34:47.420 day. The machine works. But we have to ask ourselves. 00:34:48.289 --> 00:34:51.110 If housing stability is the absolute bedrock 00:34:51.110 --> 00:34:53.789 of a functional citizen, if you need a stable 00:34:53.789 --> 00:34:56.690 home to keep a job, to raise a healthy kid, to 00:34:56.690 --> 00:34:59.030 stay mentally and physically healthy, then what 00:34:59.030 --> 00:35:01.349 are we actually doing to our society by making 00:35:01.349 --> 00:35:05.300 it so easy? So fast to pull that rug out from 00:35:05.300 --> 00:35:06.960 under people. It suggests that our efficiency 00:35:06.960 --> 00:35:09.380 and removal might actually be a profound inefficiency 00:35:09.380 --> 00:35:11.980 in building a healthy, stable society. So next 00:35:11.980 --> 00:35:14.519 time you see a pile of belongings on a curb or 00:35:14.519 --> 00:35:17.480 you see a new luxury condo going up in a neighborhood 00:35:17.480 --> 00:35:19.500 that used to look very different, maybe don't 00:35:19.500 --> 00:35:22.260 just walk past. Ask the question, who was there 00:35:22.260 --> 00:35:25.059 before and where did they go? And crucially, 00:35:25.179 --> 00:35:27.179 how are they doing now? Thanks for joining us 00:35:27.179 --> 00:35:28.500 on the Deep Dive. We'll see you next time.