Eviction filings are 50% higher than they were pre-pandemic in some cities as rents rise

Dana Williams and his daughter De'mai Williams stand outside a low-cost hotel in Atlanta on May 18, 2023. The two have been looking for an affordable place to live ever since they were evicted from their two-bedroom apartment in April. (AP Photo/R.J. Rico)

Entering court using a walker, a doctor’s note clutched in his hand, 70-year-old Dana Williams, who suffers serious heart problems, hypertension and asthma, pleaded to delay eviction from his two-bedroom apartment in Atlanta.

Although sympathetic, the judge said state law required him to evict Williams and his 25-year-old daughter De’mai Williams in April because they owed $8,348 in unpaid rent and fees on their $940-a-month apartment.

They have been living in limbo ever since.