When Matthew Desmond’s Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City first hit the shelves, it didn’t just win a Pulitzer. It basically shattered the way we think about being poor in America. For a long time, we viewed eviction as a symptom of poverty—something that happens because you’re already down and out. Desmond flipped that. He proved that eviction is a cause of poverty. It’s a mechanism that actively pushes people further into the hole.
Honestly, the book is brutal. It follows eight families in Milwaukee, but it’s not just a collection of sad stories. It’s a deep ethnographic study that exposes how the private housing market is essentially designed to profit from the instability of the poor.
The Myth of the "Bad Tenant"
There’s this persistent idea that people get evicted because they’re lazy or they blow their money on sneakers and big-screen TVs. Desmond’s research destroys this. He spent years living in a trailer park and a rooming house in Milwaukee’s North Side, watching people scrape by.
The math is just broken.
In many of the cases he documented, families were paying 70% or 80% of their income just to keep a roof over their heads. When you're that close to the edge, one missed shift at work or a broken-down car isn't a minor inconvenience. It’s a catastrophe. You’ve got characters like Arleen, a single mother trying to raise two boys on $628 a month from welfare. Her rent was $550. You don't need a PhD in economics to see that the numbers don't add up. After rent, she had $78 left for the month. That’s for food, clothes, bus passes, and everything else. It’s impossible.
How Eviction Works as a Business
We often think of landlords as either kindly old folks or faceless corporations. In Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, we meet Sherrena Tarver, a black landlord who manages properties in the inner city. She’s a complex figure. She’s not a cartoon villain; she’s a businesswoman operating in a high-risk environment.
But the reality of her business model is jarring.
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Sherrena and landlords like her actually make more profit from low-income housing than landlords in wealthier neighborhoods. Why? Because the property values are so low that the mortgage payments are tiny, yet they can still charge relatively high rents. When a tenant can't pay, the landlord has the power of the court system behind them.
The court scenes in the book are some of the most depressing parts. It’s like a factory. Tenants show up without lawyers—because there is no right to counsel in housing court—and they are processed in minutes. Most of the time, they don't even show up because they know the outcome is already decided. They end up with a "money judgment" against them, which follows them for years, ruining their credit and making it nearly impossible to find a decent apartment in the future.
The Domestic Abuse Trap
One of the most horrifying things Desmond uncovered is the "nuisance property" ordinance. These are laws that penalize landlords if the police are called to a property too many times.
What does a landlord do to avoid the fine? They evict the tenant.
Desmond found that women in domestic violence situations were being evicted because they called 911 for protection. The police would show up, the landlord would get a "nuisance" citation, and the woman would be out on the street within the week. It’s a systemic trap that punishes the victim for seeking help. It’s also a major reason why eviction disproportionately affects black women. Desmond famously noted that while many poor black men are locked up in prison, poor black women are "locked out" through eviction.
Why the Market Won't Fix Itself
A lot of people think that if we just build more "affordable" housing, the problem goes away. But the book argues that the "market" isn't a neutral force. In the world of Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, the market is a place where the powerful extract wealth from the vulnerable.
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Consider the "informal" evictions.
Not every eviction involves a sheriff and a pile of belongings on the sidewalk. Sometimes a landlord just pays a tenant a hundred bucks to leave by Sunday. Sometimes they take the front door off its hinges. These "cheap" evictions don't show up in official statistics, meaning the problem is likely much larger than the "official" numbers suggest.
Desmond argues that housing should be a basic right. He points out that the US government actually spends way more on housing subsidies for the wealthy—in the form of mortgage interest deductions—than it does on housing assistance for the poor. It’s a massive transfer of wealth disguised as tax policy.
The Lasting Trauma of Displacement
When you lose your home, you don't just lose a roof. You lose your community. You lose your stuff.
Desmond describes how families often have to leave behind everything they own because they can't afford a moving truck or a storage unit. They lose school stability for their kids. They lose the "social capital" of neighbors who might have watched their kids or lent them a cup of sugar.
This instability breeds depression and even suicide. The stress of constant relocation makes it impossible to hold down a job. How can you be a "reliable" employee when you don't know where you're sleeping tonight? Displacement isn't just a physical move; it's a psychological assault.
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Specific Data Points to Consider:
- Rent Burden: In the early 20th century, most people spent about 20% of their income on rent. Today, most poor renting families spend over 50%.
- Legal Representation: In many housing courts, 90% of landlords have lawyers, while 90% of tenants do not.
- The "Double Move": Evicted families usually move into worse housing in higher-crime neighborhoods, perpetuating the cycle of poverty.
Steps Toward a Solution
If you’re looking for a way to actually make a dent in this, it’s not about charity. It’s about policy. Desmond doesn't leave us hanging; he proposes a Universal Voucher Program.
The idea is simple: anyone below a certain income level would qualify for a housing voucher. They would pay 30% of their income toward rent, and the government would cover the rest. This would effectively end homelessness and stabilize millions of families.
Critics say it’s too expensive. But when you factor in the costs of emergency room visits, homeless shelters, and the foster care system—all of which are exacerbated by housing instability—the price tag starts to look a lot more reasonable.
Actionable Insights for Readers and Advocates
If you want to move beyond just reading about the problem, here is what actually works based on the findings in the book and subsequent research.
- Support Right to Counsel: Advocate for local laws that provide a lawyer for every tenant facing eviction. Cities that have implemented this, like New York and San Francisco, have seen massive drops in eviction rates.
- Challenge Nuisance Ordinances: Check if your city has laws that penalize landlords for police calls. These laws actively harm victims of domestic violence and should be repealed or amended to protect those seeking help.
- Push for Inclusionary Zoning: Support local housing developments that mandate a percentage of units be set aside for low-income residents.
- Donate to Local Eviction Defense Funds: These organizations provide immediate cash assistance to families who are one "small" emergency away from losing their homes.
- Vote on Housing Policy: Pay attention to local elections. City council members and mayors have more influence over your local housing market than almost anyone in Washington.
Understanding the world of Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City is the first step toward realizing that the "housing crisis" isn't an accident. It's a choice we've made as a society about who deserves a home and who doesn't. Changing that choice requires more than just empathy; it requires a fundamental shift in how we value human stability over corporate profit.