The Effect of Rent Control Status on Eviction Filing Rates
Causal Evidence From San Francisco
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21633767 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Max Gardner (0000-0003-2181-9165, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, corresponding author), Brian J Asquith (0000-0002-5783-5557, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 334-354 |
| Publication date | 2025-03-04 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Housing Policy Debate (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1051-1482 • E-ISSN: 2152-050X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/10511482.2024.2393629 |
| OpenAlex | W4402439188 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 38 |
This paper presents causal evidence of a significant positive effect of rent control status on eviction filing rates in San Francisco, CA. Two datasets of eviction notices (n = 13,887) and property tax records (n = 1,978,687) are combined using a regression discontinuity design to estimate a local average treatment effect of ∼0.3% evictions per residential unit per year conditioned on positive rent control status. Compared to the baseline rate of eviction notices over this same time period, the findings suggest that for a given tenant, positive rent control status (i.e., living in a rent-controlled unit) increases the likelihood of eviction by approximately 127% per year. This finding is best understood not as an inherent characteristic of rent control policy in general, but rather as the result of specific state-wide laws, passed in the years following the adoption of rent control in San Francisco, which granted rent-controlled property owners an economic incentive to evict and the legal means to do so
Business · Demographic economics · Economics · Eviction · Political science · Public economics · Housing Market and Economics · Law · Law, Economics, and Judicial Systems · Legal and Constitutional Studies · Psychology
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Regression-discontinuity analysis
Superstar Cities
Regression discontinuity designs
Spatial Concentration and Spillover
Serial Eviction Filing
Eviction's Fallout
Racial and Gender Disparities among Evicted Americans
Serial Filing
The Internal and External Validity of the Regression Discontinuity Design
Evictions, large owners, and serial filings
Forty years of rent control
The effect of rent control on commute times
Equity and efficiency aspects of rent control
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Rent controls and rental housing quality
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Out of control
The Effect of Rent Control on Housing Quality Change
Housing Market Spillovers
Efficiency Pricing, Tenancy Rent Control and Monopolistic Landlords
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The Anti-Eviction Mapping Project
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| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 5 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |