Eviction Filings Hit Multi-Year Highs in Several Metro Areas

Published 2026-01-24 · Legal Niche Pros

Eviction filings have climbed to multi-year highs in a number of U.S. metro areas over the past year, according to tracking data reported by BiggerPockets and drawn from Eviction Lab monitoring. Nashville's filing rate ran roughly 46% above its 2023–24 baseline, while Greenville, South Carolina, reached a filing rate equal to about 21% of all renter households in the area over a 12-month span.

Virginia recorded more than 139,000 eviction filings over the same period, equal to roughly 13% of renting households in the areas Eviction Lab monitors statewide. A 2025 white paper from the United Planning Organization examining the nation's capital linked its own decade-high eviction numbers to a combination of rising rents, the expiration of federal and local rental assistance programs, and a persistent shortage of affordable housing units.

Landlord-tenant law varies significantly by state and even by city, and tenant protections that were expanded during the pandemic have unwound at different speeds across jurisdictions — meaning a tenant's practical rights during an eviction filing can differ sharply depending on where they live.

For tenants facing a filing, the response deadline is typically very short and varies by state, and missing it can result in a default judgment even where a tenant has a valid defense — such as a landlord's own failure to maintain the property or an improperly calculated rent balance.

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Read: Security Deposit Disputes — Your Rights as a Tenant in 2026 →