A New Normal

Based on a new analysis from the Colorado Futures Center, A New Normal: How Eviction Court Filing Data Can Advance a More Stable Housing Ecosystem for all Coloradans makes robust data about state eviction court filings available to the public for the first time. The report highlights the seriousness of housing instability in the state and the need for consistent data on evictions and recommends long-term measures to reduce evictions and their impact, advance housing stability and create a more equitable housing ecosystem statewide.

A New Normal uses data from the nearly 150,000 evictions filed in county courts statewide from July 2017-June 2021 to analyze eviction filings by quantity, geography, certain case outcomes and whether landlords and renters had legal representation. The analysis finds that the legal eviction system has historically been biased towards landlords, but pandemic-related rental and legal assistance helped to reduce the number of evictions and their harms in a way that could prove instructive for the future. The report also notes that court filings cannot capture the full scope and impact of evictions or housing instability, as evictions occur in many ways outside the legal process.   

Both the Enterprise report and Colorado Futures Center analysis were generously supported by The Colorado Health Foundation.

Download a PDF of the white paper

A New Normal: How Eviction Court Filing Data Can Advance a More Stable Housing Ecosystem for all Coloradans

Download the two-page summary

A New Normal report summary

Download the infographics in the white paper

Image Total Evictions Filed Across Colorado County Courts	Image Eviction Cases Filed per 1000 Renter Households
Image Landlords Have Legal Representation Much More Often than Renters	Image Renters with Legal Counsel Have Better Outcomes in Eviction Cases
Image Judgements for Possession: Total Issued and as a Share of All Eviction Cases Filed	Image Average Total Money Judgment When Renters Did Not Have Legal Counsel