Erie County Has Most Evictions In New York State

Housing has been a major issue across the country since the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the nation more than 2 years ago.

With millions of people out of work during the height of the pandemic, States and the Federal government took steps to ensure people didn't lose their housing during the pandemic. Steps like rental assistance and eviction moratorium helped millions of people.

However, over the last few months, those protections have largely ended and now we're starting to see the impact of that.

According to data that is collected and made available from the New York State Unified Court System, Erie County has earned the dubious distinction of having the most court evictions issued in the entire state.

As of Monday, August 1, 2022, there had been a total of 19,956 Warrants of Eviction issued by courts in New York, of those Erie County tops the list of counties evictions with more than 2,700 filed since January 1st.

That is truly eye opening when you consider that Erie County has a significantly smaller population than the New York City and Long Island counties. The next closest county to Erie is Kings County, which houses Brooklyn. The Population of Erie County, according to the US Census Bureau is 950,683, while the population of Kings County is 2,641,052.

With the lack of affordable housing in Western New York, having this many people in danger of losing their housing can have a negative impact on our neighborhoods and communities.

If you to someone you know are in danger of being evicted, we have a breakdown of the eviction process here. You can also contact 211 in Western New York for access to rental legal assistance.