Commentary: Using Eviction Court Records to Inform Local Policy

Peter Hepburn
Rutgers University-Newark

Landlord-tenant court records provide an enormously useful source of administrative data, allowing researchers, activists, and policymakers insight into the prevalence, causes, and consequences of housing instability among renters. The three articles collected here describe ways in which these data can be accessed and analyzed to inform local decisionmaking. This brief commentary reflects on the contributions that each makes and describes other ways such data can, and should, be harnessed to shape policymaking—housing-related and otherwise.