(The Center Square) – One in four Oklahomans are spending over 30% of their income on rent, lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee heard Tuesday.
The committee is holding an interim study on affordable and safe rental housing.
Dr. Bryce Lowery, an associate professor of regional and city planning at the University of Oklahoma, said someone spending more than 30% of their income on housing is a “warning sign.”
“If you’re paying more than 30% of your income for your rent, it makes it very difficult for you to afford groceries, pay for child care. A simple medical emergency can put your family into a serious financial state,” Lowery said.
More and more of Oklahoma’s workforce is struggling to find housing within their price range. The average salaries for teachers, dental assistants, truck drivers, and fast food workers cannot keep up with housing costs, Lowery said
It doesn’t help that Oklahoma has one of the highest eviction rates in the country, according to Executive Director of Community Cares Partners Ginny Bass Carl. In Oklahoma County, the rate of eviction is higher than pre-pandemic levels, Carl told the committee.
In July, there were 1,593 evictions filed just in Oklahoma County. Of those, 754 resulted in eviction, said Shelterwell CEO Amy Coldren. Those evictions are costing taxpayers, Coldren said. Considering the average stay in emergency shelters, emergency medical care, foster care services, and other services used by people displaced by eviction, the taxpayer burden from just the 754 July evictions in Oklahoma County could be as high as $4 million, according to Coldren.
“They are placing a tremendous burden on our taxpayers and our economy,” Coldren said, adding one day of homelessness costs taxpayers about $96 a day.
She told the committee Oklahoma’s eviction process needs a hard look.
“We know that evictions are sometimes necessary, we’re certainly not advocating for Oklahoma to move in the direction of some states that have made it nearly impossible for a landlord to evict a tenant. But the current process is just simply too cheap, it’s too fast, it’s too easy. Currently a landlord in Oklahoma can evict a tenant for as little as $45 in as soon as five days without having to prove anything,” Coldren said.
A high eviction rate is not Oklahoma’s only housing problem. Lowery said. Changing family size and a disparity between supply and demand is another chunk of the state’s affordable housing issue.
Carl and Coldren’s recommendations took on the eviction side of the issue, including extending the eviction timeline and increasing eviction filing fees. They also suggested looking at expunging eviction records since a survey found that 56% of landlords said they would not rent to a tenant with a prior eviction filing, even if the filing did not result in an eviction judgment.
Katie Dilks, executive director of the Oklahoma Access to Justice Foundation, recommended creating anti-retaliation laws to ensure predatory landlords cannot trap tenants in unsafe living conditions and clarify the law for tenants and landlords defining “written notice.”
Committee members heard diverse policy recommendations to tackle affordable housing problems.
Lowery said aside from housing supply and diversity, lawmakers should take into account transportation costs, education and job availability, childcare, and landlord engagement.
During the last legislative session, lawmakers approved a $215 million investment in housing programs through the Oklahoma Housing Stability Program.
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