Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City

In January 2008, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is suffering the coldest winter on record. Jori, the teenage son of single black mother, Arleen Belle, causes his family to be evicted when their apartment door is kicked in by a man whose car he threw a snowball at. Arleen, Jori, and her youngest son, Jafaris, are forced to live in a local shelter, the Lodge, until April. For $525 a month, they then move into a poorly-maintained house quickly declared uninhabitable by the city. After moving in and out of an apartment in a high-crime area in just four months, they end up in a duplex for $550 a month—88% of Arleen’s monthly welfare check—owned by Sherrena Tarver, who brings the family $40 worth of groceries when they move in.

Historically, evictions in even the poorest sections of major cities have been rare. Today, however, there are sheriffs, moving companies, housing courts, and datamining companies whose only purpose is to evict people from their homes. Wages have stagnated while rents have gone up: the majority of poor renting families pay over 50% of their income for rent while 1 in 4 pays over 70%.