Are Evictions Rising? What Landlord Strain Means for Investors

Are evictions rising, and are landlords really under strain?

The short answer is: not nationally, not dramatically, but the baseline is uncomfortably high and the pressure is real on both sides. In a video published October 21, 2026, the channel Edwards Economics argues that evictions are "not exploding" across the country. Filings, it says, are back near where they stood before COVID. The problem is that "normal" already meant roughly one eviction case for every 13 renter households.

Local markets look far worse. The video says landlords in Atlanta filed 144,000 eviction cases last year, about one for every four renters. At the same time, small landlords describe unpaid rent, slow courts and repair bills that wipe out thin profits. For investors, the lesson is less about who is right and more about how fragile a rental's cash flow can be.

What the numbers in the video show

Edwards Economics pulls together a handful of figures. They are worth laying out clearly, with the caveat that the video does not name the underlying datasets for each one.

Two points stand out. First, the gap between rent growth and income growth is the structural story: if the video's figures are right, tenants have been losing ground for about 25 years. Second, the near-half share of units in small buildings means "landlord" often describes an individual owner with a mortgage, not an institution with deep reserves.

For background on the broader squeeze on household budgets, see our look at cost of living and housing affordability.

Why renters are falling behind

The creator's argument on the tenant side is straightforward. When rents climb faster than paychecks, the rent check becomes the first bill that cannot flex. The video includes one renter in Wisconsin who says their rent rose from $1,000 to $1,300 in a year, about 30%, before utilities. Another couple describes receiving a three-day notice over a roughly $1,800 balance after cutting back on food and other spending.

These are individual accounts shared online and cannot be verified from the video. They do illustrate a pattern housing researchers have described for years: lower-income renters spend a large share of income on housing, so one missed paycheck or one rent increase can trigger arrears.

A rent increase of that size is also not allowed everywhere. The host himself notes that some states limit increases, so the legal details depend heavily on where you live and what your lease says.

Why small landlords say the math is tight

The landlord side of the video is built on stories. One owner of nine units says more than half of his tenants were not paying and that he was preparing to file five evictions. He says a decent rental may net about $300 a month, which a single HVAC failure can erase for a year.

The most detailed example comes from an Atlanta-area townhouse owner. She charges $1,800 a month for a three-bedroom, though she says comparable homes rent for about $2,200. By her account, tenants paid half of September's rent and nothing in October, and then stopped communicating. After the tenant left, she itemized her costs:

The listed items add up to a little over $6,600, so the total is roughly consistent. She also said about $10,000 of furniture was ruined, which does not appear to be in that total. Treat all of it as one owner's account, not an average.

The point Edwards Economics draws is that an eviction is a cost event, not just a lost-rent event. Court fees, vacancy, turnover work and the wait for a new tenant all push back the break-even date. The video says many landlords underestimate this and so overestimate their returns.

The hidden cost: time and leverage

One of the longer anecdotes involves a tenant who stopped paying after moving in during April. The owners won in court twice and obtained a writ of possession, yet were told the marshal could not serve it until January 15, though it was already November 19. That is about eight weeks of continued occupancy in the owner's telling, during which the tenant allegedly damaged appliances and disturbed housemates who paid on time.

Edwards Economics argues that this is why relationships turning sour is so costly. The occupant is living in an asset the landlord has borrowed against, and the mortgage keeps running whether or not rent arrives. Timelines vary widely by state and county, so no single example should be read as typical. Still, for any investor underwriting a rental, the length of the local process is a core risk factor.

Related risks show up in other corners of the market too; our report on Fannie Mae multifamily mortgage defaults looks at how stress at the apartment-loan level is being measured.

Alternatives to court that commenters and the host raised

The video highlights several ways landlords and tenants might avoid a full eviction:

• Cash for keys. One commenter pays departing tenants to leave the unit intact and offers a reference. The host calls it a smart approach because it avoids a damaged property and a drawn-out suit.
• Temporary rent reductions. Another commenter points out that less rent can beat no rent. The host's caveat is that this only works if the landlord can afford it.
• Rental assistance. A commenter says local and state offices can point tenants and landlords to assistance funds. Availability varies, and many programs have limited budgets, so check with your local housing agency or 211.
• Payment plans. One landlord says he preferred weekly catch-up payments over filing at all.

The host's view is that tenants should exhaust every resource first, but that landlords with the time and knowledge could help steer renters to assistance.

Limits and counterpoints to the video's take

Edwards Economics is a commentary channel, and a few caveats are fair.

Filings are not evictions. An eviction case filed is not the same as a tenant removed. Many cases are dismissed, settled or filed repeatedly as a collection tactic against the same household, so a ratio like one case per four renters in Atlanta does not mean a quarter of renters lost their homes. The creator's own title uses stronger language than his data supports.

Anecdotes skew toward the dramatic. Most of the clips are social media posts chosen for conflict. The video itself includes a landlord who spared a tenant and found the unit in good shape. Landlords who never need to evict rarely go viral.

"Landlords don't make money" is not universal. Some owners clearly struggle, particularly those with high leverage or one-off repair bills. Others benefit from appreciation, depreciation deductions and paid-down mortgages. One commenter in the video made that point directly. Returns depend on purchase price, financing, location and management.

Data gaps. The video does not name the source for the 30% real rent figure or the Federal Reserve statistic. For verification, check the primary sources listed below.

What this means for you

If you rent

• Treat rent as the first bill, as the host says. Contact the landlord before the due date if you expect to be short, and get any agreement in writing.
• Show up to court. The video claims most tenants who lose cases never appear; a default can bring a judgment and a record that follows you into future applications.
• Look up local rental assistance and legal aid early, before a notice arrives.

If you own or are considering a rental

• Underwrite for vacancy, repairs and a legal process, not just rent minus mortgage. The host suggests keeping about six months of mortgage payments in reserve before renting out a property.
• Screen carefully. Several landlords in the video blame their own tenant selection for losses.
• Know your state's timeline and costs. Compare the expense of a court process with an agreed move-out.
• Understand that selling a struggling rental can be hard in a slow market, a theme explored in our piece on short-term rental properties that are hard to sell.

If you are a buyer or seller of a home

Heavy rental distress can add inventory if small investors list properties, and it can keep some would-be buyers renting longer because high rents make saving for a down payment harder. Neither effect is guaranteed, and this is general information, not personal financial advice.

What to watch next

• Court filing data from local courts and the Princeton Eviction Lab, which tracks filings in many cities.
• Rent versus wage growth in Census and Federal Reserve releases.
• Rental arrears in Federal Reserve household surveys.
• Small-landlord sales, as signaled by listings of investor-owned single-family homes and duplexes.

Edwards Economics ends with a blunt conclusion: nearly everyone who ends up in the courtroom has already lost, and the people who come out best are those who planned for a bad month before it arrived. That is a fair rule of thumb for tenants and investors alike.