Eviction Reduction Policies: Do More Courts Reduce Defaults in LA County?

ABSTRACT Eviction is a leading cause of California housing instability, making eviction reduction a policy priority. Yet some strategies to reduce evictions lack an empirical or economic foundation, and the effectiveness of any particular policy is likely to hinge on the mechanisms determining eviction outcomes. Using data on LA County eviction docket records, this paper empirically examines how court‐based assignment policy in the largest US trial court jurisdiction impacts eviction outcomes via tenant cost mechanisms. By exploiting a Late 2017 reform in LA Superior Court policy, this paper quantifies the extent to which changing the number of eviction courts causally affects evictions and defaults using induced variation in the cost of getting to court. The paper shows that the reform to the number of courts had bounded, small effects relative to outcome variation. Aggregate treatment effect estimates are sometimes statistically insignificant or do not align with directional expectations but imply small effects in standardized terms across model specifications. Limitations, interpretation, and implications are discussed, including potential long‐term strategies to address eviction and housing affordability.