The Columbian recently reported that Clark County recorded the highest rate of evictions per capita in Washington state for the third year in a row. In 2025, Clark County landlords filed 2,275 cases to evict tenants, an increase of roughly 33% since 2023.
Washington has passed legislation in recent years to help tenants, including a new law Gov. Bob Ferguson signed last May that limits rent increases to no more than 10% in a year. In 2021, Washington became the first state in the nation to establish a right to free legal counsel for low-income tenants facing eviction. But amid growing need and rising caseloads, the Washington State Office of Legal Aid is seeking $3 million in supplemental funding from lawmakers for the next fiscal year.
Mia Ryder-Marks is a reporter for The Columbian covering homelessness, affordable housing and veterans. She joins us for more details.
Note: The following transcript was transcribed digitally and validated for accuracy, readability and formatting by an OPB volunteer.
Dave Miller: This is Think Out Loud on OPB. I’m Dave Miller. Clark County has Washington’s highest eviction rate for the third year in a row, according to state data. It’s gone up by 34% over that time, but it could get worse. A statewide program that provides free legal aid to tenants facing eviction is short on funding.
Mia Ryder-Marks has been reporting on this for The Colombian, and she joins us now. It’s great to have you back on the show.
Mia Ryder-Marks: Thank you for having me.
Miller: So the obvious first question here is why? Why does Clark County have the highest eviction rate in the state?
Ryder-Marks: Yeah, so there’s obviously a lot of reasons why somebody might get evicted. But from the attorneys I spoke to for this story, they represent low-income tenants, but they said basically people just cannot afford housing costs and rent. Somebody falls behind on a payment or has an unexpected bill, costs snowball and they’re facing eviction.
Miller: Is this more about incomes in Clark County not keeping up with the rest of the state or rents rising faster there than the rest of the state?
Ryder-Marks: It’s kind of a combination of both, but rents have steadily increased over the last decade in Clark County, but not so much that we’re not seeing from the rest of the state. The obvious thing is the rents and housing costs are just out of reach for what the average Clark County renter is bringing home for income. So like I said, it could be just a missed paycheck or unexpected bill like a medical bill, and people are falling behind. Last year, I reported a story from a report called National Low Income Housing Coalition and they compare median housing costs with median incomes. From that comparison, people need to earn $33 an hour in order to afford housing in Clark County or work an average of 83 hours at minimum wage in order to afford …
Miller: Wow, 83 hours a week at minimum wage.
Ryder-Marks: At minimum wage, yeah.
Miller: OK, both just astronomical numbers, but to show just the reality of the cost. Can you remind us what the rent stabilization law, passed last year in Olympia and signed into law, did?
Ryder-Marks: It was a hard-fought bill by housing advocates and landlords from either side, and it basically has a rent increase ceiling. So landlords cannot increase rent either 7% plus inflation or 10%, whichever is less on a unit per year.
Miller: I did notice that there was a huge increase in evictions from 2023 to 2024. Most of the 34% increase that I mentioned over this three-year period happened in just that one transition from one year to the next. And then a much smaller one this past year into 2025. Is that something that officials were able to explain?
Ryder-Marks: For this story, unfortunately, I didn’t chat too much with the attorneys about what might have caused that trend, but my colleague has reported on evictions from 2023 to 2024. And basically, it could be equated to just post-pandemic or pandemic eviction protections for tenants expiring and then we’re just seeing the aftermath of that trend, now in 2025.
Miller: What have these increases meant for the legal system, the eviction docket in Clark County?
Ryder-Marks: The docket is overwhelmed according to what attorneys are saying. The amount of eviction filings that we are seeing each year has put a real strain on the court system. One attorney told me that Clark County filings are so high that basically they’re having to bring in outside help from other counties in order to meet the need that they are seeing.
Miller: This gets to the issue of legal support that I mentioned briefly in the beginning. You noted that five years ago, Washington became the first state in the country to establish the right to a free attorney for people who cannot afford one in eviction cases. How has that program worked?
Ryder-Marks: The state-funded program basically guarantees an attorney for a low-income tenant, and before this that might not have been an option for them. The program has been pretty successful from what attorneys are telling me. Across the state, they’ve been able to help more than around 30,000 people throughout the program. And according to the Washington Office of Civil Legal Aid, nine of the 10 cases they’re able to close result in a permanent housing solution for the tenant and then six of the 10 results in people being able to stay in their homes.
Miller: What’s happening right now with funding for that system?
Ryder-Marks: The funding is in flux. The state’s proposed budget shows a $3 million shortfall for the program. So the Office of Legal Aid kind of equated that shortfall to 17 attorneys statewide that they would not have and that would mean around 2000 tenants might be without attorneys when they’re facing their evictions.
Miller: So what would that mean or what’s that likely to mean in practice? What happens if someone facing eviction does not have an attorney?
Ryder-Marks: It’s a severe risk of housing instability. From what the attorney said, having legal representation during an eviction case is kind of make or break for some people. They can help kind of negotiate with landlords and be able to stay in housing for a little bit longer, or they can help them figure out missed defenses that the tenant might not have seen. So yeah, it can be make or break for tenants.
Miller: I know that we’ve often heard on this show and I’ve read in reporting that there’s a deep connection found between evictions and homelessness. But what does this data specifically in Clark County show about this?
Ryder-Marks: Data from one of Clark County’s leading homeless agencies, [Council] for the Homeless, showed last year that about 9,000 people experienced some form of homelessness in Clark County. And of those people, 460 said to the council that evictions were the reason that they were on the street. That was, I think, in the top three reasons, right behind just not being able to afford housing altogether and domestic violence. And it makes sense why eviction obviously leads to housing instability. It’s a stain on somebody’s record if they have it. And it creates additional obstacles and even more obstacles for somebody who might be low income.
And if I can share a quick anecdote ...
Miller: Please.
Ryder-Marks: So yesterday I was out at one of Clark County’s largest homeless encampments in downtown Vancouver, talking to folks for another story. And I was chatting with about four people. And of those four, three said that they were on the streets because of evictions. And two of those people said that when they were getting evicted, they didn’t have legal help. This was before the program was in place in the state and pre-pandemic. But obviously, this is a small snapshot of a much larger issue. But I think it does underscore the data that we’re seeing and kind of the reporting of these real-life consequences. And evictions aren’t just data. They’re people that we’re seeing on our streets.
Miller: What’s happening with affordable housing and another issue that you pay a lot of attention to because it’s deeply tied to homelessness … How much affordable housing was created last year and what does that number look like compared to what experts say needs to be built?
Ryder-Marks: So unfortunately, I don’t have an official number of how many affordable housing units were actually created last year, but there were a handful of very significant projects that were either funded, created or opened up and started welcoming tenants. But I think it’s safe to say that the number that we are producing in Clark County is far below what experts would like us to create each year.
Miller: What are you working on right now? You mentioned reporting just yesterday. I’m just wondering if we can get a preview of what’s to come.
Ryder-Marks: Yeah, I’m interviewing people about why they’re homeless because there’s a few reports that homelessness isn’t a personal choice of folks. So I’m seeing what folks outside are thinking about that.
Miller: Mia, thanks very much.
Ryder-Marks: Thank you.
Miller: Mia Ryder-Marks covers housing and homelessness for The Colombian.
“Think Out Loud®” broadcasts live at noon every day and rebroadcasts at 8 p.m.
If you’d like to comment on any of the topics in this show or suggest a topic of your own, please get in touch with us on Facebook, send an email to thinkoutloud@opb.org, or you can leave a voicemail for us at 503-293-1983.
