Jesse Tree of Idaho

Ada and Canyon Counties saw eviction filings dramatically increase between 2022 and 2023.

Idaho Matters takes a look at the news that made headlines this week, including Lori Vallow Daybell's request for a new trial, why there is no insanity legal defense in Idaho and some insight into how communities are helping to protect their public lands.

Here in Idaho two groups are helping to prevent evictions and keep people housed.

Boise housing support nonprofit Jesse Tree projects total eviction filings in the Treasure Valley this year could reach four figures - that would be about an 18% increase from last year. In 2021, 479 property managers filed for 819 evictions last year - about a 9% increase from 2020.

Jesse Tree, a Boise rental assistance nonprofit, found numerous cases of landlords violating tenants' legal rights as renters.

If there was ever a stereotype of someone teetering on the brink of eviction (or worse), that trope evaporated decades ago. In fact, millions of Americans are closer to being without a home – due to the economy, the pandemic, bankruptcy or any combination thereof – than at any time in recent history. And that possibility has become reality for a growing number of Idahoans.

Former Idaho State Senator Ali Rabe, who spends her days as executive director of Jesse Tree of Idaho helping to prevent evictions and homelessness, says her and her fiancee’s effort to buy a new home was painfully ironic.

At the end of August, the Supreme Court of the United States blocked the Biden administration’s extended eviction moratorium. The moratorium had been in place through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of the agency’s policies to deal with a surge of COVID-19. Now, after the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision, some low income renters in Idaho are once again facing eviction.

Even before the pandemic hit, the Treasure Valley was experiencing an intense housing crisis. In fact, since the beginning of this year, the average rent…

We are a little more than a month away from the start of a new legislative session in Idaho. The Republican majority will have an even stronger hold on…