Eva Rosen

Studies how such discrimination operates, and the intermediaries who engage in it: landlords. Discusses how a fundamental assumption of racial discrimination research is that gatekeepers such as landlords are confronted with a racially heterogeneous applicant pool.

Draws on fieldwork and administrative records from Baltimore, Maryland; Dallas, Texas; Los Angeles, California; and Washington, DC— to identify how procedural and legal contexts differ by place, and the ways that these processes shape both eviction’s institutional life and its underlying social meanings. Identifies how the problem of eviction is no longer hidden in the housing literature, the explosion of eviction research has introduced a comparative analysis problem.

Elaborates on America’s largest rental assistance program and how it shapes the lives of residents in one low-income Baltimore neighborhood.

Proposes that neighborhoods themselves shape narratives governing residential decision-making.

Draws on ethnographic observation and in-depth interviews with 20 landlords and 82 residents in Baltimore, examining their engagement with the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, to argue that landlords’ strategic implementations of voucher rules contribute to residential sorting patterns.