Last month was our busiest April ever on the tenant hotline. We set records in new contacts (calls and emails) from renter households; 1,537 new contacts, a 6% increase over last April and 1,400 follow-ups, a 9% increase over last year’s pace.
Here are the top 10 topics that clients contacted the hotline about this quarter compared to April, 2023.
| Contact Reason | Number of Contacts | Change from April 2023 |
| 1. Repairs | 397 | + 8% |
| 2. Evictions | 332 | – 20% |
| 3. Security Deposits | 165 | + 17 % |
| 4. Break Lease Questions | 124 | + 12% |
| 5. Landlord Notice to Vacate | 122 | – 7% |
| 6. Lease Questions/Lease Review | 106 | + 28% |
| 7. Privacy/Intrusion | 78 | + 30% |
| 8. Fees | 73 | + 22% |
| 9. Rent Increase | 61 | + 28% |
| 9. Neighbors | 61 | + 28% |
Repairs continue to be the top reason for contacting HOME Line. This has historically been the case except the roughly 18 month period following the lifting of the eviction moratorium after the pandemic. We’re approaching ‘security deposit season’ as the weather gets nicer and leases expire so we see those calls start to climb again, as they do every year.
Evictions continue to trend down, lower by 20% this April versus last April, but we also see a dip in contacts about the landlord not renewing a tenant’s lease or giving them a notice to vacate. Every other category saw an uptick in calls this April versus April, 2023 so while some issues continue to fall, others are increasing quite a bit like questions about privacy and lease terms.
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