For Immediate Release by Tenant Resource Center on 12-22-2025
The Quarter 3 2025 EDDP Program Report is now available on our EDDP website. Informed by the data we have collected on thousands of eviction cases since 2022, our quarterly Program Reports provide updates on the state of eviction in Dane County and the effect that the Eviction Diversion & Defense Partnership is having. This latest report covers the changes Tenant Resource Center has seen from July through September 2025. Here are some highlights:
The third quarter of 2025 marked the final months of Federal Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) being available and distributed by TRC in Dane County. ERA previously made up EDDP’s largest source of funding, but ended on September 30th, 2025, in accordance with its federal expiration. With our rental assistance program winding down during these months, we already began seeing the effects of reduced federal relief in Q3.
This quarter, 72% of households facing eviction had their cases dismissed due to the efforts of the EDDP, as noted in our Overview of Eviction in Dane County. This coincided with a 20% increase in eviction filings from the previous quarter, matching a similar increase we saw last year between Q2 and Q3 of 2024. But unlike last year, this quarter also saw an increase in eviction judgments. While 15% of evictions ended in judgments in Q3 of 2024, 23% of evictions ended in judgments this quarter.
This increase is due in large part to an increase in tenants defaulting on stipulated dismissal agreements, as seen in our first Issue Spotlight. A stipulated dismissal is an order from the court that dismisses an eviction case on the condition that the parties abide by agreed-upon terms, most commonly a payment plan or move-out date. If the tenant fails to comply with those terms, the landlord can typically ask the court to enter an eviction judgment without any further input from the tenant. Recently, stipulated dismissals have become the primary way eviction cases are resolved (58% of eviction cases this quarter)-- but also the most common way tenants receive judgments of eviction (50% of all eviction judgments this quarter). Stipulated payment plans can be lengthy, onerous, and unrealistic. But with rental assistance programs winding down in Q3, tenants may feel they have no other choice but to agree to them to avoid being evicted.
Evictions also began moving faster with the wind-down of rental assistance. Most evictions in Q3 were settled with only one hearing, whereas cases in previous quarters were more frequently rescheduled so rental assistance could be pursued. Our Issue Spotlight on the Length of the Eviction Process further analyzes how fast evictions move in Dane County, despite their long-lasting repercussions. Through a random sample of 150 evictions this quarter, we found the average eviction court case lasted 43 days from filing the case until it was dismissed or a judgment was entered. But even though a case may be over, an eviction can hang over a tenant for much longer. Even dismissed eviction filings stay on a tenant’s court record for at least 2 years, and can impede a tenant’s ability to secure housing that is decent, affordable, and safe.
As a result of the end of Emergency Rental Assistance, TRC is shifting some of the services offered in Q4 and beyond. One new service TRC has begun is short-term case management – a more intensive one-on-one eviction assistance to enrolled tenants that also identifies and works through barriers to each client’s stable housing. Along with this case management, TRC will continue to reach out to each and every tenant with an eviction case filed against them in Dane County and offer services before, at, and after court.
Dive into all of our Quarterly EDDP Program Reports, including full reports and select Issue Spotlights, here on our EDDP website. We will continue to monitor how eviction is changing with changing resources and funding next year in our Q4 2025 report.