(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Legal Aid reports that the state is on track to surpass last year’s record of more than 18-thousand evictions. Legal Aid executive director, Nick Smithberg, says eviction filings have been increasing for more than a decade due to a lack of affordable housing on top of stagnant wages. “Someone working minimum wage would have to work 80 hours a week to afford the average one bedroom apartment,” he says. “And if they needed a two bedroom because a family and the like, we’re talking two-point-five full time jobs.”

More than 12-thousand evictions have been filed in the state of Iowa so far this year.  “Why does eviction keep happening? Because when you have people renting apartments that’s are so far out of their comfort level to afford it, the slightest hiccup will send them in a place where they’re going to fall behind on their rent,” Smithberg says.

Smithberg says their data show Iowans of color, women and those with disabilities are disproportionately more likely to be evicted. He says eviction filings in rural counties are one of the primary drivers of the surge as well.