Jake Ramsey

Oklahoma City’s eviction rates have doubled since 2016 and are more than double New York City's.More than 40% of evictions filed in Oklahoma County were from the same 100 properties.

In May, Operation SAFE, the governor’s initiative to remove homeless encampments from state property, was enacted in Norman.Two weeks later, the Norman City Council was criticized by residents and officials over an agenda item proposing a temporary suspension of the zoning ordinance to allow camping in residential areas. The agenda item was not scheduled for a vote, but was met with a unanimous rejection after public outcry.

It is a tale of three cities.On the morning of May 22, Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers cleared a homeless encampment on vacant state-owned property in Norman under Gov. Kevin Stitt’s Operation SAFE initiative. Service providers said there was no warning that an encampment sweep would be happening.

In early February, the city of Stillwater declared the Remington Ranch apartment complex a public nuisance. It was a unique and time-consuming approach to holding the problematic Tulsa-based landlord, Vesta Realty, accountable for the lack of heat and water tenants experienced for months on end.

Oklahoma Watch interviewed nine tenants at several different Vesta-owned properties, and each shared a similar experience.

In a video posted to his Facebook page, Jordan Lee gives a tour of a Utah house he moved into in 2023, pointing out his riding mower, auto lift and 86-inch television.

More than 66% of households on SNAP in the state have children, with more than 33% being older adults or disabled and more than 42% being working families.

Barbara Grimm was evicted from her Pine Lake apartment in Oklahoma City in early October.

Nearly half of Oklahoma households struggled to afford necessities in 2023, according to a new report. The limited income of 45% of households in the state has priced many families out of their homes, contributing to the state’s eviction crisis.

Nine years ago, Tulsa and Oklahoma City were ranked among the 20 cities in the United States with the highest eviction rates, 11th and 20th, respectively.