Housing Disinvestment and Crime in a Phoenix Suburb: Exploring the Differential Effects of Investors and Owner-Occupants

Abstract

External investment in neighborhoods can inhibit crime. However, during the housing crisis, many investors were foreclosed upon, triggering large-scale community disinvestment. Yet the impact of this type of disinvestment on crime is currently unknown. Combining data on crime incidents with foreclosure, home sales, and sociodemographic data, this research assesses whether the foreclosure of properties owned by investors has an effect on crime in neighborhoods in Chandler, Arizona, a suburb in the heavily affected Phoenix region. Neighborhoods with a greater proportion of foreclosures on investors (FOIs) have higher total and property crime rates in the short term. In Hispanic neighborhoods, a greater proportion of FOIs result in lower rates of crime. Results suggest that neighborhood stabilization efforts should consider the role of investors in driving short-term crime rates, and that police and code enforcement strategies might prioritize neighborhoods with a high proportion of investor foreclosures.

Racialized Recovery: Postforeclosure Pathways in Boston Neighborhoods

“…Studies find that homeowners, driven by a desire to protect the value of their financial investments, are more likely to maintain their properties, engage with their neighbors through social interaction or participation in community organizations, and demand services, while investors are more likely to defer maintenance, neglect their properties, and leave properties vacant (Galster 1983(Galster , 1987Hunter 1975;McCabe 2016;Rohe and Stewart 1996;Sampson and Raudenbush 2004;Travis 2019). Although homeowners' actions can exacerbate social exclusion and segregation (McCabe 2016), declines in neighborhood homeownership rates can lead to declines in neighborhood conditions, increased crime and disorder, disinvestment through out-migration and malaise among existing residents, and avoidance by potential residents (Chamberlain et al 2018;Geis and Ross 1998;Immergluck 2010;Perkins and Taylor 1996;Sampson and Raudenbush 2004). Extant research shows that neighborhood decline and disinvestment have negative implications for those living in these neighborhoods.…”

The Effect of Housing Demolitions on Crime in Buffalo, New York

“…Foreclosure and vacancy are often precursors to residences that are demolished, and a recent and growing literature has found that foreclosure and vacancy are associated with crime and disorder (Arnio, Baumer, and Wolff 2012; Baumer, Wolff, and Arnio 2012; Boessan and Chamberlain 2017; Chamberlain et al 2018; Ellen, Lacoe, and Sharygin 2013; Lacoe and Ellen 2015; Lin and Walsh 2015; Spelman 1993; Wallace, Hedberg, and Katz 2012). Foreclosed and vacant properties are often considered a type of physical disorder in an urban neighborhood (Skogan 2015).…”

“…Consistent with prior research, we a priori examine the crime outcomes of part 1 violent, part 1 nonviolent, and computer-automated dispatch (CAD) incidents to test this hypothesis. Although the theoretical processes that we have described may impact all types of crime, it is common to examine differences across interpersonal crimes and property crimes (Boessan and Chamberlain 2017; Chamberlain et al 2018). Additionally, CAD incidents are examined, as these may capture other drug crimes or disorder events (Boggess and Maskaly 2014) that are commonly associated with problem vacant properties.…”

The Relationship Between Foreclosures and Intimate Partner Violence During the U.S. Housing Crisis

“…4 Foreclosures also offer visual indicators that neighborhoods are economically declining. This might occur by the presence of a large number of "for sale" signs in neighborhoods with a lot of foreclosures, or by signs of blight and disrepair as residents or investors abandon their homes (Chamberlain et al, 2018;Kingsley et al, 2009).…”

“…The housing crisis dramatically increased neighborhood foreclosure rates and transformed many neighborhood structural conditions that may be relevant for IPV. Neighborhoods with more foreclosures experienced temporary increases in violent crime Cui & Walsh, 2015;Hipp & Chamberlain, 2015;Katz, Wallace, & Hedberg, 2013;Pfeiffer, Wallace, & Chamberlain, 2015), property crime (Arnio et al, 2012;Chamberlain, Wallace, Pfeiffer, & Gaub, 2018;Williams, Galster, & Verma, 2014), and even disorder (Wallace, Hedberg, & Katz, 2012). 1 Foreclosures also affected numerous other neighborhood conditions, such as residential change and mobility (Been, Ellen, Schwartz, Stiefel, & Weinstein, 2011), racially selective migration patterns (Hall, Crowder, & Spring, 2015;Pfeiffer & Lucio, 2015), and segregation (Hall et al, 2015;Hyra, Squires, Renner, & Kirk, 2013;Pfeiffer & Molina, 2013;Rugh & Massey, 2010), reshaping patterns of civic engagement (Estrada-Correa & Johnson, 2012;Pfeiffer & Morris, 2017;Weffer et al, 2014) and regional geographies of housing opportunity (Pfeiffer & Lucio, 2015).…”