Arizona has one of the highest eviction and foreclosure rates in the nation, according to a study by the New America Foundation.

The study found that people on fixed incomes and people without health insurance were at high risk for eviction or foreclosure.

The goal was to study housing instability, and near the end of the study, COVID struck.

“This pandemic is exacerbating kind of all of these vulnerabilities that already exist, and is really going to hit, kind of our most vulnerable population, who have already been struggling with these issues," said ASU researcher Lora Phillips, a member of the study team.

The study said that although the pandemic may have shed some light on housing challenges in the county, the problem was there all along.

Another finding was that 27% of Maricopa County households struggled with housing payments this summer.

“It is my hope that local policymakers will, with this information in hand, be able to get ahead of the issue, rather than letting people lose their homes, some people becoming homeless, children being displaced,” Phillips said.