"Rent Eats First": The Social Contract of Korean Tenants and Landlords in Immigrant Enclaves

Abstract

An analysis by Leung et al. (2021) of eviction filings in 54 metropolitan areas in the United States has found that the relationship between poverty rates and evictions is less strongly positive in areas with a higher concentration of foreign-born residents. What are the mechanisms behind lower eviction rates in these immigrant enclaves? My research suggests three mechanisms: the prioritization of paying rent over other expenses, the “social contract” that binds tenants and landlords in lieu of formal lease agreements, and the social acceptability of subsidized senior housing as a retirement plan for first-generation immigrants, who often have accumulated only limited social security or other retirement benefits since their arrival in the United States. Through 31 interviews with renters and landlords in Palisades Park (a first and second-generation Korean enclave) and Edison (a Korean ethnic enclave with less foreign-born residents), New Jersey, I contribute to research on Korean-American enclaves by identifying an ethos of self-help, independence, and shame that constitutes a world in which “rent eats first” and where Korean-Americans facing hard economic times rarely get evicted.