Fifty-six percent of urban renters face some level of housing insecurity. I explore the role of credit access, or lack thereof, as a contributing factor. To do so, I study a temporary line of credit extended to households in the form of protection from heat shutoffs during the winter. These protections allow households to delay winter energy payments without risk of losing their heat. I adopt a triple difference-in-differences (DDD) approach, leveraging variation in states’ shutoff protection dates and census tracts’ average energy burdens. I estimate that the temporary extension of credit reduces the eviction filing rate by 4% in census tracts with high energy burdens. I provide suggestive evidence that eviction filings do not spike after the temporary credit access ends, implying a net negative effect of temporary credit access on filings over the entire year. I further demonstrate that a 3% increase in rental payments explains the decline in eviction filings, which is consistent with access to credit allowing renters to smooth consumption.

百分之五十六的城市租房者面临一定程度的住房不安全感。我探讨了信贷获取或缺乏信贷获取作为影响因素的作用。为此，我研究了向家庭提供临时信贷额度，以防止冬季停电。这些保护措施使家庭能够推迟冬季能源支付，而不会面临失去热量的风险。我采用了三重双重差分（DDD）方法，利用各州停电保护日期和人口普查区平均能源负担的变化。我估计，在能源负担较高的人口普查区，临时延长信贷期限可将驱逐申请率降低 4%。我提供的暗示性证据表明，临时信贷准入结束后，驱逐申请不会激增，这意味着临时信贷准入对全年申请产生净负面影响。我进一步证明，租金支付增加 3% 可以解释驱逐申请的减少，这与获得信贷使租户能够顺利消费的情况是一致的。